how bad will the economy hurt sterling and all fairs/festivals

[duffy]

i was thinking things are getting pretty bad and ny is always worse. how bad do you think it will hurt the festival? western/central ny has had so many layoffs in the last year its not funny and now there going to hit the state employees, about the only jobs left out here. i am a state employee myself, not worried about getting laid off, theres way to many people behind me seniority wise. i still have a grim outlook to the future. i pray for the day i can retire just to get out of this state. anyway i hope the festival doesn't get hurt. there is always us dedicated folk who will go and i guess the whole staycation thing will help.

[Cobaltblu]

I think 99% of people who attend Sterling probably live in the local area.

Local people don't have to travel great distances or pay for hotel rooms so the cost to get TO the faire isn't that bad.

The faire doesn't run for a long time (only 7 weekends or 14 days).

I would say that the vast majority of people who attend the faire attend maybe once or twice a year.  A small minority of people attend multiple days and an even smaller minority attend for several days or have season passes.

I don't think the economy will significantly hurt the faire very much.  I do think it will hurt the merchants more than the faire since the first thing people will stop doing is buying goods at the faire since the only REQUIRED payments are the entrance fee and maybe some food or drink for the day.

Also gas prices are about half as they were last year.

Ok time for me to go to bed.  I have a bit of a time difference here in Berlin, Germany.

Regards,

CB

[kcdcchef]

i havent been to this faire in a couple of years, but i totally could see it being harmed by the economy. the pennsylvania renn faire is one i more frequent, and i can also see it taking a dive this season. i hope to be wrong. but areas such as these, so blue collar, have so much less disposable income.

i would hate it beyond belief if any faire goes bankrupt or out of business due to this economy. restaurants and hotels and factories will re-open that close in this downturn. not faires.

[Ozium]

I am actually hoping it helps the local events, be it faire or whatever. It costs to much to travel far for a week
of money spending, folks may start to explore more things that can be done in a day. What i do for a living has
actually picked up alot, folks can't afford to move or build on to thier houses so they are doing their basements
with bars,game rooms and home theater setups. As beat as Syracuse is there is always something going on,
and a good amount of historic sites to visit that cost little or nothing.

[kcdcchef]

I am actually hoping it helps the local events, be it faire or whatever. It costs to much to travel far for a week
of money spending, folks may start to explore more things that can be done in a day. What i do for a living has
actually picked up alot, folks can't afford to move or build on to thier houses so they are doing their basements
with bars,game rooms and home theater setups. As beat as Syracuse is there is always something going on,
and a good amount of historic sites to visit that cost little or nothing.

good take. i have thought of that too. and i hope you are correct. my home faire, KCRF, is within 5 miles of a 2m metro. a lot of faires, are not. and those type of things are the ones i worry about the most.

but your take could end up being accurate. we cannot afford the 7 day trip to orlando this year, or our timeshare in the hamptons will eat us alive, but 2 days at faire, is still economical. great thing about faire is tickets are still CHEAP, to pretty much any faire.

[Taffy Saltwater]

I'm thinking I'll not be able to attend Scarbough this year since I'll be moving in May - two nights of hotel, meals, etc. - may (probably will) be out of my range this year.

[Cobaltblu]

Maybe the following will occur:

-The Sheriff is annoyed at the low tax revenues, due to the economy, so he is extra cruel.  Extra dunkings anyone??

-Half of the beggars died from starvation over the winter; their skeletons can still be seen in the lanes due to cost-saving measures and the elimination of the garbage disposal budget

-The Queen's carriage horses are hungry and chase patrons to eat their pork pockets

-The jousting knights' armor is rusty and not oiled and squeeks loudly as they fight and sounds like a squeeky door opening and
closing

-The cardinal's collection plates and coffers are empty and he is seen out in the lanes with a "Will pray for food" sign

-The plague isn't spreading so fast due to high gas prices and has to walk instead

-With layoffs high and money tight, the wenches who want to "work" have to provide the "Most BANG for your buck"

-Creamy-poofs are more poof than cream

Regards,

CB

[irish]

lol...CB!

I do hope the faire does well this year. He had kind of a crappy beginning last year.
We used to get season passes, but times have changed.....
Now we attend on the 'special' events, that we have an interest in.
irish

Whatcha' doing in Germany CB?
If you see any "VonRitter's" tell them hell-o!   
Be safe!!

