If you want to grow and improve your Renaissance Faire, there are some things you can do. Take a look at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival held each fall in Shakopee, MN. This year will be their 46th year of holding the Festival. It is a long festival that runs every weekend from mid Aug to the end of Sept each year, charges adult admission of $25, and last year attracted 315,000 attendees. That is about 45,000 attendees each weekend. I have been there and it is quite an event and is not surprising that they draw such a crowd. Tons of vendors, multiple stages with several acts on each of them throughout the day, actual live jousting several times each day, roving acts of comedians, jugglers, musicians, etc throughout the grounds, and more. Plus they have a number of opportunities to ride animals, do activities, participate in games, watch artisan demos, etc. Now you can't expect to have all that in just your 3rd year, but a look at what they do may be enlightening. One thing that catches my attention is that they list what the acts are that will be performing. That way I can evaluate whether or not it is worth the price of admission to attend. What is listed on your site now is not much for detail, but sounds more like I am as much a part of the entertainment as anything else. If you have stage acts, list what they are so I know that I am getting something for my money. Another thing is vendors. Right close to your Faire site is the Farmers Market in St. Andrews every Saturday. There are quite a large number of vendors there and it costs the public nothing to go look at their wares. You may want to get together with the organizer and vendors to see if they would combine forces with you for that one Sat. And on that note you may want to reconsider what you charge vendors to set up a booth. St Andrews has a one time set up fee of $30 and then it is only $20 a week thereafter. If you want to draw people, then you need to draw vendors and acts. And if you want to draw vendors, then you need to have competitive prices for booths. Once the attendance of the Faire grows much larger, then you could think about raising the price of a booth.
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RENAISSANCE & CULTURAL FAIRE
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