Suggestions

[lilakrista]

I am spreading word of the faire down here in Corpus, but you might want to consider some advertising down here.. There is a surprisingly large number of Ren faire people who live down here, and all that I have told of Sherwood have already shown up or will be in the coming weeks.

[ravic]

Was not prepared for the sheer size of the place. Exactly how big is the ticketed area anyway?

Very impressed by how built out it was for a first year faire. Still a litlle raw around the edges of course but that's just growing pains & I predict all will come out excellent. The forest was great. I liked how the sight lines were mostly restricted to your immediate area & not looking across vast expanses of space.

Speaking of pains, have mercy on this poor ole fat white boy & add some more seats along the paths. That loooong trek up the center pathway from the Jerusalem pub to the front gate is obviously an evil ploy to keep us inside the faire. 

[mpullen]

Was not prepared for the sheer size of the place. Exactly how big is the ticketed area anyway?

Very impressed by how built out it was for a first year faire. Still a litlle raw around the edges of course but that's just growing pains & I predict all will come out excellent. The forest was great. I liked how the sight lines were mostly restricted to your immediate area & not looking across vast expanses of space.

Speaking of pains, have mercy on this poor ole fat white boy & add some more seats along the paths. That loooong trek up the center pathway from the Jerusalem pub to the front gate is obviously an evil ploy to keep us inside the faire. 

We intentionally moved 1,000 truckloads of sand/soil to build up the hill that the Pub sits upon, so that Patrons could roll downhill to the entrance.


Just kidding. Remember that the sand was the beach from the great inland ocean from pre-historic times. Imagine creatures crawling out of the waters and onto the land somewhere in this area.

History occurred here millions of years ago, and is now being made again.

[ravic]

Sorry, Mike, but you don't have as much as yesterday. Appears we brought a goodly bit home with us. I can bring it back in two weeks if you wish.

[Ken]

I have to second what Ravic said:  I think I washed a good bit of that sand out of my hair and off of my body when I showered after this weekend.  I weighed myself both before and after my shower, and I was 2.5 pounds lighter at the end of it, and that was still with my hair still wet!  Still, there seems to be no shortage of it, so I'm not terribly concerned just yet with lowering the overall topography of the site by the amount that I wash down the drain each Monday.   

One thing that was pointed out to me this weekend was the signage at the Three Celestials Stage.  It has an absolutely gorgeous sign that is absolutely unnoticable by anyone who is not standing in front of my shop (which is directly behind the seats at that stage) looking at the stage itself.  People coming up from the sides or from the direction of, say, Wild Wolf Forge or Swan Lace will never see it, and, as I understand it, some of the performers themselves hadn't actually noticed it until just this past weekend.

Also, a few patrons pointed out that a signboard of what acts were performing when at that stage would be helpful.

~Ken

[KiltedPrivateer]

While we're on the topic of signage - It has been a bane of the women folk in my camp that the flushie access times seem to change randomly.  And the women folk are not happy folk if they walk all the way up to the flushies only to find the gate closed and locked and have to travel back down the road to the port-a-privies. 

I would recommend a sign stating the hours that the flushies will be available to the campers, and then stick to those times.

Originally we were told they would be open from close of faire to open of faire, but that wasn't the case this past weekend.

~KP~

[Kitara]

Yes we'd gladly abide by the flushie rule if we knew exactly when they are open and closed each night. We are told one thing but it has changed every weekend so far. It's very frustrating.

And by the way, the shower trailer idea is fabulous, bless you who thought of it!

[rengypsy]

here is the plan that was implemented...though i dont know if its been implemented routinely.

as soon as the front gate closes and the gates around the faire are opened for vendors to leave, the gate opens adjacent to the campground showers for campers to have access to the flush toilets.

[Kitara]

Yeah that's what we were told too but it's not the case. Sometimes they don't get opened until really late after closing and then closed before 5:30 am. We know this because several of our clan have gone up there and they have been closed as early as 5:30am. It's an awful long walk back to the port o' privies when you really have to go in the middle of the night!

