I want to begin by thanking everyone who participated in today's Renaissance Fair. You guys did a great job with the events, from the jousting (maybe next year) to the play and other activities. Way back in sunny, warm, early September, having a Renaissance Fair on Shakespear's birthday sounded like a great idea, and still is, if you live in in the Southern US (Miami 80/Sunny). Maybe next year we will celebrate on Sandro Botticelli's birthday (5/17). However, the rain held off, and overall the day wasn't too bad. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. I think the "Spirit of the Renaissance Award" goes to Kieran for getting so into character. We will be posting a survey later for detailed feedback about the activities, including suggestions should today turn out to be the First Annual...
Period 8
Please respond with your general impressions, what went well, what you might change for next year, etc. Due Monday PM
Period 8
Please respond with your general impressions, what went well, what you might change for next year, etc. Due Monday PM
20 comments:
Overall I believe that the Renaissance was a great success. Everyone seemed to have a great time and enjoy themselves. The chess game and the plays were great as well as the food that was provided. One of the few suggestions that I may have would be that even though the sit down restaurant was a good idea in theory it was slightly inefficent. I believe that next year it might be a good idea to have more of a buffet set up with various pastries and other snacks. Also, the tavern did not seem to be as big of a success as we had hoped and maybe it is not really needed next year as long as food is provided again. Another comment that I heard was that a few people wanted to join in on the fencing. Maybe next year if there is another fencing demonstration then the demonstrators can try to include the students more and let them actively participate. Overall I believe that this event was a huge success and all of our hard work paid off.
The Renaissance Fair was an event that turned out to be successful given the challenges we faced. From what I witnessed, most people had fun with many of the events, and all the events were visited by people. In particular, the human chess game and fencing were very popular, and when put on, drew large crowds to them. Since these two activities seemed to be some of the most popular, we should consider expanding them. An example would be to have for fencing, extra equipment so that other students could participate in a bout. In terms of human chess, more games in general should be played, because as far as I saw only a few rounds were ever played. Bocce on the other hand was an almost continuous event, with at least six or so people watching/playing it. The other lawn game, crochet, looked as if it was not as popular, especially after one of the (mallets?) broke.
Finally, the play was very enjoyable, and although not all the lines were perfectly rehearsed, it played out well in the end, and was not only entertaining, but humorous. I originally wasn’t too sure if people would even think anything was funny in it, judging by our class’s lack of laughs. This however proved to be misleading, most likely because we had already heard the script half a dozen times or more. The end result was a successful play, and a successful day.
I think the Renaissance Faire went very well. I personally enjoyed my experience there; I thought the play went surprisingly well and got quite a few more laughs than expected, the fencing demonstration was very entertaining, and a bunch of people were interested in the live chess game. It would be a great idea to have the Renaissance Faire again next year, and a few improvements could be made to make it work better. I thought the tavern was a really good idea, but a wider selection of foods that are maybe not so Renaissance like may attract a few more people. It was also inefficient to have a waiter type service; people could still be required to sit down while eating but they should be able to go up and get their food and drinks themselves. The lawn games were fun for those who played, but an organized tournament of one of the games next year would definitely draw a wider crowd… especially for bocce. Overall, I think it went very well, and I definitely believe another should be held next year. Another comedic play would be great, but on a different topic than the one this past year.
Although initially skeptical of the potential success of our Renaissance Faire, I feel as though the event was carried out very well. I, for what's it worth, had a great time visiting and partaking in the various events we offered. As others have said, the human chess game, fencing, the tavern, and the play were particularly successful.
Although many people have expressed their frustration with the system of having to "sit down to eat," I feel as though this concept was great idea. It made sure that as many people as possible could have something to eat rather than one person, grabbing more than his share while also limiting the amount of garbage around the senior court.
In the future, better manned activities would improve the Faire. For example, if a student or two stayed at the lawn games station and maybe created a "Bocce Bracket," more hype would have surrounded the activity.
Minor changes such as playing music to create a more "Renaissance-esque" feel, eliminating the cards that were not particularly suitable to the windy weather, and having potentially more activites to do could potentially improve the Faire. In general however everyone did an excellent job, actors and actresses in particular. Good job guys!
Over all, I believe that the Renaissance fair was a great success. I believe that it has much potential in becoming an annual Cheshire High School event. The four major aspects that I found most enjoyable about the event were the tavern, the human chess match, and the performance of Henry VIII. The tavern was a good idea because it provided students with food and beverages. The human chess match generated much attention among my fellow classmates, as well as the Henry VIII trial, which was both entertaining and slightly educational. I also thought that the inclusion of chess matches added much to the Renaissance atmosphere.
