Charlotte Varcoe
MORE than 4000 people walked through the gates of the Mount Gambier Showgrounds over the weekend with many donning medieval outfits.
The 2024 Mount Gambier Fantasy Medieval Fair has been hailed a grand success after attracting around 700 more visitors than last year.
This year’s event hosted a number of new initiatives and entertainment including workshops and live action role playing.
Committee member Talie Teakle said stallholders also expressed a positive end to the weekend with many selling more on the Saturday than they did overall last year.
“We did not know the numbers at the time because it was so spread out,” Ms Teakle said.
“It turns out we had more people than last year but the stalls and entertainment was more spread out.”
She said it was fantastic for the committee to receive positive feedback not only from patrons but also stallholders.
“You know this means they will keep coming back but to also get that feedback from local stallholders too is amazing,” Ms Teakle said.
“Across the board everyone did better than they did last year.”
The two-day event hosted 20 more stalls than last year reaching 74 in total across the entire venue.
“We had the three halls open with traders inside and outside right around to the re-enactment area,” she said.
“Ultimately the numbers are secondary to us; however, we were more concerned about how the fair was going to be received and the general vibe.”
Ms Teakle said the atmosphere remained positive over the weekend with the help of a supportive community.
“That is what drives us and I spoke to a couple on the weekend who I knew were not local and had dressed up only to find out they were from Melbourne and came here specifically for the fair,” she said.
“There was also a guy I spoke to who enters our costume competitions each year and he is from New South Wales and travelled 15 hours on the train just to come down here.”
She said the positive feedback and travellers from afar was what drove the committee to making the event bigger and better each year.
“The numbers do help us because we are volunteers so we need the ticket sales to help pay for everything,” Ms Teakle said.
“We are already compiling feedback and constructive suggestions on what we can do to improve things and we will be sending out surveys to stallholders, entertainers, patrons and those who went to the feast to get their feedback on what we can do better next year.”
She said this year the traditional Medieval Feast attendees were down by about 30 tickets compared to previous years.
“We were about 30 people short from selling out but with the cost of living we understand and the feast is a bit of a luxury, it is an extra thing,” Ms Teakle said.
“I was not particularly surprised that we did not sell out this year, but the entertainment we felt was a lot more.”
She said the committee focused on providing great entertainment for feast goers and commented on the number of costumes throughout the whole weekend.
“The costume competition is always fun and having a dedicated emcee on the night was also great because we did not have to get up and do it ourselves,” Ms Teakle said.
“It worked out really well and so did the elevated VIP table which did sell out quite early but seeing the costumes and especially the commitment from our local gamers and how much effort they put into their costumes was amazing.”
She said stallholders commented on the effort locals put into their costumes, stating it was one part of the fair she enjoyed the most.
“People also put so much thought behind it, there was a medieval themed Scooby-Doo gang which was also amazing.”
Moving forward Ms Teakle said the committee would analyse the surveys and postcodes from ticket sales to find out more about where people had travelled from.
“We often find it is about half and half locals and people from away which really helps stimulate the economy down here,” she said.
“It is a big boost and I hope the local businesses get to see people walking down the street and around town in medieval outfits because it is quite fun.”
Ms Teakle said another positive aspect coming from the weekend was the proposal to begin a live action role play chapter to Mount Gambier/Berrin following talks of collaboration between local businesses and those from afar.
“The live action role players spoke to a number of local businesses and people while they were here and they are sure that by next year when they come back there will already be a Mount Gambier chapter of the group down here,” she said.
“They are talking about running weekend events in Mount Gambier because we are so close to the Victorian border and Adelaide that they can bring people from all over which means there is possibly another event which has sprung up from the fair.”
Ms Teakle said the first time workshop initiative was also a success with the committee aiming to promote it better next time.
“We have already learnt these things and we will try and improve on that next time,” she said.
The Mount Gambier Fantasy Medieval Fair is expected to return in 2025.
