So in comparison to other years how would you rate you own 2009 MRF experience? Measure in the cost, the drama, the food, the friends, the entertainment, what you hoped for, what you missed, what impressed you, and lastly what will keep you warm all winter waiting to do it again!
interesting question . . .
I dunno.
I'd say it was a pretty average year for me. I had some bad weather days which limited crowds. overall, I still prefer 1993, 1994, 1996. 93 was when I started, 94 was a very festive year with the fencing booth, and 96 was when I started with MacGregor's.
So, I give it a 14 because you can't dance to it.
Food was awesome! Unbelieveable! (Thanks, Alice!)
I actually had some time off to play, but did not bother with any shows. I was usually checking in on booths and walking with friends or making deals. Had a couple HR issues, but they have been resolved.
I think I made more $$ this year than last. At worst it is a strong wash.
Shows at my booths were great, as always.
Met the love of my life there this year. I really want to keep her. She'll keep me plenty warm.
Not my best year. My heart wasn't in it as much as usual... it was at home with my new husband. ;D I still had fun though!
I've been really into fest for the last four years (but attended for last 13yrs). The first year was great cuz it was the first but this year is right up with it. I drove down there every weekend from press party, labor day mon, and fest fri for a total of 17 days at fest (and 27 days overall in the last four months at fests in 5 states). The main reason I loved this year was due to Fest Friends. It was great to have a meeting place. There's always someone to sit and talk to or go do something different with (thanks Kurt & Terri!!) I put on way too many lbs eating out after fest but that was fun too.
I would have to say not my most favorite year. :(
Most of my friends are gone this year. My fiance (who I met out at festival 7 years ago) was not able to be out this year and that sucked. The parking Drama was a major pain in the butt for me. Working for a new booth and getting used to how it runs is always difficult. Over all it just didn't seem fun this year. :(
Certainly not my favorite year this year, but that was because of my gimp knee. It really limited me, especially in bad weather and crowds. I really only could make it from the front gates to the stocks and from the front gate around the newer grounds around to Beowulf in foul weather or large crowds. The other sections of faire were just too uneven grounded to navigate under less then ideal conditions. Pretty much those section were closed off to me much after 11:00 am due to crowds. The gimp knee made faire a lot tougher then I originally thought it would. I really only could handle about 3-4 good hours a day out there. Gin and I were out of there very early pretty much every day because of it.
But, I still had some good times out there. I was fortunate that so many of my friends worked at The Foaming Stein and Willins. Those 2 places were my poles. I could wander back and forth between the 2 and rest there for a while before wandering on. I did have fun hanging out there and talking with everyone. I guess the one thing I will take out of this year was because of my knee I stayed in one place more often and talked to people more then I have in years past. And, that was fun. I had some good laughs at Willins thanks to Jack and MG. Who would have thought trying to remember an actor from a movie (Alan Rickman from Robin Hood) could be provide so many laughs!...
On a scale of 1-10, this year has been a 9.5.
Lack of personal/fest drama was a nice change. The parking wasn't a huge thing for me. I didn't have to fire anyone. I didn't have any falling outs with people and my relationship was stable.
I got new garb and looked really good in my old stuff. I got some lovely pictures taken.
The shop did really well this year. In the four years I've been working, we've never had every day meet the goal of 100 bars of soap. This year we did it everyday but fest friday which none of us at the shop count as a real day. I had awesome help and really felt at home.
I was a down at the start of the season due to depression but once it took off, I got much more interested in it.
The only downside was that we were so busy that I didn't see as many shows as I'd have liked. I did get to hang out with people and my boyfriend did come and visit. This was the first year that lots of people came to look for me. The day that I was only out at site for a couple of hours ended with me getting scolded for not being there earlier! It made me feel very loved. ;D
It was a hard one. The Drama Llama was up close and personal with me this year.
2009 can just fade away as far as I'm concerned but I am totally looking forward to next year.
I had a really good year. It was the first time performing with the commedia troupe as a member, forgot how much I like being in a stage show. Working front gate was (mostly) fun and I got to see many of my "regulars". I got my 10 year service award. Nice things happened on a personal level. Good things were happening for my friends.
Parking in the pit was kind of fun.
***ducks for cover***
Quote from: Noble Dreg on October 14, 2009, 05:08:09 PM
Parking in the pit was kind of fun.
***ducks for cover***
And run like the wind, But on the other hand this year was a new experience for me working at the shop in front more and seeing pay trons do some of the dumbest things with clothes, another story for a different time.
Met new members reacquainted with old but all in all it was nice but Damn cold in a Kilt on the last weekend. ;D
Not my favorite year. I had so much stuff going on outside of fest that I couldn't really get into it when I was there, and I had to miss five whole days (plus fest friday and mimosa monday) due to house stuff. I'm looking forward to 2010.
Quote from: Tarac on October 14, 2009, 06:55:21 PM
And run like the wind, But on the other hand this year was a new experience for me working at the shop in front more and seeing pay trons do some of the dumbest things with clothes, another story for a different time.
Met new members reacquainted with old but all in all it was nice but Damn cold in a Kilt on the last weekend. ;D
Ach ya pansy, it was PERFECT weather for a kilt!
Quote from: escherblacksmith on October 15, 2009, 08:24:24 AM
Ach ya pansy, it was PERFECT weather for a kilt!
Some of us are hung low enough for that cold to be a problem.
Apparenty some aren't, too.
