Western Gates Faerie Festival

[francesca]

Hello, fellow Ren Faire goers.
Has anyone ever visited this event coming up on November 15th? If so, did you enjoy it? Can you provide any details on what it was like? Thanks for the info.

[Julianne]

I have not been to this festival...if you go I hope you will share your experiences here?!

[Lady Marielle of Andorra]

Greetings, Francesca.
I attended last year. It was a lovely affair - very colorful costumes, a nice variety of merchants, good food, great entertainment. I'll be there this year as well. I believe it's being held in Goodyear - all the details are on their webpage at westerngatesfaerierealms.com. I'm a bit disappointed, though - it was a weekend event in 2007, and it was held out in the east valley. This year, it's one day only, on November 15th. I'll just have to squeeze 2 days of magickal fun into one! If you're thinking of going, it's a wonderful bit of fun, and you won't be disappointed if it's anywhere near as good as it was last year. It's also a nice way of filling in the time before our own beloved Renaissance Festival returns in February. Hope this helps.

Lady Marielle

[francesca]

Hi, Lady Mariele.
Thanks for the info. I'll definitely put it on my list to visit this year. I went on their web site and noticed a lot of nice faerie garb. I wonder if I'll be chased out if I don't have proper faerie attire to wear and go dressed like an ordinary human : ) . 


Juliannne, I'll be more than happy to report to the message board what it was like. Hope they have mead!

Thanks much for the speedy responses, ladies.

[francesca]

Hello, Julianne and all interested others!

I'm happily obliging your request to let you know how the Faerie Festival was. It was my first time attending, and I thought it was a blast. It was on a smaller scale than our own beloved Faire, of course, but still very well planned out and organized; and to be honest, I really enjoyed being able to wander around without the elbow-to elbow congestion that a larger event can sometimes produce. I was pleasantly surprised to meet and speak with quite a few people there who were regular attendees at our Ren Fest, and I even met a few people who were active in the SCA. The weather was gorgeous, although really windy in the morning, and the food was very good, although the lines were looong and it could take upwards of 30 minutes standing in line to buy food. It was held out at Estrella Mountain Regional Park. I'd never been there before, but the site chosen was nice – trees, places to sit and eat, and a nice layout to walk around in. There was some very good entertainment on the sole (albeit nicely equipped!) stage, and several of the vendors are also participants at the AZ Ren Fest, so it was nice to see some old favorites. Garb was fun and quite varied – everything from Disney-like Tinkerbell fairy styles to more stylized woodland and elemental faerie garb, traditional Renaissance and Medieval garb, fantasy (Tolkein, trolls, gnomes), mundane, etc.

I'm not a good judge of area, but I'd say that the event covered a space similar to what the Devonshire Festival used to cover at Los Olivos Park, and that's about 24 acres. The gates closed at 6 p.m., but there was a free after-hours masquerade ball and more entertainment that was open to all attendees that wanted to stick around, and that went on until about 10 p.m. A lot of the vendors packed it up at sundown, but some had generators for lighting so they stayed open. The evening party was really very nice – it lent a truly magical air to the whole event, especially with a big waning moon in the sky, and some of the pretty lighting that was set up among the tree branches by the event organizers and the vendors that brought their own lights. The possibility of an evening party is one thing I always thought would be a lot of fun at the AZ Ren Fest if it could be successfully pulled off, although on such a large scale, I imagine it might end up being more a logistical nightmare than not. But still...

Last year, the Faerie Festival was spread out over a weekend. This year, it was just Saturday, but I will be gladly attending next year if this event continues, and I hope and think it will. The event coordinator seemed very pleased at the turn out, and I can see this expanding and growing and becoming very successful, especially if the next one is a bit more centrally located, and more food vendors are present. It is certainly very family-friendly, but still feels "grown up" enough for adults to come out and play and not feel like they're attending Disney on Ice or something. Hope this was helpful!

[KnaveMcS]

Hello everyone!!! I know it has been a long time since I have posted. Yes, I am still alive.

Francesca pretty much hit the nail on the head in regards to the Faerie Festival. I was fortunate enough to work security at this splendid event. I have been privy to much information about what went wrong. I am pleased to announce that Rowan, the event coordinator, has decided to continue with the Phoenix Faerie Festival in 2009 for it's 3rd year. It is still in it's infancy and needs to be nourished. I will continue to work with Rowan to help try and make next year's Faerie Festival better than this years. As of now, she is still planning on having it at the same time and location next year. I know that she is already accepting applications for volunteers and vendors for next year's Faerie Festival. Feel free to spread the word.

See you soon... Only 79 days til Opening Cannon

http://www.7is7.com/otto/countdown.html?year=2009&month=2&date=7&hrs=10&ts=24&min=0&sec=0&tz=-420&lang=en&show=dhms&mode=t&cdir=down&bgcolor=%23CCFFFF&fgcolor=%23000000&title=Countdown%20To%20Opening%20Cannon