As readers of this page are aware, the Wisconsin Renaissance Festival picked up a number of my helmets. (pics are of some of those helmets.) The got a nice write up in "Renaissance Faire Magazine". An excerpt is below.
Wisconsin Renaissance Faire
…Despite slightly lower total attendance this season - which started on June 14 and ran five consecutive weekends - many people from surrounding areas and across the nation were not too discouraged by a weakening economy and inflated gas prices to make the trip to the fair.
"I'd be willing to bet that 70 percent of our customers, from our data that we have collected, have been from out of the area," said Wisconsin Renaissance Faire President Shane McVey, clad in full armor, just minutes after performing live, armed combat.
Last season, McVey said 42 percent of customers traveled 60 or more miles to attend.
Though this year's total attendance numbers were unavailable Sunday night, McVey anticipated it would be near last year's mark of about 20,000.
Saturday and Sunday alone, McVey said, drew roughly 6,000.
Friends Wanda Braiman and Chris Nelson traveled from Tampa, Fla., last season for the Renaissance Faire and a few other area tourist destinations.
Impressed, the pair - who regularly attend the Bay Area Renaissance festival in Tampa - returned this season as a stop on their way to Nelson's Rhinelander vacation home.
"We're hoping to see some of the vendors that we saw last year because we bought some really great stuff," Braiman said. "We knew we were coming back this year so we made it a stop on our calendar of travels..."
"I seem to have a little thread of myself that seems connected to this kind of thing," she said. "You know, the whole medieval way of life and 'aarrgh' and beer and food and good times and just the local crafts and stuff. It's great."Doc Rice of Sioux Falls, S.D., was one of the fair's vendors.
Rice has commuted from his hometown each of the past five weekends to sell homemade wooden mugs out of his shop, Mugs of the Woods.
Sales were slow, Rice said, but the shop did well enough for him to make the trips…
Even with fewer people coming through the gates, McVey said he was happy with the turnout and plans to expand the fair with more buildings and crafts next season.
Complete article and picture: http://www.admail.net/url/416501/3e471b95/
…Despite slightly lower total attendance this season - which started on June 14 and ran five consecutive weekends - many people from surrounding areas and across the nation were not too discouraged by a weakening economy and inflated gas prices to make the trip to the fair.
"I'd be willing to bet that 70 percent of our customers, from our data that we have collected, have been from out of the area," said Wisconsin Renaissance Faire President Shane McVey, clad in full armor, just minutes after performing live, armed combat.
Last season, McVey said 42 percent of customers traveled 60 or more miles to attend.
Though this year's total attendance numbers were unavailable Sunday night, McVey anticipated it would be near last year's mark of about 20,000.
Saturday and Sunday alone, McVey said, drew roughly 6,000.
Friends Wanda Braiman and Chris Nelson traveled from Tampa, Fla., last season for the Renaissance Faire and a few other area tourist destinations.
Impressed, the pair - who regularly attend the Bay Area Renaissance festival in Tampa - returned this season as a stop on their way to Nelson's Rhinelander vacation home.
"We're hoping to see some of the vendors that we saw last year because we bought some really great stuff," Braiman said. "We knew we were coming back this year so we made it a stop on our calendar of travels..."
"I seem to have a little thread of myself that seems connected to this kind of thing," she said. "You know, the whole medieval way of life and 'aarrgh' and beer and food and good times and just the local crafts and stuff. It's great."Doc Rice of Sioux Falls, S.D., was one of the fair's vendors.
Rice has commuted from his hometown each of the past five weekends to sell homemade wooden mugs out of his shop, Mugs of the Woods.
Sales were slow, Rice said, but the shop did well enough for him to make the trips…
Even with fewer people coming through the gates, McVey said he was happy with the turnout and plans to expand the fair with more buildings and crafts next season.
Complete article and picture: http://www.admail.net/url/416501/3e471b95/
You can subscribe to "Renaissance Faire News", the on-line presence for "Renaissance Faire Magazine" by emailing Lady Janet at rennews@renaissancemagazine.com
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