The Dayton Feis was held on April 26th, 2015 at the Dayton Airport Expo Center in Vandalia, OH.
This is a Community Review with comments by the attendees. If you attended please add your thoughts below.
Please see the Community Review page for suggested comment subjects and a other posting suggestions if you are going to add your thoughts.
Thanks
The McGrath Feis was held on April 19th, 2015 at the CD Hylton High School In Woodbridge, VA.
This is a Community Review with comments by the attendees. If you attended please add your thoughts below.
Please see the Community Review page for suggested comment subjects and a other posting suggestions if you are going to add your thoughts.
Thanks
The Feis at the Beach was held on April 18th, 2015 at the Wildwood Convention Center, in Wildwood N.J.
This is a Community Review with comments by the attendees. If you attended please add your thoughts below.
Please see the Community Review page for suggested comment subjects and a other posting suggestions if you are going to add your thoughts.
Thanks
Some of the comments I hear about What The Feis dot com are thanks for the feis reviews. They help new families get a mental picture of what to expect, or help folks going to new feiseanna find out more about a feis they may be attending for the first time, even if they are seasoned feis goers. I am afraid however, that feiseanna reviews have slowed down on What The Feis, due to a combination of 3 parts busy schedules and 1 part burn out. Over the years I have written, as close as I can estimate, around 100 reviews and I feel they are getting a bit repetitive.
Thankfully I have had some folks step up and help, providing a few dozen more reviews from places I can’t get to, or as a second opinion to ones I do get to, but alas, after a few, even the volunteers tend to slow down. I get it, it takes time to capture all that info and get it into a useful format. I am thankful for the time they have already given.
The other downside to having a single opinion in a feis review is it is not all-inclusive. I have had a great day on a PC stage while people were suffering on a Grades stage, or I might be less critical on a review if TGC places well, than I would be if she placed poorly… it could happen 😉
So today, it hit me, as I was reading responses to a facebook post I put out there regarding how the weekend feiseanna went, what about a ‘community review’?
Lots of people have an opinion on how a feis went. Some good, some not so good, and Facebook is great for throwing out a quick comment or two. Problem is, it’s a pain in the buttocks to find that info the next time you need it. Scrolling through FB posts can be mind-numbing, and I highly doubt a feis committee will be able to, or even try to, see anything that people say about their feis if they have to spend a lot of time searching for it, unless, there was site that captured that info in one place, in any easy to find and use format. Somewhere Google could spider and have search results available when people Google the feis. You guys see where I am going here? 😉
How about on What The Feis?
All I ask is that you do what you are doing now, taking a minute to type in a comment(s) about the feiseanna you attend, but do it here in addition to, or instead of, Facebook. They can be either positive or negative, but if they are negative, present them in a positive manner. We would like people to learn from what we have to say, not be put off by our whining.
Here is I see it working. I will create a Community Review for a feis, and open up comments. You simply add your thoughts in those comments. Categories you can comment on are (but are not limited to):
If you have a negative, be nice, and try to add a positive. I have never been to a feis where everything sucked.
Please do not use the anonymity of the internet to be nasty, the comments are moderated. The hypocrisy of me asking you guys to use your real names is obvious, but it would be nice. I am Mike btw 😉
Community Reviews will be labeled (CR) in the title so you can tell if it is an individual author or a group effort.
And that is about it. I am going to put one out there, so lets see how this goes.
Thanks!
The Big Apple Feis was held on Sunday, March 22, 2015 at the Marriott Marquis on Times Square in New York City.
NOTE: The images are screenshots from the Voy Boards that were sent in by the reviewer. She submitted them to let us know her opinion was not uncommon. (Click each for a larger version)
I am not sure where to even begin with this feis. We attended this last year and thought we would give it another try since everyone can have an off day. This year was worse than last year, and I thought last year was bad. This feis has so much potential with a great area. Who wouldn’t want to go to Times Square and dance? A great time could be had by all, but unfortunately that is where this feis ends.
The syllabus comes out very late (and has for many years). It was hard to plan this year since they moved to a different venue and changed the date. This made it difficult to plan for out of area families. The website looks like an 8 year old put it together. In fact, the website is not viewable on most iPhones and iPads. While having twitter was a great way to communicate, please provide correct information. One tweet would say all champs are on floor 9, but the schedule had champs on floor 8. The schedule changed with each bright sunrise (albeit minor), but no revisions were labeled, so it made it difficult to know which schedule you were working from.
This is a hard section to write. I know we are all dependent on our volunteers to help with any feis. While the intent was clearly present, the feis lacked execution in this category. There was far too few to go around, and the few that were asked question didn’t know any answers. There was a 25+ person backup to pick up number cards in the morning with only one volunteer. There were lines throughout the day to pick up awards. Stages were missing monitors and judges had to monitor and judge at the same time. Maybe they could coordinate with some local schools to increase the volunteer pool in the future?
