Can Ren Faires really be worth it?

Sometimes it is just being able to be part of the atmosphere. I know that we put costumes on to perform and for some of us it pulls us in to a different part of our personality. But being able to be in an atmopshere that portrays that moment in time makes it extra special.

I've danced at a few faires and it is always a good time. Plus you may be able to reach a future client that you wouldn't reach just performing in Restaurants and clubs.

Ren Rats are a certain breed that just enjoys playing make believe for a while. Most “troupe” are also part of Guild that dose more then just put on a few shows here and there. Unless you are doing a HUGE very well established Faire the money is not that good and you don’t break even (A weekend at faire can be spendy with all the food, gear and what not you need to bring to set up an half way decent encampment) Also those huge, well established faires that I speak of usually will not allow any caned music so you have to bring your own musician. Not always easy feet. We don’t have a corporate faire in the Washington area as of yet (there is a rumor that one is coming but you all know the rule of rumor control) and from what I hear the ones we have don’t pay much or pay at all. The troupes that do them again and again do it for the love of playing Faire ;)

My girlfriend and I dance at faire and do it for fun and practice. We've got regulars that come and see us every weekend andwe do it for them, but mostly for ourselves. We love the smells and the sights and sounds and people. It's really more like hanging out than work. And we take breaks anytime it gets to be too much. We also only have one show a day, in the shade.

Well Awalim does get paid well at the GA ren fare and it is like performance boot camp, we get to perform and tweak the same show 44 times (we only did 5 out of the 8 weekends of the spring faire). We nitpick each show, changing things that got no audience reaction and boosting things that did. We also drum for ourselves so it is a great boost for our drumming skills to have to reproduce the same show each time. By the end of Memorial Day last weekend we were exhausted, could barely walk but we were still able to spin, drum and play with the audience. It eats up ton of time to choreograph and rehearse, we started the day after TribalCon and focused only on that for 7 weeks, eshewing other gigs and performance opportunities.

Is it worth it? probably but as tired as we are now coming to the end of the run we don't even know what day it is so we probably aren't in a position to tell.

I will say that we do not do anything beyond our four shows, we do not have to do the parade or make appearances anywhere during the day. We do generally go down to the drum booth and warm up there before the first show of the day.

We do it for the fun, not the money. We shmooze, we drink and dance and invite all kinds of people we haven't met to our encampment for the weekend. It's more like a mini vacation (except for the hot and sweaty part).

How little do y'all perform for? A ren faire should have the same sort of "Dancing for free is undercutting" ethic as any other venue that has paying patrons...they are making money off of you out there sweating. Top acts get thousands per weekend, even a regular townie act gets a thousand a weekend at most small faires (I traveled as a booth manager for five years to every size and type of faire), belly dancers shouldn't act as if they are below sword swallowers and jugglers.

I have never -danced- at a faire, but I did work the faire circuit for about 10 years until my home faire closed down and took my heart with it.

For me, I was part of the cast and musicians that toured the fair grounds in layers, and layers, and layers of velvet and leather. Let me agree with everyone that has posted above. This is HOT work. But at the same time what the new participant won't see right away is what makes working faires so much fun. You need to spend time at the faire with the others that work there when the faire is NOT open to patrons. If it's a permanent site, you will notice many of the vendors, almost always the knights/jousting troupe and quite often operations and some performers do live on site between shows. --This is where the magic happens--.

Renn faires for long time performers are not about the pay, only partially about the performance and almost entirely about the people behind the scenes.

If you are looking to make a lot of money quickly - try a pyramid scam :D but if you are looking to make life long friends and "Family", and go to a place where you can interact freely, ad-lib and maybe even touch someone's life - then Renn faires are for you.

It's hot.. you will smell horrible at the end of the day.. you will cough and sneeze out "Faire Boogers", you will find ways to smuggle healthy food into the 'town gates'. You will learn the wonders of 'bodice coolers', you will find new ways to keep cool (frozen grapes, frozen fruit, frozen anything!), you will befriend a booth owner to seek real shelter during the rainy days, you'll learn to judge puddles for depth without needing to step in them, you'll learn a million ways to wash mud out of any kind of material, you will become a share holder in every sunscreen and bugspray maker out there. You will get sunburned, you may get sunstroke, you will have one helluva great tan by the end of the season, you may freeze some mornings, and you'll buy a warm cloak! You will invest in far more costume pieces then you could ever imagine, you may learn how to do henna (sp?) on your own! You'll ponder at exactly what kind of meat makes up a "Turkey Leg", (and if your smart you'll never try one), you will hear cell phones ringing while your performing, you'll see patrons more interested in their food or what's going on two stages away then yours, you'll have children attempt to dance with you, and parents who don't think it is necessary to get them off your stage because it's 'cute'. You'll know the location of every 'privie' in the park, whether you want too or not, you'll know which ones get the least amount of sun and are the most pleasant to use! You'll know where first aid is, and probably know the attendants by first name from the many times you'll direct a patron there who's been too dumb and has drank too much beer and not enough water. You will meet some performers who's ego's have overgrown, and you'll meet some who are timid and need to see a smiling face, likely yours in the audience of their first performance. And maybe... just maybe... you will mesmerize someone so powerfully, so hypnotically, that they in turn decide to take up the most amazing art that we all love.... bellydance.

Is it worth it? It's all a personal thing. For me, my Renn days are the happiest of my entire life. I'd go back in a heartbeat. It is also where I fell in love with Bellydancing.

i think it comes down to one thing...

are you a medieval reanactor or not?

ren faires are not belly dance events, and belly dancers that go to events with no care or concern on trying imitate history give real reanactors a bad rep.

if your into, go... if not... well that there ya go.

I would also think that a certain amount of marketing, drumming up business and spreading the word about classes would be a long term financial boon of the ren faire.