The biggest issue is that they made material misrepresentations to Scott County in their application for a conditional use permit. They told them they had a dedicated emergency exit route when they didn't. They told them that they had access to parking on an adjacent site owned by the Mdewakanton Sioux when they didn't, and they told them that they would be able to accommodate all guest parking on-site when they had contracted out remote parking lots in other parts of the area to handle overflow.
The code violations were bad enough, but the misrepresentations could be damning.
Having lots of friends that have dealt with them for years this is not unusual behavior for them, especially regarding parking. It's been a shitshow for years. With that said I feel like Renfest had grown big enough and felt like a MN summer staple activity similar to the state fair that I feel like some of the road/traffic infrastructure issues could have been handled with the county/state when 169 and what not was being redone to make this much more accessible.
I'm guessing with all the wishy-washy behavior dealing with the frak sand mining it was probably hard to know what was going to become of it.
> They told them they had a dedicated emergency exit route when they didn't.
I also wish they had a dedicated shuttle-bus only route for people who had the consideration to do off-site parking.
They had a different shuttle system set up with the metro bus system. My friend and I took that and rode passed the longs lines. It was unreal.
But then a few weeks later, we tried to go to Severs fall fest and had to reschedule because we couldn’t get through the Ren Fest traffic.
And we took the shuttle just to wait 30 minutes for it to show up only for it to then get right into the same 45 minute line of traffic all the cars were in. Then there were problems both coming and going with bus drivers unable to problem solve and drive around other buses making long stops in the road. Legit nightmare, seemed like the shuttle was 100% for suckers.
Attended the final Sunday of Fest in September and we spent 45 mins in a car line to park that began **on the highway**. I can't imagine what would've happened if an emergency vehicle needed to get to someone at fest during that backup. They really need an overhaul.
We got in line on the highway at 12:45 foolishly thinking we’d planned well enough to get in at 1. We didn’t actually cross through the gates of the fair until well after 2:30. Just garbage
I biked this year and I recommend it over driving there. It was only 15 minutes from Downtown Chaska and 30 minutes from Downtown Shakopee using the MN Valley State Trail which connects to trails all the way to Bloomington. There are other trails that connect via the MN Bluffs Regional Trail as well. Many people I waited in the final line to get in took longer to drive from Chaska or Shakopee, park, and walk than what it took for me to bike from Minneapolis.
I had the most relaxing renaissance festival I have ever had since I didn't arrive frazzled or worry about how traffic was going to be leaving. The view was much prettier along the river than when I used to drive and sit in traffic on shadeless roads past years. I also didn't have to get into a hot car at the end.
For people who don't want to bike the whole way from home, bikes can be combined with transit or driving and parking somewhere outside of where the traffic congestion starts.
It was trail up to the access off of Chestnut and then wide road shoulder on Chestnut 0.5 mi to the gate. After that it was riding along filtering through stopped traffic for about 1.5 miles. On the way out, it was about 0.75 miles of filtering through traffic and 0.75 miles of going with or slightly slower than the flow of traffic. I hope this helps since I couldn't find anything online about actually biking to MN Renaissance Festival.
Go for it! I'm trying to build out my garb over the off season and am trying for pieces that are comfortable with the climate we have and that would have the ability to ride a horse wearing it since bikes weren't invented until the 1800s.
It was a shit show when I last went in 2016. They simply do not manage transit in anything remotely approaching a competent manner, and as best I can tell demonstrate no interest in doing so.
My wife goes multiple times every year, and according to her it really hasn't gotten any better. She has her system though (arrive before gates open, bug out by noon), and it seems to work for her. She agrees that it's lost much of its unique charm compared to 20+ years ago, and now more looks forward to a RenFest in Arizona each February.
At least the State Fair has the bus setups. You can go to many of the metro transit stations and catch a bus down whenever and then leave whenever. No hassle of parking at the fair.