Times Square!! Does it get any better than that? The hotel was large and beautiful. Unfortunately, the feis was spread over 3 floors and there was no signage at all to tell people where to go. Multiple elevators and escalators will take you to where you need to be, but that is where it ends. The schedule listed room names that were nonexistent. There was no room rate, so if you had a spare $400/ night, you were lucky enough to stay there. While not the feis’s fault, multiple times during the day bathrooms were without toilet paper and paper towels. I’m just waiting for the illnesses to start later this week. Extremely cramped small hotel rooms. Extremely cramped. While there was a lack of space in the rooms, plenty of dancers found places outside in the halls to practice.
Oh my! While times on the schedule are certainly not guaranteed, most of the stages ran somewhere between 1 ½ to 3 hours behind. I knew we were in trouble when the feis was supposed to start at 8 and it did not begin until 9. Stages that were lucky enough to have a monitor moved faster than others. The stages looked good, built up from carpeted hotel floors, and sounded good. I did not see many falls, and my dancers said they were not slippery, so kudos there.
Unfortunately for me, my daughter was on Stage 3. Stage 3 had a musician for grades, until he got up and left. Yes, left for good right as the champs were starting. Maybe he had an emergency, I don’t know. But the next few hours were spent begging parents to hand over their iPhones if they had any music on it. Many thanks to all the parents who did, because my daughter would never have been able to dance if they didn’t. Musicians on the other stages sounded good and as far as I know only the one musician left. Apparently this happened in previous years as well.
Provided by the hotel, but certainly lots of choices. I always forget how much a sandwich is in NYC. I better take on a second job…
The usual vendors, shirts, shoes headbands. Nothing special and only a few. I did notice an Irish tourism booth though. I kept thinking I would rather be in Ireland than the feis. But I digress….
This is the most redeeming aspect of this feis. The coveted crystal apples! This feis produces beautiful awards. They come in all sizes from gold small ones for grades to very large crystal ones for opne champs. Beautiful, lovely awards! I just wish they didn’t run out of them….
Like I said in the beginning, this feis has great potential given the area and the hotel. More volunteers, signage and a room rate would make this feis very special. Please order more crystal apples… we love them! Sadly, I‘m not sure we want to go back until the kinks are worked out.
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The, possibly, 20th anniversary Feis Na Tara was held February 27-28, 2015. The feis was held at the Marriott Atlanta Airport. This feis holds competitions on Friday night and all day Saturday. The Devil Went Down to Georgia treble reel is a popular event for all ages. These are held on Friday night. This year, the proceeds went to the Wounded Warrior fund. This feis also offers competitions in Celtic Art, Music, Vocals, Gaelic, and Baking. These are in addition to the grades, championships, and figure competitions.
If the stars fell on Alabama, then the stardust fell on Georgia. Or at least the glitter. This feis is an excellent example of the shiny, glittery, happy feis world of the Southern Region. This was a very shiny feis. This was seen in the many different crystal awards on Friday night to the lovely crystal prizes awarded to the champs. Also, the Southern Region has a reputation for bling. From the grades to the champs, there were many shiny, happy dancers. (Some of them even held hands.)
If the devil really did go down to this Georgia feis, he certainly did not bring the heat! This proved to be a cold venue. It is also hotel feis. Some readers may already know that the Wilkes family doesn’t particularly care for those. This feis is a good example of why. Crowded rooms, tight hallways, odd lighting, and many different rooms to navigate. Southern hotel feisanna also tend to become Sardine Can Feisanna. At least in the Grades room, this was no exception. You could also have called the grades stages Sardine Can Competitions. (See also Stages)
The hotel rooms were reasonably priced. While we did not hear the airplanes, we did hear many of our neighbors. The hotel was packed. So, while Mr. WTFeis had a quiet experience, our hallway was much noisier. Thankfully, we were able to play classical music to soothe a couple of our darlings to sleep. By the time the youngest darlings were asleep, the hallway and adjacent room noise had settled down to a dull roar.
Again, I am very glad to know that Mr. WTFeis was able to secure the most inexpensive parking option. When we arrived, self parking was no longer an option for hotel guests. So, Ash Wilkes paid the $20 valet fee. Since there are no nearby restaurants or shops, we did not have extra expenses with tips to get the car in or out.
Southern Sardine Can Stages. Perhaps the Southern Sausage Stages would be more appropriate. Either way, the grades stages were ran like a conveyor belt. They packed them into their competition lines. Then, they were slid across the 3 stages for the soft shoe competitions. It was obvious that this method was confusing to the beginners. There were several missed starts, misunderstandings, and re-dances in the beginners competitions. The older, experienced grades dancers handled this schedule very well. My guess is that many of them had experienced it before. This is our 2nd year at the grades stage of this feis. So, while we knew what to expect, our youngest little darling was extremely confused. They were also very tired at the end of their dances.