Although there were many parts of the Renaissance fair that were brilliantly executed, I also have taken into account that certain things could’ve been done to improve the exhibition. I noticed that the weather was very cold during the Renaissance fair; therefore, it would have been judicious to have the event on a warmer day. Also, I believe that including songs from the period could’ve made the day more entertaining. It would have been possible to hire a singer, and this would’ve greatly added to the scenery of the Renaissance fair. Also, it is my opinion that the addition of poetry written from the century would’ve created much interest among the participants. If my suggestions are heeded, I am certain that this joyful event will become even better next year.
The Renaissance Faire was definitely a new event for Cheshire High School, and I'm very glad that I got to participate in it.
I thought the play was actually most successful. Despite our unpreparedness, it turned out well. The actors were hilarious with their slip-ups. We had people laughing and the comedic side of the play was a great hit. In the future, maybe instead of doing the play once, there can be another time for the play to occur. The other other activities that we had had also garnered a lot of attention. The Human Chess Game had a whole crowd watching and the Fencing Demonstration was interesting too. It was good that we had actual CHS students participate.The Tavern, I have to say, was a hit. People loved the food, especially the scones. Though, more variety of food should have been displayed.
The other lawn games, however, didn't seem to catch a lot people's attention. No one was helping at this station. I think that we should, if we do this again next year, have people demonstrate and teach the games so people would know what to do. Also, we were told to dress as people from the Renaissance but we didn't really follow through...I think that may have taken the Renaissance experience away.
But, the Renaissance Faire was also an experiment for us. Last year's Euro class did not get to do this. I think for next year, the Renaissance Faire should be done after the AP exam is finished with. Though the Renaissance was a significant part of history, there were other things that needed to be taught in our class.
In general, I thought the Renaissance Faire was pretty successful. Despite some initial skepticism, I think most people ended up enjoying themselves.
Like others have said, some activities were more successful than others. The fencing and human chess seemed to draw the largest numbers of people, and the bocce also seemed to be pretty popular. The café run by the cooking students was also popular, though I heard people complain about having to sit and be waited on. The tavern, however, was pretty pointless. I feel like it would have been better if the tavern and café had been combined, with the cooking students serving from the bar. Though I feel that the play could have used a lot more rehearsal, it managed to draw several laughs from the crowd, and at the very least kept people amused. However, I think that a better sound system would have been useful - it was difficult to hear some of the actors.
If there were to be another Ren Faire next year, I would suggest more interactive activities, and music on the stage area between other performances. The fiddle music Chris played was wonderful, but no one really realized that she was playing.
The two main issues I had with the Ren Faire had to do with how it impacted the students opting to take the AP exam. The Faire took up a tremendous time from class, making us rather behind and putting a lot of pressure on the students taking the exam. Also, the timing of the Faire was inopportune for students taking AP exams - it would have been better if the Faire occurred after exams, when AP students would have had fewer problems skipping classes and would have had more time to devote to the Faire. (Also, if the Faire were held in late May/early June, the weather would be considerably warmer)
Overall, however, I think it was a fun day and an interesting experience.
I am really pleased with how the Renaissance Faire turned out and to be honest I’m surprised that people liked it so much. Many of the people out there might have simply been out there because they just wanted to be outside but I know a lot of people who saw what was going on through the windows and were really interested about it. I saw a bunch of people playing chess which was nice and then there was a large group watching the human chess game although I didn’t get too much of a chance to see a match myself. The play also went really well and all of the actors and actresses did a great job in that. I really liked the idea of a play to begin with and despite the overall look of things at the beginning, the play actually got a lot of laughs. There should definitely be an inclusion of a play next year but I think you should see what other people have for ideas next year. Now I spent most of my time at the fencing demonstration, which I am pleased to say, garnered a good amount of interest. This was both a blessing and a curse because a lot of people wanted to try fencing. This was great and all but it got exceedingly dangerous as I realized that we didn’t have enough stuff to supply everybody with necessary safety equipment. In fact after one person refused to wear the stuff but picked up the blade anyways I had to stop the open bouting for fear someone would get hurt. For next year I know my fencing club has a lot of extra stuff so I would only suggest the real metal blades if we could get that equipment. There are a lot of fencers coming into the class next year so I know we can have another fencing demonstration but unless we have the extra equipment or foam swords, the actual fencing blades need to stay with the fencers. On another note, I really liked some of the other ideas for a bocce tournament and maybe more live music from the time period. I think these ideas would be great additions into the overall theme of the faire. Costumes would be good too but understandably not many of us had costumes just laying around. Hopefully next year we can get even more of the school involved in participating in the faire so things like costumes and era specific food and music could be organized. All in all I really hope that this is the First Annual CHS Faire but the date should be postponed till after the AP test. Besides at that point in the year it is much warmer and a lot less windy which I’m sure a lot of people would have preferred. I really think that this was a great activity especially since so many activities got cancelled this year. I would love to help out again as well so if you want to open up planning to an after school group as well I would be all for it.
