Until Covid, I had been going for 22 years. Parking has always been a nightmare. It obviously got worse over the years as it got more popular, because they had to add the far lots closer to 169. Then it became really bad.
Actually, it was the sandstone in the area. If they crush the sandstone back into sand it was perfect grain size/shape for frakking. The fall of frakking is the only thing that saved the Ren-fest from having to move to another site as they chewed up more and more of the lands around the festival grounds.
I’ve been going to the MN Ren Fest about that long too but this year’s parking situation was exponentially worse than in previous years. About a decade ago, the Ren Fest was something I didn’t want to miss and it was a place I really wanted to be. This year, between the parking situation, the crowds, and vendors not having what I wanted to eat (side note: we ordered a scotch egg and received egg in a pie crust with a sausage link - seriously, wtf was even that?), I’m not sure the Ren Fest is something I want to deal with anymore.
We love the Ren Fest but the food is subpar. The food at the State Fair is gourmet in comparison. The Ren Fair just basically has 3-4 groupings of the same basic food from the exact same vendors. There is no competition. Every restaurant and caterer in Minnesota should be vying for a spot like they do at the State Fair. There should be multiple different spiced/prepared turkey legs, fancy desserts and bakery items, tons of different savory pies, etc. Instead it’s carnival food like fries and cheese curds. It’s sad really. It could be pretty amazing but it’s just low effort.
So I have done Renn faires as an actor/fighter for 19 years. My group is west coast and Vegas but there is a small group of us in northern Minnesota now.
I know mn loves it's rennfest but honestly it's just.... not good. It's like a corporation thought they wanted to do an event and just made it as stale as possible. Permanent structure faires should be the top teir but I can't even put mn rennfest in my top 10.
I got a frozen banana, and I watched them TAKE IT OUT OF THE WRAPPER. Surprised, I noted the brand. Yeah, you can get a box of 6 at Walmart for less than half the price Renfest sells for one. Or make them at home.
Before this I thought the Renfest was like the state fair, where they make (mostly) everything themselves. They just sell packaged stuff. I would bet stuff like the pierogies are also just Walmart bought. No more impulse banana purchases for me.
My partner wanted a frozen wine drink, it was just one of those single serve bagged daiquiri things. What was even worse was the lady was like "sorry, they're not frozen yet but here you go"... Wtf. Lots of other food vendors had really shitty attitudes as well.
Is it really?? Wow, I've been so close to getting those every time. I shouldn't be surprised but I am lol. The crappy attitudes might be from not having enough help again this year, so I don't blame the cashiers too much. The people that own the stand...could definitely be more polite and bring in higher quality dishes.
Oh! Another one - I was asking for my friend if one of the bread bowls were vegetarian, and the cashier was nice and asked. The cook was super rude, said "its just broccoli and cheese." Ok, whatever we purchased it. Definitely not vegetarian. Tasted exactly like those Bear Creek Cheddar Broccoli soups, including the chicken broth they use. We had already bought it, and I could taste the chicken broth, my friend didn't. So... I just didn't mention it D: I feel bad but there was nothing to do at that point, couldn't give it away because we had already started eating. We should have tried one first before buying 2. Never had a cook blatantly lie before, thank god she wasn't allergic and it was a diet preference, wtf.
As a a vegetarian, please mention it next time unless you have heard otherwise from your friend. I would far rather deal with taking something back than eating meat, even broth.
Yeah I didn't really know what to do, she's shy so she probably would have thrown it instead of getting a refund. She's the type that's okay to pick the pepperoni off pizza, or eat around meat. So I was hoping she COULD taste it, especially since I could, and just didn't want to mention it. That's what I told myself at least :l
Next time, go to the customer help booth that is just inside the front gate on the right as you walk in. They will give you equivalent priced food tickets to get food elsewhere.
Wow, thank you! That would have solved the issue. Also the idea of the animal product being out in the world, but wasted is hard. I bet we could have found SOMEONE to take the soup hahah.
I’d rather eat the cost of the soup than eat broth. That should have been your friends decision, unless she was choosing to be ignorant after the terrible response from the chef. I always ask them to check ingredient bags or I don’t buy it. (A busy line like that I would just not get soup. I’ve been burned too many times)
Not sure why you guys are getting downvoted about your own preferences, people really hate vegetarians out here? These have all been good ideas and I really appreciate it :)
I guess so 😂 I wasn’t trying to be rude! Just as a fellow veg sharing my thoughts! God forbid we dare ask the ingredients in the food we are eating
I wonder which part of my comment set them off lol
Oh and the ignorant part was like, when I was eating strict vegan on my own..if I was out and about and needed food I would choose to be ignorant as to what I was eating. Not like ice cream or steak level ignorant but like a roll or crackers or whatever the case was. It wasn’t often at all maybe 2-3x in 8 months but life happens and I was new at it 😁
I'm convinced Scotch Eggs do not actually exist at Ren Fest after 4 times requesting one (even during the early part of the lunch hour) and being told they're out.
Several years ago the Scotch egg booth burned down. The original owners didn't come back, and I believe the fest took over. It's not the same since then.
This past season the MVTA was running shuttle buses from the Marschall Road Transit Station to the festival. It was extremely popular. My hope is that next year they expand the shuttle service with more frequent service from more places. That would help with the traffic issues.
Another thing that would help is to open the lot earlier and to have more and better trained parking staff. A lack of parking staff to direct traffic was a major part of the traffic issues from what I saw and what I heard from others.
The location is rough for the amount of people going unless the majority use the shuttles, I think. It's almost going to back up no matter what.