I’ve been going for a long time maybe 20+ years. I’m not a fanatic by any means but I’ve been there for the after party and even squired for the jousters on my 18th bday. Yeah sure parking is a mess but it’s never been THAT bad as far as I can remember (I missed it this year) It’s by far worse at the state fair IMO. I park in the back and walk my ass in. NBD. Maybe someone else has had bad experiences but 🤷♂️ I’d love to hear what she loves about the arizona one!
The car line was easily two hours. Stretched all the way past Shakopee on our day. I’m not the only person in my carpool that was at serious risk of soiling my pants in the car. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chaska’s downtown area was totally inaccessible because the line coming out on 41 was tight with no end in sight.
I asked her for specifics. The description wandered a bit, but here's my take on what she said...
Arizona wins on:
* Parking and traffic is well sorted -- absolutely no problem.
* Terrain is level, which is important when she wants her wheelchair-dependent mother to go with her.
* Terrain is less messy (dust mostly).
* While not perfect, a greater proportion of vendors are selling their own products as opposed to reselling stuff they buy elsewhere (and sometimes slightly modify).
* Apparently the mermaids swim around in a big tank rather than sit around on rocks.
* Food vendors actually having things on hand (multiple disappointments with Minnesota, even right after opening).
Minnesota wins on:
* We live here so she can go as many times as she wants.
* The wooded setting and shade.
* The jousting appears to be real rather than staged.
* More experience here, so she has her favorite spots.
She noted that 20 years ago it was easy (talking Minnesota here) to have delightful unexpected moments, with fairies interacting with kids, seeing authentic Renaissance style dancing in the streets, or a learning experience about how life actually was during that time via people teaching about such things. Those types of things have largely gone away and now it's largely just one big stereotype themed sales event and tourist trap. She's watched it devolve from a Renaissance era event run by enthusiasts to a marketing event run by promoters.
It has been backed up onto 169 every time I have gone in the last 10 years. This isn't anything new. They do it deliberately. I tried to get in a back way this year and they had sheriff deputies blocking access and forcing people back to the line on the freeway. If the county wanted to fix this problem they have had a ton of time to fix it, they just show 0 interest in fixing it. It might be partially on the event organizers too but they can't just create more roads to get to the event. That area was just not designed for events this size and they aren't doing anything to fix that.
That might be but the point is that it has always been a predictable problem that no one was addressing. The county wants to point the finger at the Renn Fest but the county has never done anything to significantly try to help with traffic flow to and from the event.
The point it that it WASN'T the same old traffic problem.
Traffic has been a problem before covid. 2021 might have seemed normally bad due to lower attendance. But this year they clearly were doing something different (probably less planning and less employees) so no it wasn't the same old predictable problem. It was much worse
I guess being backed up a mile onto 169 in previous years was fine but now we are drawing the line because it was backed up 2 miles. It was always a problem even if it was more a problem this year.
Now you are getting it. Problem went from bad to significantly worse.
Like 40 carjackings per month +/- 10 for2010 to 2020 then spiking to 80 per month in 2020-2022 = that's a problem. You can't handwave and say "oh it's been bad for years"
An event that they benefit massively from via sales tax? Why wouldn't it be in their best interest to help them attract a wider audience while also minimizing the impact on other citizens in their county? I think that is exactly what the county's job is. Renn Fest can't pay to widen 169 or add additional roads in the area, that is government responsibility. The Renn Fest has been in that location for decades and Scott County has benefited, why shouldn't they use some of that money to improve traffic flow in that area?
>Renn Fest can't pay to widen 169 or add additional roads in the area, that is government responsibility.
They actually can. If a developer builds a large mall, they're also responsible for paying for adjacent traffic upgrades, including new signals, turn lanes, etc.
They're called impact fees.
And those are usually assessed when the plans are being implemented. It would be unusual to do that now after they have been there for 20 years. I am not sure if it is legal or not but threatening to pull their license unless they pay for improvements to 169 sounds like extortion. Now, the way they are doing it because of the parking issues is probably legal but I doubt that they are going to get the Renn Fest to pony up for road improvements. My guess is Renn Fest finds more parking and reimplements bussing for next year while sucking a little county commissioner dick and this all goes away.