I believe the Renaissance Fair was a success for the first of its kind. The play was surprisingly funny and got a lot of laughs, which was unexpected. I really enjoyed the lawn games since I played bocce pretty much the whole day. The live chess game was cool and the fencing demonstration was awesome.
I think this would be a great idea for next year. It was a lot of fun and the kids seemed to enjoy it. However, I saw a lot of kids just standing around when the play wasn’t going on. There seemed to be a lot of down time in which kids were just standing doing nothing. I think that maybe next year there could be a bocce tournament, or other activities that include all of the kids. I would like to see some more displays set up by classes, that kids could walk around and look at. I think that something needs to be done about the lack of things to do. I also feel that there was a major lack of decorations. I understand we had limited time to set up but I feel that the props and scenery that was supposed to make it feel like a Renaissance Fair fell short. I think that next year more time should be taken to ensure more of a Renaissance Fair atmosphere and a greater involvement of the audience and kids.
I thought the Renaissance Fair was a good success overall. Those who attended seemed to enjoy themselves and it appeared that all the events had good attendance. I think the play went surprisingly better than we expected, and even got some laughs. The fencing seemed to be fairly popular, and might be good to expand upon next year to include active participation with the crowd, etc. The lawn games also seemed quite popular with ongoing boccee games and looked like those involved were enjoying it. The human chess game was pretty good, but seemed poorly organized, and if it is used again should probably be improved organizationally. The stockades were hilarious, if a little uncomfortable to be in, which was entirely the point, so they worked well. I think the play could have been improved, although it went well, better than I thought it would at least. Overall it was a success in my opinion, with good interest in the human chess, fencing, and lawn games, the play and human chess could have used improvement, but went well nonetheless. Additionally, I totally won best costume, regardless of there being a contest or not.
I am the moron who is going to say that the RenFaire was not a success. I think this for two main reasons. Reason one: I'm a jerk, a huge jerk. I openly admit it, and most of the, I am quite proud of it. Reason number two, I had higher standards for what I wanted to see than most of the people involved. That is not to say my standards are better, or that I did better because of it (I still am not a very good juggler).
The Play: although we did get laughs, I was hoping everyone would learn their lines. We did get laughs, that was great, but I really thought we could have done a much better job.
Events: They all went well, but I felt we could have been more Renaissancey. I don't even know what that means, but that's how I feel. A little more ye olde and such.
Me: I needed to learn how to juggle before hand, I was completely unprepared, my apolgies. I screwed up. I needed riddles too. I do think I had one funny bit though...
Good things: People enjoyed themselves. The play got enough laughs. Pizza is yummy. Kids preferred us to class. We got out of class. And Kieran is Satan.
I did not thing the RenFaire was successful as it could have been. I really think preperation was the major issue, but I wrote more about that in my last blog. There were many good things, however. Furthermore, I, and I think everyone else, very muched enjoyed the Faire.
I really enjoyed the Renaissance Faire and was impressed by how it turned out. The main improvement I would make for the future would be to have the Faire on Botticelli’s birthday instead of Shakespeare’s. Not only would it be warmer, but it would be after AP exams etc. and would be a day of greater relaxation for everyone. Writing the play was difficult, but the actors did a good job and the jokes were well-received. The idea of a “sit-down” restaurant would have been more successful with more waiters and more tables/chairs for seating. And you can never have too much food. I think most people who went enjoyed themselves and would want to go again in the future. This year’s Renaissance Faire was a great success, but next year’s has the potential to be even better. A performance by Baba Brinkman perhaps?