The stages were about 2″ off the ground. Treble Koted plywood, screwed onto the supports. The crowds on the stages and the crowds in the grades room made viewing difficult. Also, the chairs go to the early attendees. You cannot arrive at 7:55am and expect to find a seat in the grades room. Also, if you plan to attend the Peach State Feis, the same is also true. Most of the chairs were filled by 7:30am, with the remainders being completely taken by 7:45am.
The feis volunteers are truly amazing at this feis. The Mulligan School is relatively small. But, they know how to hold a big feis. There is also much love and appreciation between the school TCRG and the families of the school. This was shown in the opening ceremony of the feis. Bag pipes, instrumental trio, banners, and presentations showed how much the members of the school enjoy the journey of Irish Dance.
The stage monitors were extremely helpful and polite. They did everything in their power to help everyone in attendance enjoy the feis. I did not see the radios used at some other events. But, they seemed to be well informed and connected.
Having figures on only 2 stages caused the feis to start S.L.O.W.L.Y on all counts. Also, please see Music and Stages. Those challenges also caused the grades stages to run less than efficiently. My suggestion would be to hold the 8 hands on the champs stage. The 2, 3, and 4 hands could continue to be held on the grades stages. All of the 8 hands were older dancers. Many of them were upper level grades and champ level dancers. The rooms at this venue are also fairly close together. So, it would free up the grades stages more quickly. These ran slowly based on several other factors. It would not increase the amount of time spent waiting in the Champs room. It may decrease it.
Friday night Adult and Treble Reel competitions were done with canned music. Saturday, the grades stages were accompanied by a violinist. While talented, it was difficult for one light stringed instrument to accompany 3 stages. Also, a delay on one stage created holds on the other stages. Some of the competitions had 20 or more dancers. Others held only a handful. The Wilkes family certainly missed hearing the blessed accordion. If a violin is to be the instrument of choice next year, I would recommend a duet. With a room and stages in their current set up, the back beat/bass notes are lost. An additional instrument would assist in keeping those lower notes heard. These are especially important, in our opinion, in the treble jigs and hornpipes.
There is one distinct benefit to the conveyor belt style stage system. Guaranteed judge rotation. While this is, in part determined by the number of competitions, all of our darlings had at least 3 different judges for their competitions. Not the perfect different judge for each dance scenario. But, it is much better than the last two feisanna we have attended, with a single judge for all competitions.
This is not a social media feis. It does not have a Facebook page. They have received a 2 instead of a 0, because they are excellent in returning phone calls and emails. There is certainly potential for this to become a more Social Media friendly feis. Especially with several of their school champs potentially handling those posts/announcements.
As there were a couple of coffee stands available, Ash Wilkes was able to have his pre Feis coffee. He also had his mid Feis coffee. And his post Feis coffee. Also, the lines were not long at the hotel Sbux. So, from that stand point alone, it was an excellent feis food venue. We did not wait in the lines at the venue food counters. Our family only purchased the breakfast buffet at the hotel. Service was attentive and polite. The prices were in line with what we have experienced in our travels. We did NOT eat dinner or purchase drinks. So, please see the Champs Review for that information.
The Wilkes family were most pleased to see Unique Engraving at this feis. Not only did the company create lovely trophies for the feis. They also brought their engraving machines, medal stands, and medal ribbon selection. Feis Na Tara boasts of more than a dozen perpetual trophies. They also award several wooden plaques to different competitions. All of these can be engraved at the feis by Unique Engraving.
There were also
It is a somewhat expected regional occurrence to receive the medal without the neck ribbon. King O Sullivan, Feis Na Tara, Little Rock, and River Valley Feis all give medals without ribbons. Unique Engraving is usually present at these feisanna. They sell many different types/colors of medal ribbons and holders. Some families anticipate this occurrence, and bring their own medal ribbons from home.
That being said, the trophies were nicer this year, than in years past. Prizewinner First Place received a 12″ trophy and a small crystal gem. Remaining Prizewinner placements also received trophies. Novice, and below, received medals. We saw several families purchasing medal stands, to turn their awards into trophies. In the treble reels, everyone received a crystal gift, before the awards placements were announced. The Wilkes family appreciates these participation gifts. There are several children in the Southern Region who feis with medical challenges. These children do not often place as frequently in their dances as their more healthy competitors. Several of these families are friends of ours. A few of them enter the extra competitions, in order for those medically challenged dancers have an opportunity to shine. So, while others may speak derisively against such things, the Wilkes family applauds them!
Thank you, Feis Na Tara, for ensuring that all participants have the opportunity to dance their best and take home a prize. The Wilkes family enjoyed this feis. We hope to return next year.
