SeanM, maybe this thread topic wasn't entirely appropriate for this forum. I guess that I was just upset about how the Festival was slipping and was trying to do something about it. Thanks to everyone for having the patience to listen to me and the restriant not to chew me out (too badly!)

And by the way, you're absolutely right about entertaining the crowd. Even though I'm just trying to draw them into playing my game, once I get warmed up, I find myself doing my whole song and dance. It's entertaining for them (most of the time) and a lot of fun for me!

You're also right about the laxness (is that a word?) of the current CA Faires. Granted we may make fun of the people walking around in street clothes but we won't bar them at the gate because they aren't "period authentic." We're here to entertain and educate, not exclude.

Dar, the thing is that the owners DO advertise. At least that's what we're told. Most of the vendors grumble about the fact that they never hear anything in the media about Crossroads. I heard about Devore on the radio. That's what we should be aiming for, that and TV. I've heard that the owner puts advertisements in the paper but since I don't have the time to read the paper, I don't know. The problem is that we're all just participants. It's up to the owner to do advertising. The thing that really gets the goat is that we ARE different. We're a lot cheaper (both at the gate and at the booths), we have several unique guilds, and we're in a beautiful spot. It's just, that that stuff never gets advertised!

Melani, the "period authentic" thing can be hard and I've had times when I've had to break character. The way I skirt the problem of "authentic" songs is that I went through my repitore and only picked those songs that were either written close enough to the desired time (such as off by a few decades) or those that are so nonspecific that you can't really tell what time period they're from (love songs are great for this).

Susan, THANK YOU! I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. Like I said, it really is a nice little faire. Sorry you got lost. It kind of is out in the middle of nowhere. You should have come and seen me. I was working the ring toss and the crossbows. Oh well. I'm glad you came.

Again a big thank you everyone who has contributed to this thread.

Rebecca <><