When a Festival Goes Down Hilll

Sometimes the signs have already been appearing before you actually recognize them. It was the three years ago, the year we had a penis spray-painted on the front of our booth, that things began to go downhill with one of our favorite festivals. That was the year that they began to shuttle in a younger crowd form the local colleges.

            Then the last straw was the muds pits that began to take over.  On top of it, the festival grounds were not being maintained. And what was once one of our best most flourishing festivals, began to lose ground. For yards in front of vendor row, there were 4-6 inches deep of mud, created from a lot of rain and all of the foot traffic. Little children would scream out crying because their galoshes were caught in the mud and they would step right out of them into the mud. Festivals goers were beginning to get fed up. 

And then it happened again this year, starting before the festival even began. The families who did come back called and told their friends not to bother to come. The festival had sent out a newsletter beforehand saying that gravel had been put down, where it was not. To lose the trust of your crowd is the worst thing for a festival- and causes real damage to the vendors.

 

Despite all this, the festival is bringing in all the younger crowd and making as much money as ever, not even seeing the tides changing. And the vendors are getting fed up, many of us not to return.  So its time to say goodbye to one festival family.

Its the end of an era.