While I believe it differs little from a shopping mall lease agreement, the agreement between Vendors and Renaissance Festival Management involves the Vendor building and maintaining a structure on the Festival’s property, then paying a show fee to vend from that building during the event. (Mall leases involve Lessors paying for their own “build-out”; then… Continue reading Park Design Considerations, When Vendors are Also Investors
Profitability Through Play
The other night I was channel surfing and paused briefly on ‘Rawhide’, an old black & white weekly western series. Wishbone was servin’ up the grub. Rowdy, Scarlet, Mister Favor, the whole gang was sitting around the campfire, eating beans off of metal plates and soaking up the sunset. I was there with them,… Continue reading Profitability Through Play
Recognizing Your Customers and Avoiding the Fail
Some of the worst Customer Service failures occur when a worker isn’t able to recognize who their customer is. In a well-run commercial kitchen, each station has a different customer. Yes, the Guest is everyone’s customer, but in order for that Guest to have an optimum experience, the entire team has to function at its… Continue reading Recognizing Your Customers and Avoiding the Fail
Building Improv Chops as a Street Character
Renaissance Faires differ from other festivals and events in that they promise to transport visitors to a completely different time and place. That’s a mighty big promise. And every participant—volunteer or paid, mead wench or jouster, carpenter or manager, ticket seller or royal piper—is responsible for helping to keep it. Yet one group in particular,… Continue reading Building Improv Chops as a Street Character
Thrift Shop Parody: Renaissance Festival by Julian Bemi
Okay, no business advice this week, other than “Utilize your resources when they are available.” As nomads in the festival business, each show can have a specific circle of talented neighbors. Here is a great example of just that in action. Our friend Julia, with some help from friends, put together this Fabulous parody video… Continue reading Thrift Shop Parody: Renaissance Festival by Julian Bemi
10 Most Common & Ridiculous Questions Asked of Ren Fest Entertainers
Hi there I’m Ronn Bauman. For the past 24 years I’ve been the louder, longer-haired, more sexually ambiguous third of the original Tortuga Twins comedy trio. I know that’s a bit confusing but when I tell you that there’s actually SIX Tortuga Twins now – all sensibility just flutters out the window. Our hostess, the… Continue reading 10 Most Common & Ridiculous Questions Asked of Ren Fest Entertainers
An Incomplete and Informal Glossary
We very much intend to stay as jargon-free as possible on this site. If you’ve back-linked to this page, it means we couldn’t avoid the use of a word that has come to have a particular meaning in our industry. We fully expect this page to evolve. Hopefully it will never be very long. … Continue reading An Incomplete and Informal Glossary
The 9 Most Common Problems in the Renaissance Faire Building Industry
AKA, The Harsh Conversation I had with a Young Carpenter. The dynamics of the Vendor/Builder/Festival Management matrix are complex, and there are many places where the deal can go wrong for one or more of the parties. All three legs must be considered for this table to stand. On the one hand, talented carpenters get… Continue reading The 9 Most Common Problems in the Renaissance Faire Building Industry
Clothing Makes the Man
It seems that I hear people more concerned about the dress code of a Renaissance Festival than by whether or not they could own a business there. Oh, like dress slacks and a button down shirt are not a costume of a sort? Maybe it is that folks in the festival business are not as… Continue reading Clothing Makes the Man
How to Grow a Festival, Part Two
In part one of this conversation, I mentioned that because a festival is an experience, it is the responsibility of the participants at a festival to help create real growth. But what about those shows where the participants are doing everything they can, but the Festival Management drops the ball? It happens. Someone doesn’t order… Continue reading How to Grow a Festival, Part Two