faire warnings

Faire Warnings

Safety Issues In Our Encampments

The Wheel Thing

Saint Brigids Hearth now includes in our kit a period-correct wheelbarrow, soon to be followed by a wagon or cart (to be determined). As noted in The Rules these conveyances are sturdily built, but do not include any modern safety restraints, roll cages, airbags, helmets, etcetera, and therefore we cannot give rides in them. The chance that someone might get hurt (and therefore the liability) is simply too great. They will be great fun this year for hauling water, beer, grain, rocks and God alone knows what else, but they cannot be used to haul people.

It goes without saying that if you want to build your own and bring it to faire... well, that's your own lookout, as is what you choose to haul with it.

Stay tuned to Pennywise Projects for details on how it was built!

Here There Be Dragons

In the left-hand picture is a cute little dragon. Meet our buddy Snap. He's a safety dragon. (That's why he's red.) He's a nice little fellow. If you meet him, tickle him under the chin, he likes that. The right-hand picture is a drawing of a creature you don't want to tickle under the chin (it doesn't have one anyway). If you meet this one, hold very still and hope it doesn't notice you. This is proof that size matters little in the grand scheme of things.

What I trotted Snap out to say is this: When we’re not in 16th Century Scotland, we’re in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. And even when we are in Renaissance Scotland, we’re still in Washington and it’s still August. And in August in Washington, there be dragons! Well, not really. Snap’s an only child and he doesn’t eat much. But his distant cousin "Paravescula Pensylvanius" (aka "TheWestern Yellowjacket”) is still flying around! This little black & gold beastie is also known not-so-affectionately as “Omigodicus Makeitstophurtingus”. It is a problem endemic to any event that wants to take place outdoors during the Washington summertime.

To make allowances for this, there are a plethora of yellowjacket traps that get used around the fairesite. In our encampment we use glass ones which are technically Victorian in period, but it's an anachronism that we’re perfectly comfortable with.

And here’s the upshot: We require our members who are allergic to bee, wasp and hornet stings to tell us so. We will share this information with the first aid and security coteries at the faires we attend. We encourage allergic guild members to carry an "Epi-pen" or similar product in case they are stung and to make certain that someone present not only knows where it is, but how to administer it.

The Dragon Trap

This is a yellow jacket trap, affectionately known as a dragon trap. The yellowjackets come in, attracted by a reservoir of sweet liquid, usually something like cider (which I swear works better than the commercial Yellow Jacket bait). The yellow jackets get in, but either can't get out, so they buzz around inside until they drown. It's gruesome, but if you know and/or love anyone who has an allergy, I find that one's conscience is surprisingly untainted by the prospect.

These hang all over the encampment, so watch your head. You don't want to jostle one lest you end up covered in rancid cider and dead and/or pissed-off things with long, pointy, stingers!

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