My Dream

[aelfgifu]

We all have dreams of the SCA, things that make it magic for us. Here is one part of my dream:

As you walk up the hill to the tournament field you find yourself walking on a path through the artisans’ village. On one side of you several blacksmiths strike for another smith, sending sparks flying. Amazing examples of blades and scroll work sit on a table in front of their work-space. Across the path you see glassblowers working around a furnace, spinning glass on a long pole, and fetching tools. In front of this area are all sorts of cups, jars, and other glass-ware. Next you see several wood-workers, one with a lathe, another carving details onto a chair arm. There is a circle of people sewing, knitting, carving wood blocks, and off to the side some women painting. All of them have examples of their work hanging near them, catching the light, colorful in the sun. You get to the top of the hill to watch the tournament, but as you go back to camp you walk through the area again, and this time see a group of people playing medieval games, some men striking coins, and a crowd of people watching several artisans pour molten bronze into a mold in the middle of the courtyard. You see a sign board up at the edge of the yard and notice that the next bronze pour is scheduled for noon the next day, and you decide that you should bring your friend/child/spouse with you tomorrow to watch it.

We are not that far off from this dream. We have A&S village areas, we have circles of people sitting around working nicely on projects, and there are often smiths working in merchants’ row. And of course I am scheming to get a portable glass set up put together. Now if we can get good locations (i.e. where people are going to walk through rather than hidden behind the tournament field) and plan some fun events for demonstrations (not just classes, but those are good too) I think more people would come and these arrangements could develop into something really spectacular. Yes, there are always reasons people don’t participate, but with a little more priority set on the visibility of artisans, I think we could make some serious progress.

Comments

[aelfgyfu.livejournal.com]

I can think of two ways for this to work. First, an autocrat can include renting and erecting a large pavillion in the events costs and have a higher merchant fee to cover it. The higher merchant fee will also discourage quite a few non-serious merchants. And have the merchants be juried. We are doing this with A&S this year since we have limited merchant space, and it is amaizing how many people a little $25 fee will scare off! I would consider even $50 to be reasonable considering what most venues cost. Or second option, someone who wants to be a marchant/landlord can arrange it for an event and invite people they know to have tables inside. This could be fun, but a lot of people I know who make pretty stuff want to be out fighting, or watching the fighting during times when they would be at their tables. Ways to work around this, bribe/pay commision for someone to sit at your table for you while you need to be gone or make a deal with the guy at the next table and have shifts.