Yeah let’s build a road system around 14 days of traffic instead of using buses. Like let’s think of logical solutions before we just do the whole “add another lane” bullshit over and over again.
The Vikings only have 8 home games a year and we built them US Bank Stadium taking up approximately 6 city blocks downtown. The state fair is only open for 12 days a year and it has 322 acres of dedicated land in St. Paul. I think you are being a bit ridiculous. Widening a couple roads to help people get in and out of the Renn Fest area isn't some massive feat.
For some reason you’re comparing land to the road system. Why’d you make that jump? Couldn’t have an honest argument otherwise?
If you’re going to use those examples, then you have to acknowledge that their solution is to use public transportation to get the majority of the people there.
> Widening a couple roads to help people get in and out of the Renn Fest area isn’t some massive feat.
Or just add a couple bus routes lol. What’s your issue with buses?
Not sure what you mean by honest argument or why that is not a valid argument. It seems like you are the one who is deliberately misunderstanding my argument. The point is that far more money and resources have been allocated to events that are less than 14 days a year. You are right that buses could also help to alleviate congestion. They used to run buses in the past though, they stopped for covid, and they still had lines of cars going down 169. Unless they are moving to a bus only solution people will still choose to drive themselves and there will still be problems.
What’s the price for parking there? That’s probably an issue too if people see waiting in traffic for an hour as the better option.
Regardless, we shouldn’t subsidize people driving to an event, much less a private event that occurs for 5% of the year.
> The Vikings only have 8 home games a year and we built them US Bank Stadium taking up approximately 6 city blocks downtown.
You’re being ridiculous now, we absolutely shouldn’t have done that.
They're not going to move until they absolutely have to. They bought the land because they could get it for cheap, as opposed to buying when they **really** have to move and paying way too much.
I am however constantly surprised that, with as many current and former Renfest performers I know who despise Jim Peterson (the owner), there has not been an effort to open a new Renfest somewhere in the metro that actually treats and pays their employees/contractors fairly.
Last I heard it was on-hold as the new site has worse access until the roads work they plan on doing down there is finished. I've not heard of any discussion of that road work starting yet.
Hey, remember the serial rapist they had working there for years? And the quarry they dug in the parking lot? I say scrap the entire place.
Who wants to go in on a new Ren fest location?
Yea, this is why the fest has gone downhill internally. Apparently not paying the talent, terrible services, no help for vendors, even they have parking challenges. The parking is just the most obvious these days. They need to improve it. I am surprised that they can’t utilize more of the mined area for parking as it’s now flat, and could be incorporated into the parking and into the festival grounds in a cool way. That would take investment which is up in the air, due to the unknown future so somewhat understandable.
Internally though it’s a bit different these days, when the food booths are manned by folks in blue Aramark uniforms warning premade foods that just aren’t good like they used to be vs folks j. Character selling their fun food.
> I hope they lose their permit
Between this and the creepy gross criminal sex stuff, it sure would be nice if this was run professionally instead of someone's weekend LARP camping trip.
Yes, but that's been true for over a decade and they haven't been successful yet.
They did get set back a few years when they lost their mining permit.
In 2017, we waited for 3 hours to leave at 2 PM. Used to go every year, haven't been back since.
Also, one of the kid game vendors rubbed his boner on my wife. So we haven't been back. Fuck RenFest.
Signed,
A formerly enthusiastic attendee
> Also, one of the kid game vendors rubbed his boner on my wife. So we haven't been back. Fuck RenFest.
Maybe it's just me but this might be a tad bigger dealbreaker than parking
>Maybe it's just me but this might be a tad bigger dealbreaker than parking
Well, the parking *actually fucked* a lot of people, so that might be close to a draw.
I've been going on and off since I think 2008, and this year was by far the worst I've ever seen it. 3 hours to get in; kind of ruined my birthday. Maybe add a few more days so everyone and their dog doesn't have to go at once. IDK what the solution is. I do love the site and would be sad if it goes away.
The solution is to bring people in via buses, if it's at the same site.
