So the 2008 Willits Renaissance Faire is behind me. It was another mellow weekend (well generally speaking). The attendence for this faire (meaning patrons) has never been large since it closed after the 2001 season (and was restarted by Rusty Sword Productions in ‘96), with last year’s attendence being in the mid 2k range. This year’s event held to the regional norm of faires being 15%-20% below their 2007 attendence figures.

People were still out having a great ol’ time, but there just wasn’t as many of them, and once they were there, they weren’t opening their pocketbooks nearly the way that they had in years past. This is the same as it’s been all year, from Visalia and Sonora onward.

We keep hoping that things will improve, but they probably won’t for a while, and I think that we’ll definitely be at least the same (if not worse) before it gets better.

Golden Gate faire is coming up in two weeks, so we’re pulling out all the stops in the hopes that we can keep at least even with the attendence from last year’s event. Our fingers are crossed, and mine especially. Last year we were finally in the black. I’d like to keep it that way. The way things are, shows can’t be in the red any longer (especially to any serious degree).

Overall the faire was fun - people all around had a great time, and I especially enjoyed not having any drama around that involved me (I know, a novel concept). It was annoying to have three guilds as effectively no-shows (Thistle House, Brotherhood of the Bottle, and St. Ambrose), and we’ll have to remember this for the next time that they apply to an event.

I’m glad that Highland Warriors didn’t pan out, since there wouldn’t have been the space, and it would have been extra $ that we just didn’t have this year. They’re always a nice addition, but I don’t think that it would have changed anything this year. Plus now we have them to add in for ‘09.