[Bards] no suger coating on this
Donnchadh Beag mac Griogair
donnchadh at cornelius.norman.ok.us
Tue Oct 31 17:20:25 PST 2006
Brian O'hUilliam wrote:
> Ivo,
> Good Lord, while I do agree that lack of audience is a problem, I do
> not feel that we have a bad reputation. Perhaps this is just
> reflective of what I see in the Coast, but I feel a big issue is event
> overcrowding. What I mean by that is, at most events, you will have
> an archery competition, rapier tournament, chiv tournament, and so
> on. People want to compte in or see everything, so they watch a few
> bardic performances and move on. I know several people, myself
> included, who try to compete in multiple competitions, so quite often
> I will go, compete, and leave.
>
> On the other hand, I have seen people enjoy bardic circles for hours
> upon hours late into the night. Why? Because that's the only thing
> to do at night! Do I have a suggestion to fix this? Sure. I have
> seen bardic competitions done at the evening bardic circle on Saturday
> night and announced in Court Sunday morning. That's ok for a multiple
> day event, but it a pain for people who day trip. I have seen a
> bardic competition done on Friday evening (ok, I heard about it, I
> didn't get there until Saturday.) I hate that format. But what
> Seawinds did last year was to have the bardic competition during feast
> and then the nobles decided who their champion was and announced him
> at the end of feast. Everyone saw the bards and enjoyed the
> competitio.n Of course this wont work if you have many bards
> competing. Perhaps what Loch Ruadh did a few years ago where they had
> the competition and then the final round during feast....
>
> It ultimately comes down to what the coordinator and nobles want.
> And again, this may only reflect what I have seen here in the Coastal
> Region and in my travels (which are not often enough to my friends in
> the North.)
>
>
> Brian
Someone mentioned earlier about some local bardic competitions that draw
30+ competitors. I'm happy to say that Namron is one of those, and one
of the biggest reasons I can think of is that the bardic competition is
treated as "The Main Event" in the evening. It is THE place to be, and
so it draws not only a large number of competitors, but also a huge
audience. There is usually a big bonfire and the brewers guild is
usually there trying to cause as much liver damage as possible. The
atmosphere is incredible.
Contrast this with a competition that is held at the same time as the
chivalric fighting, rapier fighting, archery, classes, A&S, children's
activities, etc. That's off in the the corner of the hall or some other
out of the way place, that people may or may not hear announced. I love
participating in bardic, but I also really enjoy archery. So which one
do I have to give up? With a situation like this, it's no wonder that
we're having small turnouts of both competitors and audience members.
I think that maybe we need to concentrate more on making bardic
competitions more of an entertainment event than a contest. After all,
isn't that what bardic is all about, entertaining the populace? I can
tell you that as a bard, brewer, and now Baron, I plan on doing
everything I can to make sure that Namron's bardic competition stays not
only a way for us to choose our bardic champion, but as the best way
anyone could conceive of spending an evening. I hope to see you all at
both Eisteddfod and Beltane.
In Service to the Dream,
Donnchadh Beag mac Griogair
Baron of Namron
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