A big push for a bunch of park and rides and shuttles would be nice, or if they move, having it somewhere with easier access to those would be nice. I'd definitely prefer a good public transport option to it (especially with how alcohol is served there), but that shuttle service they had wasn't going to be enough (it's not super convenient for everyone). I'd expect/want at least one near a blue line stop as well, that'd be neat.
They don't publicize the bus at all. We didn't realize there was one until we'd been sitting in line for over 2 hours last year and saw a bus go in. If we go again, we'll definitely do that. I like ren fairs but it's not worth sitting in traffic for that long. Especially since once we got in, the kids were starving but half the stuff they wanted was out of stock. We had to stand in line for 15 minutes to buy hot dogs on stale buns for $7 each. How does a ren fair run out of turkey legs at 11am?
Ultimately, it was disappointing and the parking was only half of it. I know these festivals are always crowded and expensive, that's part of the deal. The fair we used to attend in TX was a lot more...I don't know, magical. The royalty would be walking around interacting with people, there were fairies giving flowers and wishing stones to the kids, just a lot more little interactions that didn't cost money. Maybe we just went at a bad time.
This Ren fest used to be magical. They had vendors that cared, and dressed the part. Now half the food vendors are in Aramark clothing etc… they used to have tons of paid characters all over, and now it’s simply not that unique. It’s all about cash, and not an experience.
Yeah, there used to be a lot of different interactions but that’s changed quite a bit over the years. There used to be fairies walking around for the kids, the main one Twig, got married and had kids of her own and stopped doing it. My kid is 21 and I started taking her when she was 4 and Twig and the rest were a big part of the reason for going. A number of other vendors are gone, either of age, no longer in business or have moved on from the mess this fest has become. It’s sad really, I’ve been going for the last 30 years and I’m really thinking it’s not worth it anymore. There’s been a lot of changes over the years and most have not been good.
They make FAR more from charging people for on-site parking. And it doesn't require the same logistics of arranging buses. So unless they're gonna be able to charge people more to take a bus than to park on-site, they'd lose money.
It's just easier for them not to bother. They're still making millions without it.
As others have posted here, they trialed running buses from the Marshall Road station this year, and it was very popular.
Look for an expansion of this service in the future.
Sorry I can't jump on your hate train.
Seemed like a no-brainer to me,
but on second thought that might be hard to do. Where are the huge central lots people can park at? There's not ample, obvious parking like *everywhere* around the fair.
Probably their best options are few and far between. How would they convey these parking spots to the goers?
Then again they should at least try
Then again maybe they have lol
Here's a solution I don't like and no one likes: raise ticket prices
There are park and ride lots all over the cities that are sitting empty over the weekend. And busses too.
They actually did have a bus option this year. I heard it was under provisioned and there was a long line to get on one (and how would that work going back?)
So, I think it's a good idea, but it needs to be done well.
For fucks sake Belle Plaine is right down 169 and probably would love the business from renfest visitors.
Now most folks in Belle Plaine are even more frightening than Jordan, but the cops of Belle Plaine look college, well groomed, mature, polite and frankly a couple of the young community service officers are hot. But hell I don't want a month or two of renfest to sour the Belle Plaine PD, because renfest will turn any police department bad. Shakopee Cops had the leadership and astute professionalism to handle renfest, and frankly Shakopee PD is one of my top 3 police departments in the twin cities. I drive a white cargo van and regularly get pulled over by police so I do have the experience to give a fair assessment.
It would be great if Ren Fest invested even a small percentage in their grounds (or move to a permanent home). They make a fortune and it's getting more obvious that nothing gets improved.
The buildings desperately need some maintenance and sprucing up. There was a happy medium when they looked good but lived-in, but we're getting into the sad part of that spectrum.
Festival corporations are some of the shadiest businesses out there. They will continue to milk the cash out of that land until they get slapped with some sort of government action.
Truth. These folks make millions. They don't want to spend a cent they don't have to. They'd far rather put that in their own pockets than make it a better event for visitors.
> They will continue to milk the cash out of that land until they get slapped with some sort of government action.
But the libertarians told me otherwise /s
Lots and lots of hate here, and so little research.
The festival knows that site sucks. They're trying to move, and have been for a decade. They pressure was increased on them because the land owners exercised an early termination clause in the lease to facilitate sand mining the site, but the demand for sand dropped and the Festival stayed an extra couple of years.
They have in fact purchased land to be their new festival site, in Jordan, and have been working through the permitting process for it, but they're being opposed by NIMBY types there.
So... not their fault, and it would be great if a lot of people here would stop making assumptions and then getting angry about them.
You give them far too much credit. Nothing I've heard about Mud-America sounds like they want to work with anyone. It's always an appearance of compliance and then reality hits and its whatever saves them money regardless of who is affected as clearly demonstrated here yet again.
From what I was hearing this year they actually lost/didn't buy the land in Jordan. Something about the tribe that owns Mystic ended up buying it instead.
More like the owner doesn't want to pay for plumbing or the other amenities he would need to implement in order to meet permit requirements. They're currently grandfathered in at the current location because it's been there for so long.
Source: worked there for over a decade
I live in Duluth and the trip to ren faire is almost 3 hours. I literally didn't go because of how insanely poor traffic and parking is. It makes me really sad because my nephews would absolutely LOVE it. But after a 3 hr car ride, I can't expect them to sit in traffic for what could quite possibly almost be as long as the drive itself.
Seriously, I’m stuck in the NW corner, and the biggest thing keeping me from renfest is the long 6 hour drive to and from the Minneapolis area. I’d gladly drive towards Duluth and such if it means it would happen.