I thought that the Renaissance fair was excellent. I really felt it had enough going on so that everyone found something they were interested in. As an outsider of the play I thought it was great and it really kept people’s attention. The human chess game was so much fun, all of the participants and observers really enjoyed themselves because it allowed for everyone to interact. Of course the café was a hit though next year there should definitely be more food. I think that the reason that the fair got such a great reception was because kids had the freedom to go where they wanted. They didn’t have to watch the play and they didn’t have to watch the puppet show, so since they were able to make their own choices it was more enjoyable. Next year I would suggest having more seating though and I also agree with having it either in the beginning or more towards the end of the year so that the weather is warmer. I also think that all classes during the fair’s designated periods, should come to the fair because certain kids had to miss out and they were really disappointed. I do have to say that next year I feel that the fair will see more real if it is more renaissance-esque: go all out with costumes, decorations, and acting and the entire thing will be that much better. But overall I feel that the Renaissance Fair went very well and I can tell it will be a hit in the years to come.
I felt the Renaissance Fair went very well. Overall it seemed to be a huge successful and everyone that participated seemed to enjoy themselves and thought that it went very well. The play turned out to be very funny, and the audience seemed to really take an interest in it and enjoyed watching it. Also the live chess game was a lot of fun, and people seemed to enjoy watching that as well. The food that was there was delicious, and also a big hit with most of the people who attended the fair. Out of all the activities that a lot of people wanted to take part in was the lawn games. For those that got to play they were a lot of fun. I feel that if the Renaissance Fair is to become an annual event, which I strongly suggest that it does, there should be more lawn games available for people to play. This will allow more people to be able to take part in the festivities because I felt that some people were not really involved. Another suggestion that I have for next year is that instead of a sit down place to eat, there is just some food at a table that people can go up and get. The tables should then be located around this area for people to sit and relax. I feel that this way people will be able to get what they want. I also felt that it was a waste to have people serve you. Also maybe by combining this with the tavern because I felt that the tavern was just set off to the corner and no one really bothered with it. My last suggestion is that it is planed to be done a little bit later only because it was a little bit cold to be standing outside for the good portion of the day. Other than this I felt that our class along with the British Literature class did a great job in preparing and executing the Renaissance Fair.
Overall, I feel that the Renaissance Faire was much more of a success than I believed it would be. While we were going through the planning stages, I felt that we spent a great deal time trying to determine what we could and could not do as opposed to actually working toward tangible results, an issue which I expected to greatly hinder the Faire’s performance. However, while planning may have hindered the Faire’s overall quality, I was pleasantly surprised by our finished product. There we enough activities to keep our audience occupied, creating an enjoyable atmosphere. Our King Henry Production received more laughs and went more smoothly than I anticipated. The fencing demonstration and chess match in particular received a large draw, much larger than I anticipated. All in all, I feel that we created a relaxed, fun atmosphere for our Fairegoers.
While the Faire exceeded my expectations, there are many things that come to mind that I feel we could have worked to improve upon. On the success fail spectrum, I’m probably closer to Noah’s corner. My original image of the Renaissance Faire was, well, more Renaissancey so to say. I had envisioned a more medieval look for our design, one which gave off a “ye olde” atmosphere. I also anticipated a greater amount of activities which allowed for greater audience involvement. As for what we had, we may have been able to design our tavern in a more efficient fashion. The majority of our attendees were milling about the tables and food, creating a hectic mess. My suggestion would be to have a set capacity of the amount of people allowed in the tavern at a time and have a roped off line for anyone wanting to enter beyond that. If there will be a fencing demonstration in any future Renaissance Faires, I strongly suggest having a stricter policy on whom and who may not wield a weapon. Once audience members were allowed to try their hand at the sport, we had some rather idiotic individuals take up a blade, causing a dangerous environment for those around them and themselves. Overall actually I feel there could have been a bit greater organization. While the Faire was enjoyable, for the most part it felt that those who came came with the intent of spending a period outside out of class milling around with friends as opposed to immersing in the Renaissance experience.
My recommendation would be to definitely go ahead with the Renaissance Faire next year. We’ve set a good foundation to build upon and I would look forward to seeing what future classes may be able to produce, given that they are more organized with their planning.
Overall, the Renaissance Fair was a success. Most everyone who attended seemed to enjoy themselves and were impressed. All the activities went well, especially the lawn games. Those seemed to be one of the more popular activities along with the food, not as much as the tavern because it wasn't so much as a center piece of the fair that I thought it would have been, If we had the tavern as the backdrop for the snacks available to everyone without the need of waiters, would have been a better idea. Being waitied on is nice, but it limited the amount of people who could sit down, relax, and eat with friends around the senior walk. I feel like if we prepared in advanced more to make the fair look more like a Renaissance fair. If these changes are made, along with picking a warmer day for this to bed held, then the fair will keep being a success for many years to come.
