Posts By: Jeannette

Cincinnati Feis 2014 Grades Review

Posted by Jeannette & filed under Cincinnati Feis, Feis Reviews, Ohio Feis.

Cincinnati-Feis-LogoFullThe 31st Annual Cincinnati Feis was held on November 2, 2014 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, KY. This is the 1st time we have attended this feis, and overall, we had a pleasant experience. This review is mainly aimed at the Grades experience at this feis. As this feis divided grades by age (with younger dancers in the morning session & older dancers in the afternoon), we attended only the morning grades session, so this review covers only that piece of things.

Venue

The feis was held at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center. The venue is connected to the Cincinnati Riverwalk Marriott, and the feis secured a relatively reasonable rate for attendees. read more

Pat Roche Feis 2014, Grades Review

Posted by Jeannette & filed under Feis Reviews, Illinois Feis, Pat Roche Feis.

logocolorThe 2014 Pat Roche Feis was held on October 11-12, 2014 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont II. This was our first time attending this feis, and we attended only the first day, which was for grades.  PC/OC is not covered in this review, as those competitions were held the second day.

Venue

The feis was held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention center.  The location was convenient — right near Chicago’s O’Hare airport, and easily accessible from the highway.

Parking (in a garage across the street from the venue) was $13 for the day, which is not bad by Chicago standards, but pricier than many other feiseanna, and at that amount, is something that needs to be built into the budget for the day. read more

Michigan (Muskegon) Feis 2014 Review, Grades

Posted by Jeannette & filed under Feis Reviews, Michigan (Muskegon) Feis, Michigan Feis.

The 2014 Michigan Feis was held on September 13, 2014 at Muskegon Central Catholic High School in Muskegon, MI. This is the 2nd time we have attended this feis, and we have had a very pleasant experience here both times. This review is mainly aimed at the Grades experience at this feis.

Venue

The feis was held at Muskegon Central Catholic High School.

Parking was free, plentiful & close – which was a nice change from many other feiseanna we have attended recently!

Because this feis is associated with the Michigan Irish Music Festival, there was an admission fee for adults at the door (I believe it was $8/person), but dancers were admitted free. There was a bit of a bottleneck getting into the school because people were paying the admission fee, but those who checked in the night before at the feis hotel & got their admission wristbands paid for then were able to walk right in. We had not prepaid, but still waited less than 5 minutes to get in, which is quick compared to other feiseanna we’ve been to with a similar setup. read more

Rock River Valley Feis 2014, Grades Review

Posted by Jeannette & filed under Feis Reviews, Illinois Feis, Rock River Valley Feis.

downloadThe 2014 Rock River Valley Feis was held on September 6, 2014 at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, IL. This is the 2nd time we have attended this feis, although the venue was different when we attended 2 years ago.

Venue

The feis was held at the Megacenter right next to the resort.  It is a small building with an open ballroom type area.  There was a small food court area near the front of the room.

Parking was free, plentiful & close – which was a nice change from many other feiseanna we have attended recently! read more

Milwaukee Feis 2014 Review

Posted by Jeannette & filed under Feis Reviews, Milwaukee Feis, Wisconsin Feis.

milThe 25th Annual Milwaukee Feis was held on August 9, 2014 at the Student Union at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The feis was run back to back with the McMenamin Feis, and so some aspects of this review apply to the review for the Sunday feis as well.

This is the 3rd year we have attended this feis, and we have always found it to be a pleasant experience. This year was no different, and we anticipate returning again next year as well.

Venue

The student union makes a nice home for a feis, with separate rooms for each stage, plenty of seating and areas to spread out away from the stages. There is ample practice room, plenty of accessible bathrooms, and lots of food options for hungry dancers (and their families). read more

McMenamin Academy Feis 2014 Review

Posted by Jeannette & filed under Feis Reviews, McMenamin Academy Feis, Wisconsin Feis.

mcMThe 4th Annual McMenamin Academy Feis was held on August 10, 2014 at the Student Union at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The feis was run back to back with the Milwaukee Feis, and so some sections of this review will refer to the Saturday feis review in order to avoid duplication.

This is the 2nd time we have attended this feis, and we have generally had a pleasant experience and would likely return again next year.

Venue

(See Milwaukee Feis Review for commentary)

Overall Venue Score: 9/10

Judges

My dancer danced 6 times and was seen by 4 judges, which is pretty darn good judge rotation in my book. My only complaint is that 2 of the 4 judges who saw her on Sunday had also judged her on Saturday. I know it would be difficult for the 2 feiseanna to coordinate completely new judges for grades dancers on Sunday, but it would be nice to see an attempt made. read more

Chicago Feis 2014 Review

Posted by Jeannette & filed under Chicago Feis, Feis Reviews, Illinois Feis.

The 2014 Chicago Feis was held on May 25-26, 2014 at Chicago Gaelic Park in Oak Forest, IL. It is part of Chicago Gaelic Park’s annual Irish Fest, which is a 4 day festival. This is the 3rd year we have attended this feis, and it definitely has a different feel than many other feiseanna in our region.

Venue

Chicago Gaelic Park appears to be mainly a banquet facility. It is a smaller building that does not have a lot of room for people & seating, never mind zucas, dress bags, etc. It is an older building with limited bathroom facilities and questionable air conditioning. read more

Dairyland Feis 2014 Review

Posted by Jeannette & filed under Dairyland Feis, Feis Reviews, Wisconsin Feis.

dairylandThe 2nd Annual Dairyland Feis was held on Sunday January 19, 2014 at the Olympia Resort and Conference Center in Oconomowoc, WI. The feis was run back to back with the Wisconsin Winter Feis, and so some parts of this review will refer to the review for Saturday’s feis to avoid duplication.

This was our 2nd year attending this feis, and we have generally had a pleasant experience.

Venue

See Wisconsin Winter Feis Review for commentary.

Overall Venue Score: 8/10.

Judges

My dancer danced 6 times and was only seen by 1 judge, and that judge had seen her for 4 of her 6 dances the day before. In my mind, this is totally unacceptable. Even with running by level, judges could have been rotated so the dancers were seen by 3 judges. read more

Wisconsin Winter Feis 2014 Review

Posted by Jeannette & filed under Feis Reviews, Wisconsin Feis, Wisconsin Winter Feis.

winterfeis-picThe 14th Annual Wisconsin Winter Feis was held on Saturday January 18, 2014 at the Olympia Resort and Conference Center in Oconomowoc, WI. The feis was run back to back with the Dairyland Feis, and so some aspects of this review apply to the review for the Sunday feis as well.

This was the first year we attended this feis, and we had a pleasant experience overall.

Venue

The Olympia was a new venue for this feis this year, and I thought it was nice. It was an older hotel, and a little remodeling probably wouldn’t hurt, but structurally, it was a nice facility for a feis. There were several ballrooms for stages, room for vendors & practicing, and a nice remote (and pretty much unused!) location for camping. read more