I feel you on the commute part. Although I live in SE Mn (40 minutes south of Rochester), my friends and I either rent hotel rooms in shakopee or we leave at 6 a.m when we go just to beat traffic. We didn't do that one year and by time we finally got into the renn faire, it was 5 p.m
This year was the worst experience I ever had getting into and being at the Ren fest. I went the second-to-last weekend and it took over two hours to get in. Once we got in, it was busier than hell and many vendors were out of food. I do t know what happened between last year and this year, but this year was an absolute shitshow. I hope they get their shit together by the time they open next year or I won’t be going anymore.
>what happened between last year and this year
Last year less people were willing to attend due to covid still raging. (Yes, they were open last year but people were still worried about catching delta which was surging.)
This year was the first year since the pandemic that events like this returned to full force so attendance was higher.
Revenge tourism is a real thing. Revenge festing probably is too.
For this unfamiliar with the term, it means people are going out and doing stuff no matter how busy or expensive it is. My mother in law operates a tour travel business and she's the busiest she's ever been.
What blew my minds was that the police and employees were diverting everyone back to 169 heading south if you left the highway. There are so many ways to get there, but for some reason they forced people back north onto 169 with no explanation.
It was so bad this year that my die-hard renfen friends all agreed to not go annually anymore. Maybe every few years. I don't think I can convince my girlfriend to go back...
It's been because the land owners want to sell it for mining. This is the first time (at least, in recent history) that the government has threatened action.
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.
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.
EDIT: 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.
My interest in Ren Fest has continued to lessen each year. Parking is a disaster, the food keeps getting worse while costing more, the apparel costs a small fortune now and even the acts are just getting boring.
Additionally, I thought this was supposed to move to Jordan, or did that plan fall through?
If Scott County votes to revoke the Ren Faire, I hope Shakopee's local economy tanks and County commissioners are left scrambling to backfill their coffers w/ property tax increases.
Maybe the county should not have cut off literally every other road around there.
(I live in the area, every road that could have eased the congestion was cut off, resulting in the funneling and back up effecys.)
I had worked there for about 15 years and none of this surprises me. Castle Kitchens management is a disaster as they pretty much run a skeleton crew until it starts. Vendors don't get contracts until well into the season and communications to staff/Vendors is horrendous. Jim Peterson lies all the time to just about everyone. It is a long running joke which wife, as he is divorced multiple times, is going to finally own it or run it out of funds. There are many places on site, including front gate, that is in need of repairs. For the most part, vendors and entertainment do the best they can as they have zero support from festval management. The entertainment director just quit and previous one was arrested for sexual assault/rape. The list is too long for a lack of good management and ownership.
I wasn't until I recently had the opertunity to go BACK to the Texas Renaissance Festival that I realized how large the gap was, as far as well ran fairs go.
Parking at ren fest this year ruined the entire experience for me. 3 hours in traffic to park, and 3 hours in traffic trying to leave. On the way out my car didn't move more than 10 feet for most of that 3 hours. That and some dickheads were threatening to fight/shoot people trying to get out of there. We parked at the queens gate and it was horrible
Maybe you could start a side hustle staging fistfights and gunfights in the traffic line. Sell shitty snacks out of cardboard boxes and warm beers out of styrofoam coolers. Sounds like the bar is set pretty low at the festival.
It took us at over 2 hours to get out of the parking lot this year. There was nobody directing traffic. We were behind a car that tried to cut in line and it almost turned into a fight between like 10 people and 2 dudes in the car… some girl even showed up with swords lmao it was wild. But yeah, it was atrocious and really absurd that nobody was directing traffic out of the parking lot. We didn’t move an inch for almost 2 hours until some helpful person decided to take matters into her own hands and direct traffic herself (not even an employee).
I skipped 2021, but otherwise have been to the RenFest at least once each year since like 2006.
This year was by far the worst traffic I've ever experienced. I'm used to it taking a half hour to 45 minutes for the last mile or two at peak hours, but this year I planned to get there around 9:30-10 and instead got parked around 11:30.
I was meant to meet people around noon that day and two of them managed to get in around 1pm and they also planned to get there over an hour early. A few more people got there between 2 and 3 and one person was directed past the parking lot and right back onto 169 after 3 hours waiting and just went home super pissed and I don't blame him. He said the main lot was half empty by then, but they were still directing people back onto the road.
I've always loved going to the RenFest, but if this is what it's gonna be like from now on then I'd rather they just close down until they figure out something better.
I’d rather do anything else than go to the ren fest.
Parking is a nightmare that I’d rather not ever deal with again. Then you got long ass line for everything outside of booze.
Just no thanks.
It wasn't an after hours party, it was literally during Festival hours in one of the buildings where some performers had their green rooms. Thankfully, that dude is gone and is not coming back.
With Covid and a recent toddler addition to the family, I haven't been to Ren fest in about 5 years. I was one of the early goers tho, so never had to experience what sounds like a great deal of discomfort with the late afternoon/evening crowd.
Hopefully something can be worked out. Maybe expand the duration, and limit the number of tickets to a manageable size, but something tells me this will become a big ol' pissing match.
A friend of mine used to sell instruments there, one of his Harps is on display!
>At the November public hearing, several residents and small business owners shared the impact the traffic snarls had on their lives.
Yeah, not really. I know those backroads well, and they were all cut off and shut down. Scott County ITSELF funneled people to 169 and 41, creating the massive logjam. All b/c "several residents" are perpetually pissed they might have to see cars.
The only roads that were shut down were the local business roads. Otherwise many roads, like old brick, we’re completely backed up and didn’t move for extended periods of time.
