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The Battalion, Thursday, September 27; 1979
Hast thou seen Magnolia?
Renaissance is revived
I
By BETH CALHOUN
Focus Editor
The Texas Renaissance Festival is Big
Business.
“It’s a theme park, like Six Flags or As-
. troworld,” said Elroy Forbes, public relations
manager for TRF.
“It’s an atmosphere park,” Forbes said,
“but instead of rides and plastic, we have
games. And instead of a midway, we have
the artisans’ booths.”
In its fifth year, the festival has grown from
30,000 attending it the first year to 175,000
last year. Forbes estimated that 270,000 will
attend this year.
“But we’ll be happy with 250,000.”
And with a $7 entrance, fee for adults and
$3 for children 8-12, the festival is taking in
about “a million dollars at the gate” alone,
Forbes said.
An additional source of income is the shop
fee artisans must pay in order to sell their
wares. The $150 fee for the six-week festival
is paid after the artist has been juried and
approved by the TRF.
All of the craftsmen must be authentic.
Candlemakers, glass blowers, weavers,
dyers, calligraphers, bookbinders, woodcar-
vers, sculptors and leatherworkers. The list is
almost endless.
The artist then builds his own shop, which
must also be juried and approved.
“The shop fee is changed every year,”
said Larry Vickrey, a spokesman for TRF.
“Next year, we may do away with it.”
The booths number about 250, with about
400 artisans installed in them. Forbes said
many times up to four craftsmen will share a
booth to help defray costs.
Most of the shops are built by the artisans
with material they furnish, Forbes said, but in
some cases the artisans can use left-over
material from booths built by the TRF.
If a craftsman is caught violating the rules,
Forbes said, he will be asked to leave.
“Last year, we gave one about an hour to
clear out.” The artisan was guilty of selling
someone else’s work.
Besides the gate fee, a visitor could expect
to spend anywhere from 50c to $50 on food
and drink.-
“It just depends on how big an eater you
are,” Vickrey said. “If a person has a taste of
everything, they could spend $40-50.”
Everything can include a turkey leg for
$2.25, broiled shrimp with rice for $2.75, com
is 75c, or a pretzel for 50c.
Beer is $1, a large soft drink is 75c, wine is
$1.50 and cookies and cream puffs, sundaes,
apple strudel, and on and on.
Please turn to page 3.