Posts Categorized: Feis Reviews

North Coast Feis 2014 The PC/OC Edition

Posted by What The Feis & filed under Feis Reviews, North Coast Feis, Ohio Feis.

Note: Since our ‘promotion’ to PC, my reviews have been more focused on the nuances of the new level, and I have not captured much info on the other levels. Looking for volunteers interested in helping me remedy that by adding grade level review info the the feis review. Thanks.

ncfThe North Coast Feis was held on February 1st, 2014 at the IX Center in Cleveland, OH.

Venue – The IX Center was OK as a feis venue. The PC/OC area was in the ballroom on the main level and was a good size room, but not adequate for the amount of people needing to be in there. read more

Chicago Autumn Feis 2013

Posted by What The Feis & filed under Chicago Autumn Feis, Feis Reviews, Illinois Feis.

caf2013_logoThe 11th Annual Chicago Autumn Feis was held on Saturday, November 9, 2013 at the North Central College in Naperville, IL. This is the second time I have attended this feis, the last when it was held back to back with the Prairie State Feis at Ho-Chunk back in 2011. I liked that venue better ;)

Venue

The feis was held in the indoor track of North Central College and it could be great venue if there weren’t 9 gazillion people at the feis. Very crowded with inadequate camping is the best way to describe it. read more

American Pride Feis 2013

Posted by What The Feis & filed under American Pride Feis, Feis Reviews, Tennessee Feis.

4-231x300The 1st Annual American Pride Feis was held on November 2, 2013 at the Embassy Suites Nashville – South/Cool Springs in Franklin, Tennessee.

Venue – From a hotel standpoint, it was great. For a feis venue, um, not so much, sorry. Not really a big fan of hotels as feis venues and this one was no exception.

The stages were in the big ballroom that had been divided into smaller rooms with partitions. Stage 1 was partitioned off by itself, Stages 2 & 3 shared a room as did 4 and 5 (someone fact check me on that one please, I really only peeked in and do not remember). read more

Gem City Feis 2013

Posted by What The Feis & filed under Feis Reviews, Gem City Feis, Ohio Feis.

gcLogoThe Gem City Feis was held on October 12th, 2013 at the Dayton Airport Expo Center in Vandalia, OH.

This is my second year reviewing this feis although we have been here a few times. You can see the last review here.

Venue – As I said last year, the Expo Center is a great venue for a feis. People at the feis even commented that it was their favorite venue. However, last year I also said “probably could have taped off a bigger area for camping then they actually did, since the camping filled up and became difficult to navigate in and out of, but the annoyance was minor” and maybe I was a little too subtle. There is a ton of open area that could have been used for camping, but they taped off the same inadequate area this year and people were openly irritated. TAPE OFF A BIGGER CAMPING AREA IN 2014 PLEASE! read more

Michigan (Muskegon) Feis 2013

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

The Michigan Feis was held on September 14th, 2013 at the Muskegon Catholic Central High School in Muskegon, Michigan.

This is the second review for this feis. To see last years review, look here.

Venue – This is the third time we have done a feis at Muskegon Catholic and unlike some of the other feiseanna located in schools, we like this feis.

There were 4 stages in different areas of the school, 2 in one gym, 1 in the auditorium on the schools auditorium stage, and the PC/OC stage in another gym at the far end of the school. If by chance you had dancers on stages 3 or 4 and one of the other stages, especially stage 1 (OC/PC) you probably did not enjoy the layout as much, since dances moved quickly and it was a few minute walk between the stages. read more

Rock River Valley Feis 2013

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

The Rock River Valley Feis was held on September 7th, 2013 at the Pheasant Run Resort Mega Center, in St. Charles, IL. This is the point in the feis weekend where I tell you what I thought about the feis, the venue, judging, musicians, etc… you know the drill. This one however, is going to be different.

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that our trip to Illinois didn’t turn out as planned, and we ended up in the ER Friday night when The Girl Child hurt her foot practicing. By Saturday morning we realized that competing was out for the day, but we were near the venue, and her foot was ok to walk in the funky shoe they gave her at the hospital, so we decided to stop by and support some of TGC’s dance classmates. read more

Great Lakes Feis 2013

Posted by What The Feis & filed under Feis Reviews, Great Lakes Feis, Michigan Feis.

image001The 11th Annual Great Lakes Feis was held on August 18th, 2013 at the Lansing Convention Center in Lansing, Michigan.

This is the third, fourth, ah who knows, time I have done the Great Lakes Feis. You can see last years review here but that was before I had scoring for each section of the feis, and just had an overall score.

Venue – The venue is great. The feis uses what I assume to be the biggest hall in the center and there is plenty of room.

There were six stages with numbers 1 and 2 at one end of the hall for OC and PC, and 3 – 6 more towards the other end for the other level dancers. The stages were huge compared to many feiseanna I have attended. The smallest I saw, if my visual measuring system is even close to accurate, was about 24′ x 28′, and the stage we were on was closer to 32′ x 32′. There was also good separation between the stages, on the order of tens of feet, if that makes sense, not a few feet or attached like other recent feiseanna. read more

McMenamin Academy Feis 2013

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

mcMThe 4th annual McMenamin Academy Feis was held on August 11th, 2013 at the Student Union at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Editors Note: This feis is run as a back-to-back with the Milwaukee Feis and that review covers a few sections for both feiseanna. In an effort not to duplicate content and get myself banned from search engines, this was the easiest way. Sorry for the extra trouble.

Venue – See the Milwaukee Review for all the details

Venue Score: 9  (This also applies to the Milwaukee Feis for Saturday)   read more

Milwaukee Feis 2013

Posted by What The Feis & filed under Feis Reviews, Milwaukee Feis, Wisconsin Feis.

milThe 24th annual Milwaukee Feis was held on August 10th, 2013 at the Student Union at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Editors Note: This feis is run as a back-to-back with the McMenamin Academy Feis and this review will cover a few sections for both feiseanna.

Venue – This is the first time I have done the Milwaukee Feis, in fact, this is the first feis I have done in Wisconsin, and I enjoyed it.

There were 7 stages at the feis, divided into two levels of the Student Union. The stages were each in its own space with plenty of seating, but, in this reporters opinion, limited camping. read more

Columbus Feis 2013

Posted by What The Feis & filed under Columbus Feis, Feis Reviews, Ohio Feis.

The 33rd annual Columbus Feis was held on August 3rd, 2013 at the Dublin Coffman High School in Dublin, Ohio.

Editors Note: This feis is run in conjunction with, and across the street from the Dublin Irish Fest, but alas, I did not make it to that this year.

Venue – This is the second time I have done the Columbus Feis at the high school, the first being a few years ago before I started posting feis reviews, and to be honest, its not one of my favorite venues.

There were 10 stages at the feis, split into 4 different areas of the high school. 4 stages in one gym, 4 in another gym, the PC stage in the cafeteria and the OC stage in the Performing Arts Center (aka the auditorium). The areas were wide-spread and could be a few minutes from each other if you happened to have dancers on several stages. Travel was complicated because of having to travel through crowded school hallways. read more