Crazy busy at faire on Sunday 9/20/15!

[Ser Niall]

Who joined in on the madness that was faire this past Sunday?  That was the busiest I've ever seen it, and I heard that they had record breaking turnout.  Some of the cast members were saying that people had to be turned away at the gates due because they were over capacity, I've never heard of that happening.  Glad we rolled in 30 minutes before the gates opened, we didn't have a problem parking.  When we left, we noticed that there were people parking outside the grounds along Dixie Hwy.

It was a beautiful day to be at the faire, and even though it was crowded we had a great time.  Just feel bad for my father in law, it was his first time back to the faire after many years and I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the crowd.  His one goal was to get a turkey leg but there was a 2 hour wait for them    He did enjoy the shows however, especially the pyro gyro show.

[Wayitis]

We went today and it was crazy at how many people were in attendance.  I couldn't imagine even more people than there were today.

It's been years since we last went, I was looking forward to it today.  But, when we got there, it was a crowd much larger than we've ever seen in years past, by two to three times the size.  So much so that it actually made the event much less enjoyable.

The festival is very cool, but the crowds make moving, parking, or even getting a turkey drum stick, almost unbearable.  I had two free drumstick tickets, which I gave away because the lines were so ridiculously long.  While I understand the ever increasing draw to the event, I would only wish there was a way to manage the capacity or food distributions better, through whatever reasonable means possible.  Regrettably it isolates people that don't like the massive crowds and insanely long lines, as I probably wouldn't go back again.  It's unfortunate for people like us, but I had to see for myself, how large this event had gotten this year.

While I'm happy for the success of the event, the crowds are not for me.  That itself, becomes the deal breaker.

[Ser Niall]

We went Sept 12th and it wasn't very crowded at all.  Of course the rain might have had something to do with it    It was actually one of my more enjoyable faire experiences.  We just relaxed in the covered pubs and listened to the music while enjoying some drinks and waiting out the rain.  By noon it was nice and sunny.  The 2nd time we went was the highland games weekend, and it was the biggest crowd I've ever seen there.  We arrived early so no problems getting in, but heard horror stories from people who tried coming later in the day.

I'm wondering if Game of Thrones has something to do with the big spike in faire popularity.  If they expect to draw crowds like this for the foreseable future, they should probably make plans to increase the faire space and maybe add another entrance/exit.