[Var Greyshadow]

Made my first visit this past weekend and overall, I'm VERY impressed!

Just a few bits that I thought could be better:

Paths - The actual paths through the grounds should be better "paved" (make it clearer where the intended paths are).  On many occasions, I headed striaght for something, only to think that maybe that slightly more packed winding area was the proper way to go.  The non-path areas would be nice with some landscaping.  Obviously, not an immediate concern - just something that might make the site look a little nicer than it already does.

The parade - I've been on both sides (watcher and walker) of the parades at Scarby, TRF, and Minnesota.  This one needs some work.  For starters - blink, and you miss it.  The route is not on site maps, so there's no way to know where to go to watch it.  The pace is very quick, which I heard is not so easy for everyone in it to keep, especially up the hill on a hot day (previous weekend).  There whole thing needs to be spread out more.  Bigger gaps between the various groups, so you can tell them apart, and the vendors should not be one giant clump.  Banner overkill!  Pretty, but not effective advertising, as there's no time to read all of them as they streak by.

Signs - Found it strange that the big signs are for the campers and participants entrance, not the general playtrons/paytrons.  I would've turned in the wrong place if Queen Bonnie hadn't told me where I was supposed to turn in.

Fences - The fences surrounding the site need to be taller.  I didn't like the fact that I could see the tops of the flushie-mobiles and campground showers.  "Backstage" should not be visible from within if possible.

Future wishlist - More exotic variety of beer.  I like Guinness, but I'm basically a beer snob - love my microbrews.  (Loved the warm mulled mead yesterday though - perfect for a cold day!)

Otherwise, keep up the good work!  I felt like I'd walked into a faire that has been well established for several years already.  The cast were wonderful, even in the wet and cold.  Love the Italian place with the upstairs seating!  A covered pub (Ye Olde Trip) with a stage is a blessing for the warm (or rainy) days.  Didn't get to as many shows as I would have liked, but there are many favorites among the performers.  Hope to make new favorites on my next visit. 

Huzzah, Sherwood!!

[bran_gray]

And by the way, the shower trailer idea is fabulous, bless you who thought of it!

Omg they have showers for campers?!

That's my one bane when camping is the lack of showers!

[Barret]

Hey Var,

    great thoughts, but I think the "paths" are not intentional, the area is supposed to feel like a woods, not a town or city, so the faire wanted to leave the whole area open and let people define the paths, not define them for them. At least that is what I seem to remember hearing somewhere along the line.

[Lord Virgo]

Made my first visit to Sherwood this past weekend and the only request I have is to continue this faire every year till the end of time.  I had an amazing time and I loved the grounds.  Camping was an experience but I'm glad Mother Earth reminded my of my place on this planet.  Old Man Winter gave us one last kick in the pants before he left.  All the shows were outstanding, the food was wonderful, the vendors wares were unbelievable, the ale, wine, and merriment were flowing.  The Seven Sisters is epic.  Probably my favorite spot at the faire.  Extreme!!!!

[rengypsy]

brother,

thanks for the comments.  when glord antioch and i began this venture as partners, we discussed the future--not in terms of 10-20 years--not in terms of our life times--not even in terms of our kids lifetimes--but rather in terms of centuries to come.

we feel strongly there is a spirit here...and it's meant to live on for a very very long time.

sherwood welcomes you!

rengypsy

[Var Greyshadow]

Also, there are some neat signs at the "lake" by the swings warning folks not to play in the water because of "Sea Monsters" -- a really cute idea!  However, I know of several young kids who hung around there waiting to see some sign of the sea monsters!  Maybe some random spurts or ripples of water every now and then, maybe a bobbing hidden "sea monster" fin ... something like that ... might be a neat addition.

A suggestion for a sea monster - We just got "Nessie the Garden Monster" from Gaelsong.  I'd bet she could be mounted on a board or something to float her out in the pond.  She's kind of a small sea monster for a kind of small pond.

Check it out: http://www.gaelsong.com/product/145853/Decor_Garden