[Carl Heinz]

I suspect that the gate might actually be higher this year.  I believe that theater attendance is also up.  It's my understanding that theater attendance was also up during the Depression.

I agree with CB, though, that high end vendor sales might be down.  Being retired and having the Stock Market making a major hit on our retirement investments has substantially reduced our discretionary spending.  I suspect that others who may either have been laid off or fearing possible layoff might also be reluctant to buy high end items.  This is too bad for me since Jim Hrisoulas tells me he's going to be having quite a bit of neat stuff at his Salamander Armory booth this year.  Sigh.

[kcdcchef]

i think if anything ren faires will be off in season pass sales, not single day sales. i think if someone is going to go to faire 3-4 times this season, they buy 1 day passes instead of season passes. true rennies that go play everyday, will stick with season passes. but more casual visitors that go multiple times but not everyday, buy single day passes more this year. people are reluctant to spend a bigger chunk of change in this economy, not thinking that going 4-5 times is the same. but spending all that dough up front, is hard still.

[Elinor Hakebourne]

Maybe the following will occur:

-The Sheriff is annoyed at the low tax revenues, due to the economy, so he is extra cruel.  Extra dunkings anyone??

-Half of the beggars died from starvation over the winter; their skeletons can still be seen in the lanes due to cost-saving measures and the elimination of the garbage disposal budget

-The Queen's carriage horses are hungry and chase patrons to eat their pork pockets

-The jousting knights' armor is rusty and not oiled and squeeks loudly as they fight and sounds like a squeeky door opening and
closing

-The cardinal's collection plates and coffers are empty and he is seen out in the lanes with a "Will pray for food" sign

-The plague isn't spreading so fast due to high gas prices and has to walk instead

-With layoffs high and money tight, the wenches who want to "work" have to provide the "Most BANG for your buck"

-Creamy-poofs are more poof than cream

Regards,

CB

LOL It's nice to bring some levity into this thread I'm all for extra dunkings - and I bet the cast wouldn't mind on a really awful hot day, either!

[ALS]

Heres how Sterling's cash flow works ( at least when we left in 2005). There are three cash streams 1) vendor fee's which itsmy understanding have doubled which would have them at something like $1400 per season ( which doesn't amount to all that much in the scheme of things ) 2) gate and 3) concessions ( when we left the fair owned about 60% of the food booths). Of these three concessions is the largest chunck of cash that comes in. If 2 or 3 goes down in any significant way below a certain level it impacts the show. 1 going down doesn't have a substantial effect monetarilly on the show but of course the place starts to look like weed puller with a bunch of empty booths. If what i've heard from the vendors I know about how lousey thier sales were with 4$ gas last year then it stands to reason that concessions probably took a hit as well. This year as our politicians continue to scare the crap out of us for a little power and political gain, and with gas going up again which it will because we've done zero to get at our own resources since last year there will be even more pressure on consumers which will mean lower gate and concessions cash flow for the show as people go less and bring thier own food and beverages. So in short yes it will mean harder times for this and i'm sure other faires. The answer in short is to stop listening to our fear mongering politicians and go to the show and do what you would normally do there if the TV news weren't screaming " the worlds ending " in our faces.

[Cobaltblu]

which will mean lower gate and concessions cash flow for the show as people go less and bring thier own food and beverages.

Are people allowed to bring their own food and beverages into the faire?  Or do you mean people will go out to their car to eat?  I always assumed no food or drinks were allowed to be brought into the faire.

That bottled water was expensive (what was it like $2.00 or $2.50 last summer?).  It's a shame there wasn't a public drinking fountain or two.

Regards,

CB

[Tygrkat]

I don't think that outside food or beverages are allowed, with the exception of baby/toddler items, or when medically necessary (diabetics, for example). We packed a cooler with food and drinks, and just came out to the van when we wanted to eat or re-hydrate (Meade & ale were purchased inside the gates). For us, it worked out well and saved us quite a bit of money ( which ended up being spent inside the gates - mostly on Meade,ale, and things from our favorite vendors)

[irish]

We have always brought our own water, soda and sometimes juice packs into the faire....and if we run out, we buy it there. They always check the backpack, for alcoholic beverages. I have seen people pulling wagons, with food items and they have a little picnic. Makes for an enjoyable day. I do think, if you bring your own food, don't take a picnic table, as that should be left for those that do buy from the food vendors....just my thought..
We do buy our food at faire.
irish