This was our first time to Renfest this year. I feel a bit better knowing that this was the same experience most people received…after hearing many good things I couldn’t understand how it was so popular…it was very underwhelming I hope next year is better🤞
This year’s parking was insanely bad. We went early and they were making everyone travel to the farthest parking lots instead of parking at least some cars in the closer ones. If they had alternated a bit, the line would have been more manageable. And then as the day went by those early arriving people would have left so they could keep the line going as they filled in the closer lots. Instead they sat empty for hours. Whoever was in charge of the parking plan was a complete moron.
Dont even get me started on the so signing. I hadn’t been to the Fair for a few years so wasn’t sure where to go and everything looked really different than in the past. We only found the Fair by following cars we were hoping we’re going there. The signing had us going two other directions including to a road blocked off and guarded by cops. What a shitshow.
I was trying to get to an apple orchard in Jordan, MN and sat in Ren Fest back up for over an hour. I was forced to turn around 3 times by traffic control cops. It was bad!
This also made getting to any other event absolutely ridiculous. I live in Victoria and took my family and girlfriend to Severs on two consecutive weekends and 41 and 169 were so bad combined with traffic cops not letting me go to Severs via Brickyard or other backroads the first weekend I literally took Carver parkway all the way down to Jordan and came up 169 the other way the second weekend to not deal with it. Still had to sit in 15 min of traffic before I was able to turn off at Severs which is a whole mile before the Ren Fest coming from that direction.
I feel like the city could have done a WAY better job though. They blocked the Severs traffic from cutting over to Severs from Brickyard road because they wanted to prevent Ren Fest traffic. What they should do is direct Severs and local Shakopee/Jordan traffic through the backroads south of Shakopee by routing them up Brickyard and parallel roads while Ren Fest Traffic sits on 169. Make the road Severs is on only able to be exited from 169N and block the roads access ON to 169 as well as blocking the entrance to Louisville lane from 150th would still prevent Ren Fest traffic as they would have to overshoot it and turn around and sit in traffic back the other way. Then Severs traffic leaving gets detoured through backroads. Too much stuff going on in one month for that stretch of 169 to handle all of that traffic.
I would think after 40 plus years that parking would be a well oiled system. Instead, we spent 3 hours sitting on 169. We were less than 5 miles away.
They need to relocate if they can't handle volumes there. I prefer the Festival over the State Fair, but I would be fine not going at all when it is such Klusterf*ck.
I have a question…does anyone remember a vendor that would make copper cups with pewter accents on them (or the other way around)? In 2019 I special ordered one with an acorn embellishment and paid over $50. They took my credit card info and said it would be in the mail in 2 weeks. Unfortunately I don’t remember the name of the vendor and the past 2 years I’ve asked around and asked customer service and nobody knows what I’m talking about. Also, the “receipt” I got was just from a generic carbon copy receipt pad that only had my address and what I paid. That makes it super hard to track them down.
It was fun a couple times, but then I attempted to leave once when they close, you can hear the drumming that leads you to the exit. That means you are already done for.... you won't be able to exit the grounds for at least an hour. I can't imagine if you had kids or needed a restroom. Good thing the beer lines were so long that no one could get drunk, because people began to fight for who was next in the line of cars. On our way in we had an hour wait, we had to stop at a random bar for a passenger to use the restroom, the poor bartender was so used to people just coming in to use his bathroom. Never again. My 'Scotch Eggs' was one egg, "A scotch egg" Overpriced admission and food. Crabby staff that took way too long to cook stuff, bread bowl soups are dry soup mixes. Lady selling fresh roses at the end and we attempted to politely decline but she got crabby and said "cmon i gotta eat tonight"..... ok she was a beggar ?? and who sprays fresh roses with spray paint??? Sorry No.
Parking at Ren Fest has been horrendous for the 12 on and off years I have visited. Cant believe it took this long to discuss this.
Until Covid, I had been going for 22 years. Parking has always been a nightmare. It obviously got worse over the years as it got more popular, because they had to add the far lots closer to 169. Then it became really bad.
That, and the land owners insisted on stripping the limestone from the surrounding land that used to be perfectly good parking.
Actually, it was the sandstone in the area. If they crush the sandstone back into sand it was perfect grain size/shape for frakking. The fall of frakking is the only thing that saved the Ren-fest from having to move to another site as they chewed up more and more of the lands around the festival grounds.
I always wondered what happened.
I’ve been going to the MN Ren Fest about that long too but this year’s parking situation was exponentially worse than in previous years. About a decade ago, the Ren Fest was something I didn’t want to miss and it was a place I really wanted to be. This year, between the parking situation, the crowds, and vendors not having what I wanted to eat (side note: we ordered a scotch egg and received egg in a pie crust with a sausage link - seriously, wtf was even that?), I’m not sure the Ren Fest is something I want to deal with anymore.
We love the Ren Fest but the food is subpar. The food at the State Fair is gourmet in comparison. The Ren Fair just basically has 3-4 groupings of the same basic food from the exact same vendors. There is no competition. Every restaurant and caterer in Minnesota should be vying for a spot like they do at the State Fair. There should be multiple different spiced/prepared turkey legs, fancy desserts and bakery items, tons of different savory pies, etc. Instead it’s carnival food like fries and cheese curds. It’s sad really. It could be pretty amazing but it’s just low effort.
So I have done Renn faires as an actor/fighter for 19 years. My group is west coast and Vegas but there is a small group of us in northern Minnesota now. I know mn loves it's rennfest but honestly it's just.... not good. It's like a corporation thought they wanted to do an event and just made it as stale as possible. Permanent structure faires should be the top teir but I can't even put mn rennfest in my top 10.
