INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 6)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored! While, perhaps this one show!

Our Most Boring Show

Most of the shows we participated in were 2 or 3 day shows, a few times 5 days. The Royal Winter Fair, however, back then, was an 11-day show! It ran, each day, from early morning to late at night. This wouldn’t be so bad if we had had a large staff to man the booth. That, unfortunately, was not our reality! Ainsley and Ed (my daughter and son-in-law) agreed to help us out, which was great, but it was still a long and exhausting show! To make matters worse, Judi and I got sick (Judi more than me) (extremely high fevers), and we took turns sleeping. I slept in a chair pretending to watch one of the shows in the show ring. Judi squished herself in a narrow passageway behind our booth lying on top of our winter coats! We were quite the pair! Judi, when i tell the story, adds here, that she was lying with the gigantic “rats” in the horse coliseum! I'm not sure how true this part of the story is! We lived in Cobourg, so going home for a rest, was out of the question! As a kid I had always loved visiting "The Royal”. There was so much to see and do! However, over 11 days, there are only so many pigs, cows, goats, horse, etc., that you can experience before getting bored! Perhaps Judi and I got the best of it because we was too sick too care! But Ainsley and Ed really bore the brunt of this boredom! We persevered but the boredom continued! The only really high point came, I am told, (I was behind the booth sick) came one evening! During the evenings at the Royal they hold the “Equestrian Shows and Competitions”. This is where the world’s top equestrian riders compete. The evening in question was the last Saturday, the BIG EVENT! Everyone attending the event wore "evening gowns and tuxedos". To get to the stadium the attendees had to pass by the booths where we were located. One group that passed by us contained none other than "Princess Fergi, Duchess of York". She stopped at a number of booths and even made a purchase at one (not ours!) It was all very exciting! At least I am sure it would have been for ME, if I had had been awake!