Thanks for the responses and feedback. It sounds like most people enjoyed the afternoon, and I agree with many of the suggestions about structuring, more time to prep and rehearse the play, better manning of the stations, demonstrations and promotion of events. Ms. Carbone and I have already been discussing next year and ways to improve. I would particularly like to see the play process drawn out to provide more time between the completion of the writing and the event to better allow for rehearsals. We have also talked about structure and the types of events, as well as running events simultaneously and repeating with each class change. I would also favor a second performance of the play so as to have more people see it considering the time spent on it. Next year I want to paint a chess board on the grass about 4x the size of the one we used to host better matches. Anyway, all of your ideas will be brought into the planning process for next year, so thanks again. Good job!
A little late on this one-
I believe that the Renaissance Faire exceeded my expectations, though those were not initially set very high. I think it is good that people had a fun time at the Faire as did I, though i saw little educational merit from any section of the day. The human chess game was fun and generated a lot of interest though the small squares caused awkward crowding. The bar/cafe was rather unsuccessful though, due to the policy of requiring seated tables and being "served." Instead of simply being able to walk up to the table and serve oneself food and drink, the dining was constricted by the number of tables, and many groups felt it necessary to sit at their table and talk long after they had finished their food. I myself waited for twenty minutes out side at the head of what supposedly passed for a line and remained "unserved."
The Henry Play, though it generated more laughs than i thought was pretty dumb. It really served no educational merit for anyone with even a superficial understanding of the events of the time period. Additionally, the jokes that were "successful" were either rude, offensive, or in poor taste. While funny, i am sure that there were people who were offended by them though i enjoyed them for the most part. If there are to be further Faires, a different play should be selected, perhaps with more historical merit or one that is more engaging for students instead of forcing them to create more of the contrived jokes via bizarre anachronisms that formed the bulk of this year's play.
On the whole the Faire was fun, though timing certainly would be a factor to consider. As others have suggested, after the AP exam would be preferable due to the ability for students to finish more content in class before the exam. This would enable people to be more relaxed when preparing and would help work through more of the curriculum. Also, May and June have far nicer weather than April and it was still quite cold outside during the Faire.
I was very impressed overall with the outcome of this faire. Honestly, I had very low expectations for how this was going to turn out. I had feelings that there wasn’t really much outreach to the school as to when and where the event was happening. Little did I know that culinary arts, the Latin class, and the other brit lit class had all planned events for this faire. There was food galore, as well as many activities for the average student to take part in. The play that we worked so hard to create turned out perfectly, with those in character continuing on throughout the day. Maybe the best aspect of the day were the unexpected 8th grade tours, having the kids being put in the stocks was both fun for those taking the tours and a spectacle for all of those who wanted to teach them the lesson of not going on the senior walk
The only suggestion that I can give is to schedule the majority of the planning as well as the actual event after the AP testing. This truly did distract those students take the Euro test from the necessary preparations they needed to do well. Although I feel more than prepared now, I feel like we could have spent more time in class maybe taking practice tests, as well as some of the practice essays and free writes. Also, there could have been more activities for students throughout the day. Yes there were chess, boche, croquet and fencing, you saw most of the students congregate around “The Tabard Inn”. All of that being said, I did enjoy working on this project and I did have a good time doing my part as the day went on during the Renaissance Faire. I have only one lingering question to put out there for any readers…
Where are the stocks? WE NEED IT FOR THE SENIOR WALK NEXT YEAR!
In all honesty, I thought the Renaissance Faire wouldn't turn out as good as it did. I guess it's safe to say that I expected the worse, but was pleasantly surprised when the faire turned out better than what I thought. Everyone, even the people who had to "work" in it, had a very good time and enjoyed themselves. The biggest surprise or the wow factor of the Renaissance Faire was our performance of the Trial of Henry. It turned out way better than I expected, and I have to applaud everyone who participated for their great work. Everyone memorized their lines, which is a major plus. The chess game was a big hit and I believe that if the Renaissance Faire was to happen again next year, the Chess Game would be something to keep, hopefully if the wind cooperates that day. One of my major disappointments was the stockades! I don't think even one teacher was in the stocks. And I highly believe that a lot of students were looking forward to the pie throwing at the teachers trapped in the stocks. The food was great, but there should have been more room for people to sit. There should have been a more variety in drinks at the Tavern. Everything was great though, and I think everyone was very much into it.
If this was to happen next year, I think it would be very wise to manage time very well. I think we took the 2 months of preparation for granted and when we were in crunch time it seemed like we didn't have enough time. It was a good thing that we pulled it off in the end and everyone really did try hard. Overall I believe the Renaissance Faire was an extremely huge success and should be an annual event.
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