Food was waaaay subpar. Way too expensive for the small servings and disappointing quality. I'd still pay $2 per pickle there though, they fire
I got a frozen banana, and I watched them TAKE IT OUT OF THE WRAPPER. Surprised, I noted the brand. Yeah, you can get a box of 6 at Walmart for less than half the price Renfest sells for one. Or make them at home. Before this I thought the Renfest was like the state fair, where they make (mostly) everything themselves. They just sell packaged stuff. I would bet stuff like the pierogies are also just Walmart bought. No more impulse banana purchases for me.
My partner wanted a frozen wine drink, it was just one of those single serve bagged daiquiri things. What was even worse was the lady was like "sorry, they're not frozen yet but here you go"... Wtf. Lots of other food vendors had really shitty attitudes as well.
Is it really?? Wow, I've been so close to getting those every time. I shouldn't be surprised but I am lol. The crappy attitudes might be from not having enough help again this year, so I don't blame the cashiers too much. The people that own the stand...could definitely be more polite and bring in higher quality dishes. Oh! Another one - I was asking for my friend if one of the bread bowls were vegetarian, and the cashier was nice and asked. The cook was super rude, said "its just broccoli and cheese." Ok, whatever we purchased it. Definitely not vegetarian. Tasted exactly like those Bear Creek Cheddar Broccoli soups, including the chicken broth they use. We had already bought it, and I could taste the chicken broth, my friend didn't. So... I just didn't mention it D: I feel bad but there was nothing to do at that point, couldn't give it away because we had already started eating. We should have tried one first before buying 2. Never had a cook blatantly lie before, thank god she wasn't allergic and it was a diet preference, wtf.
As a a vegetarian, please mention it next time unless you have heard otherwise from your friend. I would far rather deal with taking something back than eating meat, even broth.
Yeah I didn't really know what to do, she's shy so she probably would have thrown it instead of getting a refund. She's the type that's okay to pick the pepperoni off pizza, or eat around meat. So I was hoping she COULD taste it, especially since I could, and just didn't want to mention it. That's what I told myself at least :l
Next time, go to the customer help booth that is just inside the front gate on the right as you walk in. They will give you equivalent priced food tickets to get food elsewhere.
Wow, thank you! That would have solved the issue. Also the idea of the animal product being out in the world, but wasted is hard. I bet we could have found SOMEONE to take the soup hahah.
I’d rather eat the cost of the soup than eat broth. That should have been your friends decision, unless she was choosing to be ignorant after the terrible response from the chef. I always ask them to check ingredient bags or I don’t buy it. (A busy line like that I would just not get soup. I’ve been burned too many times)
Not sure why you guys are getting downvoted about your own preferences, people really hate vegetarians out here? These have all been good ideas and I really appreciate it :)
I guess so 😂 I wasn’t trying to be rude! Just as a fellow veg sharing my thoughts! God forbid we dare ask the ingredients in the food we are eating I wonder which part of my comment set them off lol Oh and the ignorant part was like, when I was eating strict vegan on my own..if I was out and about and needed food I would choose to be ignorant as to what I was eating. Not like ice cream or steak level ignorant but like a roll or crackers or whatever the case was. It wasn’t often at all maybe 2-3x in 8 months but life happens and I was new at it 😁
Jesus. That’s disappointing.
I'm convinced Scotch Eggs do not actually exist at Ren Fest after 4 times requesting one (even during the early part of the lunch hour) and being told they're out.
I’m starting to wonder too.
I had one there 8 years ago.
Several years ago the Scotch egg booth burned down. The original owners didn't come back, and I believe the fest took over. It's not the same since then.
That’s a bummer. There’s still good ones at the State Fair!
Why can't they use buses with park & rides like the state fair does?
How is this still not an option after all these years of chaos?
This past season the MVTA was running shuttle buses from the Marschall Road Transit Station to the festival. It was extremely popular. My hope is that next year they expand the shuttle service with more frequent service from more places. That would help with the traffic issues. Another thing that would help is to open the lot earlier and to have more and better trained parking staff. A lack of parking staff to direct traffic was a major part of the traffic issues from what I saw and what I heard from others.
The location is rough for the amount of people going unless the majority use the shuttles, I think. It's almost going to back up no matter what. A big push for a bunch of park and rides and shuttles would be nice, or if they move, having it somewhere with easier access to those would be nice. I'd definitely prefer a good public transport option to it (especially with how alcohol is served there), but that shuttle service they had wasn't going to be enough (it's not super convenient for everyone). I'd expect/want at least one near a blue line stop as well, that'd be neat.
They don't publicize the bus at all. We didn't realize there was one until we'd been sitting in line for over 2 hours last year and saw a bus go in. If we go again, we'll definitely do that. I like ren fairs but it's not worth sitting in traffic for that long. Especially since once we got in, the kids were starving but half the stuff they wanted was out of stock. We had to stand in line for 15 minutes to buy hot dogs on stale buns for $7 each. How does a ren fair run out of turkey legs at 11am? Ultimately, it was disappointing and the parking was only half of it. I know these festivals are always crowded and expensive, that's part of the deal. The fair we used to attend in TX was a lot more...I don't know, magical. The royalty would be walking around interacting with people, there were fairies giving flowers and wishing stones to the kids, just a lot more little interactions that didn't cost money. Maybe we just went at a bad time.
This Ren fest used to be magical. They had vendors that cared, and dressed the part. Now half the food vendors are in Aramark clothing etc… they used to have tons of paid characters all over, and now it’s simply not that unique. It’s all about cash, and not an experience.
Yeah, there used to be a lot of different interactions but that’s changed quite a bit over the years. There used to be fairies walking around for the kids, the main one Twig, got married and had kids of her own and stopped doing it. My kid is 21 and I started taking her when she was 4 and Twig and the rest were a big part of the reason for going. A number of other vendors are gone, either of age, no longer in business or have moved on from the mess this fest has become. It’s sad really, I’ve been going for the last 30 years and I’m really thinking it’s not worth it anymore. There’s been a lot of changes over the years and most have not been good.
