Let's keep in mind here that I'm writing this article exactly a week after the three day Iowa Renaissance Festival and Harvest Faire began and I'm still exhausted. So bear with me, won't you?

IRF, A WENCH'S PERSPECTIVE
by Willa, ATF Staff Writer

A: PEOPLE! There were people everywhere in Amana!

The day started out really early, as JP had spent the week prior to the festival in California and had just gotten home at around 3am the night before. We got to the faire within about 1/2 hour of opening gate and were greeted by scads of people we hadn't seen in months! It was great to feel so welcome!

The weather was significantly hotter than the Weather Channel had told us it would be, but nothing as extreme as last year. And we learned to keep water on us at all times. Ah watah watah watah watah...

I have to be honest, though, and let you know that I didn't have much time to watch any performances except for one show of Shattock's. I missed each and every joust (although I heard it wasn't all that much to see...but they sure were purdy!), mostly because of scheduling conflicts. The crowds were amazing and, as usual, brighter and more on-the-ball than most other crowds we've dealt with before. I won't go into how I met Bill, an older gentleman who stopped me to ask me a question (I don't recall what, exactly), and when I gave him my answer he replied with, "Your eyes aren't brown, but you sure are full of sh--!" Just how do you reply to that?

The Washer Well Wenches were blissfully located on the covered stage where most people gathered to eat their faire goodies, so we enjoyed rather diverse crowds, and we had only one man that we were using as a prop (out of about 5) that ran off mid-performance. Success! Plus, we did really well in tips with the help of our new buttons.

But I digress, as usual...

I only have three beefs with the faire this year, so I'll cover those now:

1. There was only one musician there all three days. A harpist was there on Saturday, but no other days after that. If not for Robert Uy of Orckes and Trolles showing up, we would have been completely barren of music at the Last Huzzahs! Oh, and who could forget JP and his "Standing in Line" song...I know a lot of us who wish we could ;)
2. A wedding party decided to gather at the back of the pavilion under which the Washer Well Wenches were performing their second show of the festival. They were so loud that no one could hear us and we lost a lot of our crowd, which meant that we lost tips. This doesn't go over well with performers, let me tell you. I would highly suggest that next year the wedding parties find another spot on the huge amounts of land to gather. Please. Or you'll be having three extra wenches as bridesmaids.
3. There was no wine! Yes, that's right. A faire smack dab in the middle of the Amana Colonies in which there is a winery within spitting distance wherever you stand, and there was no wine. It was there last year! We mourned the loss greatly.

However, there were some amazing new vendors there, such as the pirate tent where you could get pewter drinking vessels, replica firearms or hand-stamped coin necklaces. They even gave my sons eye patches! And my favourite snack at this faire became the "World's Best Jerky" (teriyaki flavour, please), which helped replenish the salt I lost in the heat. Fantastic stuff. I spent quite a bit of money at this faire on trinkets and goodies and have no regrets. Now that is a good faire.

I hope the Washer Well Wenches get asked back next year. Moving to Amana was the best thing Festivals International ever did for this event.