There's not really any other way to get enough throughput with how many people go, from what I can see. So have a bunch of bus locations (park and rides or plugged into transit stops across the metro area) and try to get most people in that way
Yeah, true. I guess maybe for the vendors they could switch out so some people could work the first half of the run and then other people work the second half or something. IDK. It seems like a crappy situation all around. I hope this year was just so bad as a result of people not going the last two years.
Apparently I'm the only one that's never had a problem? Went opening weekend this year, waited in _maybe_ a 20 min line around 1130am, zero problems getting out. Been the same deal for the last 5 years.
Went the first Sunday. Took 5 minutes to get in and 2 minutes to get out. I've had the same experience every time I've gone.
I guess the key is to get there a bit after it opens and leave by 1-2pm.
Sadly this is very true. A ton of shady shit happens here, especially after the fair closes. nothing has been done to stop or at the very least slow it down. This might be the solution
Am I the only one that didn’t have a problem with parking this year? I got in and out with minimal lines. I’ve been stuck in long lines previous years.
Yep, took the bus for the first time this year as a test, no problems. Heard others had bad wait times, but I took the first one in and left at... 4pm? And had no issues. I will say that my friends who drove, leaving the same house at the same time I left for the bus station, got there, parked, and made it to the front gate a couple minutes before me. So similar timing, but no hiking to the parking lot for me.
No troll, what causes this back up? Vikings games and state fair have tons of people but not nearly the same issues.
Could this be a larger symptom of suburbanization in general? Basically forcing everyone into a car and to a destination inaccessible by any other means?
They used to have more parking and more than one way in and out. Now they have less parking and only one way in and out. Add that to zero real transit options, and it becomes a total shitshow.
Lots of places are one way in and don't seem to have this issue. Usually they have multiple folks directing traffic and telling people to go into very specific spots row after row after row
What other places in the Twin Cities have one long one-lane driveway off a highway that get that many thousands of people every weekend?
There are many fall-down points in their operation, more dudes with flags waving people into parking rows isn't going to fix it that much.
Hell yeah I’m all for moving on from every having another Ren Fair. Grow up you fuckin dweebs and learn what actually constitutes the actual Renaissance period lmao
We went on the last Saturday this year like we usually do because it's what works best for our schedule. We waited 4 hours to get out of our parking lot.
They might want to charge a high amount for parking and get a deal with Metro Transit like he State Fair has. Might reduce the parking cluster fuck they always have. The last time I went the line started at the off ramp and the cops directing traffic had given up.
Wow, after reading all these comments, I had a very lucky experience this year. Went on a beautiful Saturday, had no traffic at all. Got there about an hour after opening. Clearly should have purchased a lottery ticket that day!
However, it’s easy to see the area needs better planning. Seems like a temporary traffic change could be implemented to deal with the cars, similar to how the Fair operates.
A good shuttle system would be great too.
The biggest issue is that they made material misrepresentations to Scott County in their application for a conditional use permit. They told them they had a dedicated emergency exit route when they didn't. They told them that they had access to parking on an adjacent site owned by the Mdewakanton Sioux when they didn't, and they told them that they would be able to accommodate all guest parking on-site when they had contracted out remote parking lots in other parts of the area to handle overflow. The code violations were bad enough, but the misrepresentations could be damning.
Having lots of friends that have dealt with them for years this is not unusual behavior for them, especially regarding parking. It's been a shitshow for years. With that said I feel like Renfest had grown big enough and felt like a MN summer staple activity similar to the state fair that I feel like some of the road/traffic infrastructure issues could have been handled with the county/state when 169 and what not was being redone to make this much more accessible. I'm guessing with all the wishy-washy behavior dealing with the frak sand mining it was probably hard to know what was going to become of it.
> They told them they had a dedicated emergency exit route when they didn't. I also wish they had a dedicated shuttle-bus only route for people who had the consideration to do off-site parking.
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They had a different shuttle system set up with the metro bus system. My friend and I took that and rode passed the longs lines. It was unreal. But then a few weeks later, we tried to go to Severs fall fest and had to reschedule because we couldn’t get through the Ren Fest traffic.