;D
Wow I'm surprised that so many had negative experiences.
My year was AWESOME, just like it has been every year. Of course, it was only my third year, so perhaps 10 years from now I'll feel differently. But, I doubt it. The only reason I work at fest is for fun. The money is just a bonus. So, if it ever becomes tedious, I simply will stop coming. I don't ever see that happening though. (For the record, I did get into it a couple times with my pub mistress, but I just blew it off and let it roll off my back and she loves me now so it's all good.)
I made some great new friends and strengthened already existing friendships. And, I drank enough free beer to drown a small country. And, save for the last weekend, I thought the weather was just about perfect.
HUZZAH! :D
Looking back on it now.. It was a fun season overall.. Not the best one I've ever had.. Like many my heart just wasn't totally in it..
Being a pubmaster this year was fun.. I now realize how much extra time goes into that job, I missed seeing/experiencing a lot of the faire because of it.. *hug your pubmaster/mistress today*
My one weekend off I was sick.. Boooooo!! I only managed to make it out on the Sunday to play.. :-\
On the upside, it was fun playing with everyone who came to visit us over at Foaming.. Bacardi and I had a blast at the Smoker!! Camping was fun (when it wasn't freezing cold!!) I laughed a lot, drank a good amount of beer, enjoyed the Jaycee's afterhours festivities and fundraisers, and was still in bed most nights by Muffin o'clock (read: 10:00 pm).. ;D
I am looking forward to next season and am hoping to make it more fun than this past one..
Lady Addilay and I had a great time on both visits. Had fun meeting everyone on opening day in the parking lot for breakfast and also meeting many of the forum members. But we are still quite new to all of this so that may account for some of the enjoyment. Discovered Mac's pub and the Dreg-a-long (thanks White Trillium), Bangors and Mash (thanks Zilch), and a few other 'treasures' (never had seen the trail in the woods). Also thought it cool that on the second visit the Viking game was on at one of the pubs :)
All in all we had a great time.
On the whole a good run this year. The weather except for last weekend was about perfect. M'Lady and I enjoyed being with friends that we don't get to see any other time. Finances were tighter this year so we didn't get as much new stuff as usual. Other than that the friendships, scotch, wine, beer and rum were great.
We had a great year. Saved my pennies and finally got to buy a flask.
How could you have not asked for better weather?
I am suprised at all the anything less than great responses also. Sounds like it was working at the fest or things outside the fest causing people issues. That is the reason to enjoy the fest. To try to escape the real world problems. I do understand though that life can suck at times.
My only complaint is the crappy PA and mic system at the joust. It was cutting out the last day the same as the first day. It like watching a movie or a concert with the sound going in and out. I could tell the crowd found it very annoying. Unacceptable. Please fix.
The cooler weather the last day made my piece of spinach pie to die for. Perfectly warming.
Thanks Fest.
This was our very first Ren Fest ever, we went on what was probably the worst weekend ever, the rainy cold closing weekend. But we both had fun, drank too much and probably will come back next year. I'd like to get a mug of the woods next year. I ended up buying a black maple wooden cup which I like however.
Great times both the wife and I had! Too bad we missed some of the ren fest forum people, I didn't see anyone with a pin and it was tough to tell who was who. Oh well, maybe next year.
I had an awesome time, love Fest Friends...Just didn't get enough time at fest!
Had a great time this season for the 4 times the Earl and I went. Each time, we saw different acts, patronized our favorite vendors, enjoyed the friendship of FEST FRIENDS. We will be joining up again for the 2010 season.
We had a great fest season! It was great connecting with old friends, getting to know people better and getting to know new people. Fest Friends is really turning into a great place for people to meet, share ideas (crafting, garb and real life stuff, too) and we really need a cook book - lots of great treats this year.
We had a great time going to shows with Goody (& Mom!), my Mom and mundane friends.
We saw pretty much everything we wanted to see, did everything we wanted to do and if I could wish for anything it would be for a longer season and more money to spend!
Quote from: white trillium on October 22, 2009, 08:40:13 PM
We had a great fest season! It was great connecting with old friends, getting to know people better and getting to know new people. Fest Friends is really turning into a great place for people to meet, share ideas (crafting, garb and real life stuff, too) and we really need a cook book - lots of great treats this year.
We had a great time going to shows with Goody (& Mom!), my Mom and mundane friends.
We saw pretty much everything we wanted to see, did everything we wanted to do and if I could wish for anything it would be for a longer season and more money to spend!
I agree, after helping remodel a booth and getting early access it was a blast the few times we attended got to bring more fest virgins and created some more addicts (oops maybe).
This was one of my BEST years despite parking in the pit!
Quote from: Obadiah Jib on October 23, 2009, 05:45:57 PM
This was one of my BEST years despite parking in the pit!
Oh the pit wasn't that bad ya whiner. ^_^
I agree. The pit ended up being preferable to the field. Fest Friday parking was really unpleasant.
The pit turned out way better then I expected it to. The field stole our muffler whereas the pit just made our car dirty.
All in all my year was pretty good. I had an awesome 2nd (thanks Muffin!) which greatly lowered the stress and drama in the pub. Good times were had, but I just wasn't as into it this year. I missed my Sarah.
I had a great year! Working at Foaming Stein was a blast. Volunteering out there was a very worth while cause. (not to mention the bennies to me) Got to meet a whole slew of new people, and still had fun with old friends. I already look forward to next year!