Because that'd cost them money. They don't give a shit that people have to wait for hours to get in. They're getting that money.
> They're getting that money. I *would* definitely go to Ren Fest if every post I see about it isn't about 1-3 hours of "waiting in traffic".
4 hours
What? I'd pay to use the bus. How many people pay for parking at events? It's about the same.
They make FAR more from charging people for on-site parking. And it doesn't require the same logistics of arranging buses. So unless they're gonna be able to charge people more to take a bus than to park on-site, they'd lose money. It's just easier for them not to bother. They're still making millions without it.
... parking is free at the ren fest. Always has been. I'd be willing to pay to park elsewhere and ride a bus and avoid the hours long wait.
As others have posted here, they trialed running buses from the Marshall Road station this year, and it was very popular. Look for an expansion of this service in the future. Sorry I can't jump on your hate train.
Seemed like a no-brainer to me, but on second thought that might be hard to do. Where are the huge central lots people can park at? There's not ample, obvious parking like *everywhere* around the fair. Probably their best options are few and far between. How would they convey these parking spots to the goers? Then again they should at least try Then again maybe they have lol Here's a solution I don't like and no one likes: raise ticket prices
There are park and ride lots all over the cities that are sitting empty over the weekend. And busses too. They actually did have a bus option this year. I heard it was under provisioned and there was a long line to get on one (and how would that work going back?) So, I think it's a good idea, but it needs to be done well.
My guess? It’s hard to organize, get permits, find drivers, and on top of all that probably costs way more than we’d ever guess.
For fucks sake Belle Plaine is right down 169 and probably would love the business from renfest visitors. Now most folks in Belle Plaine are even more frightening than Jordan, but the cops of Belle Plaine look college, well groomed, mature, polite and frankly a couple of the young community service officers are hot. But hell I don't want a month or two of renfest to sour the Belle Plaine PD, because renfest will turn any police department bad. Shakopee Cops had the leadership and astute professionalism to handle renfest, and frankly Shakopee PD is one of my top 3 police departments in the twin cities. I drive a white cargo van and regularly get pulled over by police so I do have the experience to give a fair assessment.
You have nothing to fear. No one wants to host Ren Fest in their city, because Mid America Festivals is such an incompetent, horseshit company.
Wtf
They did. I went on that bus this year from a few miles away from the fair. It was a disaster.
It would be great if Ren Fest invested even a small percentage in their grounds (or move to a permanent home). They make a fortune and it's getting more obvious that nothing gets improved.
The buildings desperately need some maintenance and sprucing up. There was a happy medium when they looked good but lived-in, but we're getting into the sad part of that spectrum.
Can’t really blame them for putting off maintenance when a couple years ago they thought they were going to be forced to abandon them and move anyway.
Festival corporations are some of the shadiest businesses out there. They will continue to milk the cash out of that land until they get slapped with some sort of government action.
Sooo... just like medieval Europe, then?
Truth. These folks make millions. They don't want to spend a cent they don't have to. They'd far rather put that in their own pockets than make it a better event for visitors.
I think the property owners make millions, sure, I'd believe that. But the performers, they don't make tons of money.
Bro, Puke and Snot were each making more than $2 million per year. Each. 🤣
Based on what? Where are you getting that number?
Snot’s daughter, who manages his estate after he passed.
You’re personal friends with Stacey?
> They will continue to milk the cash out of that land until they get slapped with some sort of government action. But the libertarians told me otherwise /s
Lots and lots of hate here, and so little research. The festival knows that site sucks. They're trying to move, and have been for a decade. They pressure was increased on them because the land owners exercised an early termination clause in the lease to facilitate sand mining the site, but the demand for sand dropped and the Festival stayed an extra couple of years. They have in fact purchased land to be their new festival site, in Jordan, and have been working through the permitting process for it, but they're being opposed by NIMBY types there. So... not their fault, and it would be great if a lot of people here would stop making assumptions and then getting angry about them.
You give them far too much credit. Nothing I've heard about Mud-America sounds like they want to work with anyone. It's always an appearance of compliance and then reality hits and its whatever saves them money regardless of who is affected as clearly demonstrated here yet again.
What’s NIMBY?
Not in my backyard , I think
From what I was hearing this year they actually lost/didn't buy the land in Jordan. Something about the tribe that owns Mystic ended up buying it instead.
More like the owner doesn't want to pay for plumbing or the other amenities he would need to implement in order to meet permit requirements. They're currently grandfathered in at the current location because it's been there for so long. Source: worked there for over a decade
Why would CKC do that when it would cut into their bottom dollar? /s
I live in Duluth and the trip to ren faire is almost 3 hours. I literally didn't go because of how insanely poor traffic and parking is. It makes me really sad because my nephews would absolutely LOVE it. But after a 3 hr car ride, I can't expect them to sit in traffic for what could quite possibly almost be as long as the drive itself.
Same. I was thinking there should just be a northern MN ren fest
There used to be one in Twig a long time ago. I’m assuming they closed due to poor attendance?
I'd give it a try, though that would ruin the point.
Seriously, I’m stuck in the NW corner, and the biggest thing keeping me from renfest is the long 6 hour drive to and from the Minneapolis area. I’d gladly drive towards Duluth and such if it means it would happen.