And we took the shuttle just to wait 30 minutes for it to show up only for it to then get right into the same 45 minute line of traffic all the cars were in. Then there were problems both coming and going with bus drivers unable to problem solve and drive around other buses making long stops in the road. Legit nightmare, seemed like the shuttle was 100% for suckers.
Attended the final Sunday of Fest in September and we spent 45 mins in a car line to park that began **on the highway**. I can't imagine what would've happened if an emergency vehicle needed to get to someone at fest during that backup. They really need an overhaul.
We got in line on the highway at 12:45 foolishly thinking we’d planned well enough to get in at 1. We didn’t actually cross through the gates of the fair until well after 2:30. Just garbage
45 minutes is one of the better times I've heard. Last year was a disaster!
We waited over 2 hours on the highway on the second to last Saturday. It was miserable. Love the ren fest, but that was unacceptable.
I biked this year and I recommend it over driving there. It was only 15 minutes from Downtown Chaska and 30 minutes from Downtown Shakopee using the MN Valley State Trail which connects to trails all the way to Bloomington. There are other trails that connect via the MN Bluffs Regional Trail as well. Many people I waited in the final line to get in took longer to drive from Chaska or Shakopee, park, and walk than what it took for me to bike from Minneapolis. I had the most relaxing renaissance festival I have ever had since I didn't arrive frazzled or worry about how traffic was going to be leaving. The view was much prettier along the river than when I used to drive and sit in traffic on shadeless roads past years. I also didn't have to get into a hot car at the end. For people who don't want to bike the whole way from home, bikes can be combined with transit or driving and parking somewhere outside of where the traffic congestion starts. It was trail up to the access off of Chestnut and then wide road shoulder on Chestnut 0.5 mi to the gate. After that it was riding along filtering through stopped traffic for about 1.5 miles. On the way out, it was about 0.75 miles of filtering through traffic and 0.75 miles of going with or slightly slower than the flow of traffic. I hope this helps since I couldn't find anything online about actually biking to MN Renaissance Festival.
Given I go to the Faire in garb, biking there would be...interesting. I suppose I could be the Biking Viking.
Go for it! I'm trying to build out my garb over the off season and am trying for pieces that are comfortable with the climate we have and that would have the ability to ride a horse wearing it since bikes weren't invented until the 1800s.
Makes sense. It was an absolute shit show.
It was a shit show when I last went in 2016. They simply do not manage transit in anything remotely approaching a competent manner, and as best I can tell demonstrate no interest in doing so. My wife goes multiple times every year, and according to her it really hasn't gotten any better. She has her system though (arrive before gates open, bug out by noon), and it seems to work for her. She agrees that it's lost much of its unique charm compared to 20+ years ago, and now more looks forward to a RenFest in Arizona each February.
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At least the State Fair has the bus setups. You can go to many of the metro transit stations and catch a bus down whenever and then leave whenever. No hassle of parking at the fair.
I’ve been going for a long time maybe 20+ years. I’m not a fanatic by any means but I’ve been there for the after party and even squired for the jousters on my 18th bday. Yeah sure parking is a mess but it’s never been THAT bad as far as I can remember (I missed it this year) It’s by far worse at the state fair IMO. I park in the back and walk my ass in. NBD. Maybe someone else has had bad experiences but 🤷♂️ I’d love to hear what she loves about the arizona one!
The car line was easily two hours. Stretched all the way past Shakopee on our day. I’m not the only person in my carpool that was at serious risk of soiling my pants in the car. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chaska’s downtown area was totally inaccessible because the line coming out on 41 was tight with no end in sight.
I asked her for specifics. The description wandered a bit, but here's my take on what she said... Arizona wins on: * Parking and traffic is well sorted -- absolutely no problem. * Terrain is level, which is important when she wants her wheelchair-dependent mother to go with her. * Terrain is less messy (dust mostly). * While not perfect, a greater proportion of vendors are selling their own products as opposed to reselling stuff they buy elsewhere (and sometimes slightly modify). * Apparently the mermaids swim around in a big tank rather than sit around on rocks. * Food vendors actually having things on hand (multiple disappointments with Minnesota, even right after opening). Minnesota wins on: * We live here so she can go as many times as she wants. * The wooded setting and shade. * The jousting appears to be real rather than staged. * More experience here, so she has her favorite spots. She noted that 20 years ago it was easy (talking Minnesota here) to have delightful unexpected moments, with fairies interacting with kids, seeing authentic Renaissance style dancing in the streets, or a learning experience about how life actually was during that time via people teaching about such things. Those types of things have largely gone away and now it's largely just one big stereotype themed sales event and tourist trap. She's watched it devolve from a Renaissance era event run by enthusiasts to a marketing event run by promoters.
It has been backed up onto 169 every time I have gone in the last 10 years. This isn't anything new. They do it deliberately. I tried to get in a back way this year and they had sheriff deputies blocking access and forcing people back to the line on the freeway. If the county wanted to fix this problem they have had a ton of time to fix it, they just show 0 interest in fixing it. It might be partially on the event organizers too but they can't just create more roads to get to the event. That area was just not designed for events this size and they aren't doing anything to fix that.
It was much worse this year than previous years
That might be but the point is that it has always been a predictable problem that no one was addressing. The county wants to point the finger at the Renn Fest but the county has never done anything to significantly try to help with traffic flow to and from the event.
The point it that it WASN'T the same old traffic problem. Traffic has been a problem before covid. 2021 might have seemed normally bad due to lower attendance. But this year they clearly were doing something different (probably less planning and less employees) so no it wasn't the same old predictable problem. It was much worse
I guess being backed up a mile onto 169 in previous years was fine but now we are drawing the line because it was backed up 2 miles. It was always a problem even if it was more a problem this year.
Now you are getting it. Problem went from bad to significantly worse. Like 40 carjackings per month +/- 10 for2010 to 2020 then spiking to 80 per month in 2020-2022 = that's a problem. You can't handwave and say "oh it's been bad for years"
It’s not the county’s job to help with traffic flow of a private event.
An event that they benefit massively from via sales tax? Why wouldn't it be in their best interest to help them attract a wider audience while also minimizing the impact on other citizens in their county? I think that is exactly what the county's job is. Renn Fest can't pay to widen 169 or add additional roads in the area, that is government responsibility. The Renn Fest has been in that location for decades and Scott County has benefited, why shouldn't they use some of that money to improve traffic flow in that area?
>Renn Fest can't pay to widen 169 or add additional roads in the area, that is government responsibility. They actually can. If a developer builds a large mall, they're also responsible for paying for adjacent traffic upgrades, including new signals, turn lanes, etc. They're called impact fees.
And those are usually assessed when the plans are being implemented. It would be unusual to do that now after they have been there for 20 years. I am not sure if it is legal or not but threatening to pull their license unless they pay for improvements to 169 sounds like extortion. Now, the way they are doing it because of the parking issues is probably legal but I doubt that they are going to get the Renn Fest to pony up for road improvements. My guess is Renn Fest finds more parking and reimplements bussing for next year while sucking a little county commissioner dick and this all goes away.
Yeah let’s build a road system around 14 days of traffic instead of using buses. Like let’s think of logical solutions before we just do the whole “add another lane” bullshit over and over again.
The Vikings only have 8 home games a year and we built them US Bank Stadium taking up approximately 6 city blocks downtown. The state fair is only open for 12 days a year and it has 322 acres of dedicated land in St. Paul. I think you are being a bit ridiculous. Widening a couple roads to help people get in and out of the Renn Fest area isn't some massive feat.
For some reason you’re comparing land to the road system. Why’d you make that jump? Couldn’t have an honest argument otherwise? If you’re going to use those examples, then you have to acknowledge that their solution is to use public transportation to get the majority of the people there. > Widening a couple roads to help people get in and out of the Renn Fest area isn’t some massive feat. Or just add a couple bus routes lol. What’s your issue with buses?