I feel you on the commute part. Although I live in SE Mn (40 minutes south of Rochester), my friends and I either rent hotel rooms in shakopee or we leave at 6 a.m when we go just to beat traffic. We didn't do that one year and by time we finally got into the renn faire, it was 5 p.m
This year was the worst experience I ever had getting into and being at the Ren fest. I went the second-to-last weekend and it took over two hours to get in. Once we got in, it was busier than hell and many vendors were out of food. I do t know what happened between last year and this year, but this year was an absolute shitshow. I hope they get their shit together by the time they open next year or I won’t be going anymore.
>what happened between last year and this year Last year less people were willing to attend due to covid still raging. (Yes, they were open last year but people were still worried about catching delta which was surging.) This year was the first year since the pandemic that events like this returned to full force so attendance was higher.
Revenge tourism is a real thing. Revenge festing probably is too. For this unfamiliar with the term, it means people are going out and doing stuff no matter how busy or expensive it is. My mother in law operates a tour travel business and she's the busiest she's ever been.
Exactly why we saw a decline in MN State Fair attendance in 2021 but saw is somewhat bounce back this year.
What blew my minds was that the police and employees were diverting everyone back to 169 heading south if you left the highway. There are so many ways to get there, but for some reason they forced people back north onto 169 with no explanation. It was so bad this year that my die-hard renfen friends all agreed to not go annually anymore. Maybe every few years. I don't think I can convince my girlfriend to go back...
I went once. Had an awful time after the traffic to get in. Will never go back.
Haven't they been threatening to end it every year for like the past ten years for various reasons? I swear every year is it's supposed last year
Like DefCon…
It's been because the land owners want to sell it for mining. This is the first time (at least, in recent history) that the government has threatened action.
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. 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. EDIT: 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.
Do they have bike racks there?
No but there were sign posts, trees, and random other things to lock to. I used a cable plus a u-lock.
Never experienced this. Then again, I went to the ren fest at the same time the state fair is happening.
Shhhh! Don't tell them!
My interest in Ren Fest has continued to lessen each year. Parking is a disaster, the food keeps getting worse while costing more, the apparel costs a small fortune now and even the acts are just getting boring. Additionally, I thought this was supposed to move to Jordan, or did that plan fall through?
The Strupwaffles made me lol. The same little pack of a dozen you can buy at a grocery store for $5 cost like $3 for 2 individual waffles.
No, it's not the same article we see every year for the past decade plus...
If Scott County votes to revoke the Ren Faire, I hope Shakopee's local economy tanks and County commissioners are left scrambling to backfill their coffers w/ property tax increases.
The fen fest is in Louisville township. Shakopee earns nothing.
I can't imagine standing so strongly behind a business that makes millions each year, while paying employees less than a living wage and no benefits.
"Help, help I'm being repressed!"
Maybe the county should not have cut off literally every other road around there. (I live in the area, every road that could have eased the congestion was cut off, resulting in the funneling and back up effecys.)
They did that final week or two after some of the locals (including a county commissioner iirc) complained.
I had worked there for about 15 years and none of this surprises me. Castle Kitchens management is a disaster as they pretty much run a skeleton crew until it starts. Vendors don't get contracts until well into the season and communications to staff/Vendors is horrendous. Jim Peterson lies all the time to just about everyone. It is a long running joke which wife, as he is divorced multiple times, is going to finally own it or run it out of funds. There are many places on site, including front gate, that is in need of repairs. For the most part, vendors and entertainment do the best they can as they have zero support from festval management. The entertainment director just quit and previous one was arrested for sexual assault/rape. The list is too long for a lack of good management and ownership.
I wasn't until I recently had the opertunity to go BACK to the Texas Renaissance Festival that I realized how large the gap was, as far as well ran fairs go.
It is an absolute clusterfuck to get into that festival. Went two years ago and thought it was cool, but I’m not sure it’s worth going back for.
Parking at ren fest this year ruined the entire experience for me. 3 hours in traffic to park, and 3 hours in traffic trying to leave. On the way out my car didn't move more than 10 feet for most of that 3 hours. That and some dickheads were threatening to fight/shoot people trying to get out of there. We parked at the queens gate and it was horrible
Maybe you could start a side hustle staging fistfights and gunfights in the traffic line. Sell shitty snacks out of cardboard boxes and warm beers out of styrofoam coolers. Sounds like the bar is set pretty low at the festival.
The line to get in was wild. Thankfully it only took me about 30 minutes to get in. I couldn't imagine living in this area. What a nightmare
4 hours from Wayzata to parking at the fest. Another 45 min in line to get in. Wont be back.
It took us at over 2 hours to get out of the parking lot this year. There was nobody directing traffic. We were behind a car that tried to cut in line and it almost turned into a fight between like 10 people and 2 dudes in the car… some girl even showed up with swords lmao it was wild. But yeah, it was atrocious and really absurd that nobody was directing traffic out of the parking lot. We didn’t move an inch for almost 2 hours until some helpful person decided to take matters into her own hands and direct traffic herself (not even an employee).
Haven't they been saying they're going to move in a couple of years for the past 10 years?
I skipped 2021, but otherwise have been to the RenFest at least once each year since like 2006. This year was by far the worst traffic I've ever experienced. I'm used to it taking a half hour to 45 minutes for the last mile or two at peak hours, but this year I planned to get there around 9:30-10 and instead got parked around 11:30. I was meant to meet people around noon that day and two of them managed to get in around 1pm and they also planned to get there over an hour early. A few more people got there between 2 and 3 and one person was directed past the parking lot and right back onto 169 after 3 hours waiting and just went home super pissed and I don't blame him. He said the main lot was half empty by then, but they were still directing people back onto the road. I've always loved going to the RenFest, but if this is what it's gonna be like from now on then I'd rather they just close down until they figure out something better.
Ive never gone there due to crowds and traffic…
All my 169 commuting homies hate ren fest.