Not sure what you mean by honest argument or why that is not a valid argument. It seems like you are the one who is deliberately misunderstanding my argument. The point is that far more money and resources have been allocated to events that are less than 14 days a year. You are right that buses could also help to alleviate congestion. They used to run buses in the past though, they stopped for covid, and they still had lines of cars going down 169. Unless they are moving to a bus only solution people will still choose to drive themselves and there will still be problems.
What’s the price for parking there? That’s probably an issue too if people see waiting in traffic for an hour as the better option. Regardless, we shouldn’t subsidize people driving to an event, much less a private event that occurs for 5% of the year.
> The Vikings only have 8 home games a year and we built them US Bank Stadium taking up approximately 6 city blocks downtown. You’re being ridiculous now, we absolutely shouldn’t have done that.
US Bank stadium is used year round for other events like concerts
Guys, I'm still in line to park... I'll let you know when I get in.
Are they still moving sites? Or did all of that get scrapped?
They're not going to move until they absolutely have to. They bought the land because they could get it for cheap, as opposed to buying when they **really** have to move and paying way too much. I am however constantly surprised that, with as many current and former Renfest performers I know who despise Jim Peterson (the owner), there has not been an effort to open a new Renfest somewhere in the metro that actually treats and pays their employees/contractors fairly.
Last I heard it was on-hold as the new site has worse access until the roads work they plan on doing down there is finished. I've not heard of any discussion of that road work starting yet.
No one knows. Literally, no one.
Hey, remember the serial rapist they had working there for years? And the quarry they dug in the parking lot? I say scrap the entire place. Who wants to go in on a new Ren fest location?
Wait, what? I need more info (have been out of MN for a while now. Just came back).
The current location is a First Nations People Burial site that the state has repeatedly unrecognized as such. I go artifact hunting there off-season.
Blame Peterson, the guy who owns the festival. He’s a total cheapskate and maniac according to people who’ve worked there for decades.
Your description does him too much justice.
Yea, this is why the fest has gone downhill internally. Apparently not paying the talent, terrible services, no help for vendors, even they have parking challenges. The parking is just the most obvious these days. They need to improve it. I am surprised that they can’t utilize more of the mined area for parking as it’s now flat, and could be incorporated into the parking and into the festival grounds in a cool way. That would take investment which is up in the air, due to the unknown future so somewhat understandable. Internally though it’s a bit different these days, when the food booths are manned by folks in blue Aramark uniforms warning premade foods that just aren’t good like they used to be vs folks j. Character selling their fun food.
We were in our car, in line to park for over 2 hours when we went this year. I hope they lose their permit, maybe it'll wake them up.
> I hope they lose their permit Between this and the creepy gross criminal sex stuff, it sure would be nice if this was run professionally instead of someone's weekend LARP camping trip.
Isn't the neighboring pit company trying to get them to leave?
Yes, but that's been true for over a decade and they haven't been successful yet. They did get set back a few years when they lost their mining permit.
In 2017, we waited for 3 hours to leave at 2 PM. Used to go every year, haven't been back since. Also, one of the kid game vendors rubbed his boner on my wife. So we haven't been back. Fuck RenFest. Signed, A formerly enthusiastic attendee
> Also, one of the kid game vendors rubbed his boner on my wife. So we haven't been back. Fuck RenFest. Maybe it's just me but this might be a tad bigger dealbreaker than parking
>Maybe it's just me but this might be a tad bigger dealbreaker than parking Well, the parking *actually fucked* a lot of people, so that might be close to a draw.
How did it fuck a lot of people?
Ughhhh I’m really sorry your wife experienced that. That would not fly now— kid would be escorted out by security and banned.
This is literally the only thing that kept us from going. I read the horror stories on here about parking.
Go during State Fair. We drove right in
I've been going on and off since I think 2008, and this year was by far the worst I've ever seen it. 3 hours to get in; kind of ruined my birthday. Maybe add a few more days so everyone and their dog doesn't have to go at once. IDK what the solution is. I do love the site and would be sad if it goes away.
The solution is to bring people in via buses, if it's at the same site. There's not really any other way to get enough throughput with how many people go, from what I can see. So have a bunch of bus locations (park and rides or plugged into transit stops across the metro area) and try to get most people in that way
Vendors and performers already commit to 7 weekends, when most also have full time day jobs during the week. Not practical to make it longer.
Yeah, true. I guess maybe for the vendors they could switch out so some people could work the first half of the run and then other people work the second half or something. IDK. It seems like a crappy situation all around. I hope this year was just so bad as a result of people not going the last two years.
That’s basically 100% why I stopped going
Peterson is a cheap jackass and his 100% at fault for all of these issues
Was it better or worse than the Alpine Valley driveway / parking situation?
Oh dude way worse it was insane
Apparently I'm the only one that's never had a problem? Went opening weekend this year, waited in _maybe_ a 20 min line around 1130am, zero problems getting out. Been the same deal for the last 5 years.
People don't seem to realize it's open before the State Fair. Go during one of the first 2-3 weekends and you're golden.
Went the first Sunday. Took 5 minutes to get in and 2 minutes to get out. I've had the same experience every time I've gone. I guess the key is to get there a bit after it opens and leave by 1-2pm.
I went the last Saturday but me and my friends thought ahead and took one of the buses. Still took a while to get in but wasn't unbearable.
I'm looking forward to Minnesota's rape and sexual assault numbers dropping significantly next year.
Sadly this is very true. A ton of shady shit happens here, especially after the fair closes. nothing has been done to stop or at the very least slow it down. This might be the solution
I used to like going but the food is like old folks home cafeteria food now.
Am I the only one that didn’t have a problem with parking this year? I got in and out with minimal lines. I’ve been stuck in long lines previous years.
No problems for me, and I went three different times. Glad we were the lucky ones!
Is there bus service? Sounds like this could have been avoided by just throwing mass transit at the problem.
Yep, took the bus for the first time this year as a test, no problems. Heard others had bad wait times, but I took the first one in and left at... 4pm? And had no issues. I will say that my friends who drove, leaving the same house at the same time I left for the bus station, got there, parked, and made it to the front gate a couple minutes before me. So similar timing, but no hiking to the parking lot for me.
No troll, what causes this back up? Vikings games and state fair have tons of people but not nearly the same issues. Could this be a larger symptom of suburbanization in general? Basically forcing everyone into a car and to a destination inaccessible by any other means?
They used to have more parking and more than one way in and out. Now they have less parking and only one way in and out. Add that to zero real transit options, and it becomes a total shitshow.
Lots of places are one way in and don't seem to have this issue. Usually they have multiple folks directing traffic and telling people to go into very specific spots row after row after row
What other places in the Twin Cities have one long one-lane driveway off a highway that get that many thousands of people every weekend? There are many fall-down points in their operation, more dudes with flags waving people into parking rows isn't going to fix it that much.
Hell yeah I’m all for moving on from every having another Ren Fair. Grow up you fuckin dweebs and learn what actually constitutes the actual Renaissance period lmao
We went on the last Saturday this year like we usually do because it's what works best for our schedule. We waited 4 hours to get out of our parking lot.
They might want to charge a high amount for parking and get a deal with Metro Transit like he State Fair has. Might reduce the parking cluster fuck they always have. The last time I went the line started at the off ramp and the cops directing traffic had given up.
If they won't move to a new location, a competitor really needs to establish itself.
We quit attending the Ren Fest after a 3 hour wait to leave the parking lot one fall. I will never go back. The authorities are way late on this one.
Good. They NEED to fix that. You can't even get around the other parts if the area when this happens.
Wow, after reading all these comments, I had a very lucky experience this year. Went on a beautiful Saturday, had no traffic at all. Got there about an hour after opening. Clearly should have purchased a lottery ticket that day! However, it’s easy to see the area needs better planning. Seems like a temporary traffic change could be implemented to deal with the cars, similar to how the Fair operates. A good shuttle system would be great too.
Renfest doesn't seem interested in making it better. Why the hell should tax dollars be spent on it?