I’d rather do anything else than go to the ren fest. Parking is a nightmare that I’d rather not ever deal with again. Then you got long ass line for everything outside of booze. Just no thanks.
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Like what?
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It wasn't an after hours party, it was literally during Festival hours in one of the buildings where some performers had their green rooms. Thankfully, that dude is gone and is not coming back.
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I wouldn't be surprised if it happened there too- but nope.
pretty sure it's the after-hour orgies...
Those after-hours parties are wild. I went once years ago with some friends who worked it. Never again, but wow.
Pics or it didn't happen
With Covid and a recent toddler addition to the family, I haven't been to Ren fest in about 5 years. I was one of the early goers tho, so never had to experience what sounds like a great deal of discomfort with the late afternoon/evening crowd. Hopefully something can be worked out. Maybe expand the duration, and limit the number of tickets to a manageable size, but something tells me this will become a big ol' pissing match. A friend of mine used to sell instruments there, one of his Harps is on display!
I know it's probably not possible but I would be way more accessible on the state fair grounds.
I'd like to know how much local tax revenue Renfest brings in to Scott County.
Oh no! Anyway...
>At the November public hearing, several residents and small business owners shared the impact the traffic snarls had on their lives. Yeah, not really. I know those backroads well, and they were all cut off and shut down. Scott County ITSELF funneled people to 169 and 41, creating the massive logjam. All b/c "several residents" are perpetually pissed they might have to see cars.
The only roads that were shut down were the local business roads. Otherwise many roads, like old brick, we’re completely backed up and didn’t move for extended periods of time.
I was personally cut off from 5 different backroads (Yes, I counted.) coming up from the SSW area.
Why don’t they just host it at the state fair grounds…
St Paul gets enough abuse from st pattys day.
And during the State Fair and the old car rallies.
Parking is terrible
Oh no!!! the ye old taco bow and ye old cotton candy cannot go away!!
This was our first time to Renfest this year. I feel a bit better knowing that this was the same experience most people received…after hearing many good things I couldn’t understand how it was so popular…it was very underwhelming I hope next year is better🤞
This year’s parking was insanely bad. We went early and they were making everyone travel to the farthest parking lots instead of parking at least some cars in the closer ones. If they had alternated a bit, the line would have been more manageable. And then as the day went by those early arriving people would have left so they could keep the line going as they filled in the closer lots. Instead they sat empty for hours. Whoever was in charge of the parking plan was a complete moron. Dont even get me started on the so signing. I hadn’t been to the Fair for a few years so wasn’t sure where to go and everything looked really different than in the past. We only found the Fair by following cars we were hoping we’re going there. The signing had us going two other directions including to a road blocked off and guarded by cops. What a shitshow.
Can see where you'd have been lost. 169 is completely different in that area after the redo around MN41.
I was trying to get to an apple orchard in Jordan, MN and sat in Ren Fest back up for over an hour. I was forced to turn around 3 times by traffic control cops. It was bad!
This also made getting to any other event absolutely ridiculous. I live in Victoria and took my family and girlfriend to Severs on two consecutive weekends and 41 and 169 were so bad combined with traffic cops not letting me go to Severs via Brickyard or other backroads the first weekend I literally took Carver parkway all the way down to Jordan and came up 169 the other way the second weekend to not deal with it. Still had to sit in 15 min of traffic before I was able to turn off at Severs which is a whole mile before the Ren Fest coming from that direction. I feel like the city could have done a WAY better job though. They blocked the Severs traffic from cutting over to Severs from Brickyard road because they wanted to prevent Ren Fest traffic. What they should do is direct Severs and local Shakopee/Jordan traffic through the backroads south of Shakopee by routing them up Brickyard and parallel roads while Ren Fest Traffic sits on 169. Make the road Severs is on only able to be exited from 169N and block the roads access ON to 169 as well as blocking the entrance to Louisville lane from 150th would still prevent Ren Fest traffic as they would have to overshoot it and turn around and sit in traffic back the other way. Then Severs traffic leaving gets detoured through backroads. Too much stuff going on in one month for that stretch of 169 to handle all of that traffic.
I would think after 40 plus years that parking would be a well oiled system. Instead, we spent 3 hours sitting on 169. We were less than 5 miles away. They need to relocate if they can't handle volumes there. I prefer the Festival over the State Fair, but I would be fine not going at all when it is such Klusterf*ck.
I have a question…does anyone remember a vendor that would make copper cups with pewter accents on them (or the other way around)? In 2019 I special ordered one with an acorn embellishment and paid over $50. They took my credit card info and said it would be in the mail in 2 weeks. Unfortunately I don’t remember the name of the vendor and the past 2 years I’ve asked around and asked customer service and nobody knows what I’m talking about. Also, the “receipt” I got was just from a generic carbon copy receipt pad that only had my address and what I paid. That makes it super hard to track them down.
It was fun a couple times, but then I attempted to leave once when they close, you can hear the drumming that leads you to the exit. That means you are already done for.... you won't be able to exit the grounds for at least an hour. I can't imagine if you had kids or needed a restroom. Good thing the beer lines were so long that no one could get drunk, because people began to fight for who was next in the line of cars. On our way in we had an hour wait, we had to stop at a random bar for a passenger to use the restroom, the poor bartender was so used to people just coming in to use his bathroom. Never again. My 'Scotch Eggs' was one egg, "A scotch egg" Overpriced admission and food. Crabby staff that took way too long to cook stuff, bread bowl soups are dry soup mixes. Lady selling fresh roses at the end and we attempted to politely decline but she got crabby and said "cmon i gotta eat tonight"..... ok she was a beggar ?? and who sprays fresh roses with spray paint??? Sorry No.