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The 20th Annual Feis Na Tara was held on Friday & Saturday, February 27th & 28th 2015 by the Mulligan School of Irish Step Dance and the Tara Dance Company, at the Marriot Atlanta Airport, in Atlanta, Georgia. This was our first trip to this feis.
I am attempting to make this a Champs review, in the hopes another reviewer who also attended will be providing a Grades Review (no pressure), but I have included some Grades notes below, just in case 🙂
A hotel feis, if you guys have followed for a while, you probably know how I feel about hotel feiseanna. Generally, I am not a fan, but truth be told, this one wasn’t that bad for the reasons that usually irritate me about hotel feiseanna.
There were three rooms used to house all the feis-tivities, the PC/OC stage area, the Grades stage area, and the Results/Awards/Used Dress area. All were very close to each other for those folks who had to be in two places at once 🙂
Temperature wise, the rooms ranged from comfortable to ‘do you want to build a snowman’. Mrs WTF had to go get a sweater for the Awards room.
Vendors were set up in the hallways, which is usually where I have issue, but this wasn’t bad. The hallways were wide enough to house the vendors and still have enough room for a flow of people. It helped that the vendors were set up on the way into the the awards and grades rooms, so that once you were in, there wasn’t too much back and forth traffic, if that makes sense.
I only saw one restroom for each gender, and they were in the hall that connected the main lobby to the feis area, but still not to far away. I did see lines at the womans room, but never really at the mens, go figure 😉
The hotel was also the feis hotel and the rooms were nice, relatively cheap at $89 compared to other feiseanna I have been to, and very quiet considering the airport was literally RIGHT THERE and there was a constant flow of planes.
The hotel had a nice restaurant ($$$$) and a small convenience store where you could buy SBux drinks and other things. They also set up a cash and carry food stand for the feis in a separate room.
I can’t speak to the parking for people who attended that day, but those that stayed over paid $10 for in-and-out parking. I can imagine that parking was hard to find close, because even for guests the lots were very full.
For a hotel feis, I prefer this over Saturdays in Pittsburgh (see Pitt or WV feis reviews) or the St. Louis feis I attended at one a few years ago.
Camping, what’s camping? I understand that designated camping areas are not common at Southern Region Feis, so suffice it to say, there were none. People lined their stuff up against hallway walls, and took up as many chairs as they needed for their stuff. We put ours in a back corner and were always able to find chairs to sit on, so, even without ‘camping’ it wasn’t bad. A smaller cap then we are used to probably helped.
There were 5 stages designated, but in my opinion, it was more like 2 and a half.
Stages 1, 2, and 3 were in the grades room and were actually one really big stage divided with tape into 3 smaller ones. If I had to guesstimate, I would say it was about 48′ wide by 16′ deep making each ‘stage’ 16′ x 16′. The issue, they were backed up to the back wall, so there could be two or three lines of dancers waiting to dance. Mix that with the occassional ‘handlers’ for younger comps, and there could be LITERALLY 50 people on the stage(s). Not a lot of room to dance.
That’s a lot of dancers, and these were NOT some of the bigger groups I saw.
Seemed like there was a lot of seating for the grades room, but I only breezed through that room a few times. There were a lot of people standing, which made navigating the room difficult. Lets just say, it was kind of tight in there.
The champs room held stages 4 & 5, which like the other room was actually only 1 big stage(which is how it was used for the champs), divided in half by tape. I estimate it was 36′ wide and 20′ deep, and was a nice size for champs. I wondered why they had it split but TGC informed me they had done some sets on both halves earlier.
Seating was adequate, I refer you back to my Camping mention above.
All stages were neither plain plywood, or marley covered, but were painted with something that appeared to me to be somewhere between chalkboard paint, and the non-skid paint we used on the Navy ships I was on, to keep people from slipping on wet decks. OK, so these were not gritty, but that is what it reminded me of. Whatever it was, it worked. I saw no slips or falls during any of the dancing I observed.
Feis staff appeared to be on top of stage maintenance. While I did not see any sweeping (granted I was not near the stages during the lunch break), I saw staff pick up anything that had fallen off dancers numerous times between dances.
Recommendation: As I think about it, I am not sure how much room was between stages 1, 2 and 3 and the wall behind them, but if they could pull the stages out a few feet, it would give the dancers more room to stand off-stage, and more room to dance on it. This would cut into spectator area though.
I cannot speak to the grades level judging, other than the fact there was one on each stage. How often or if they rotated I do not know. Hoping for a Grades Feis review to help with these details.
There were three judges for the PC and OC stage, whom seemed attentive. I also saw that they accommodated a judge conflict very smoothly, with a quick judge change and no noticeable interruption to the feis flow.
A list of the judges can be found here.
Combined stages, so only two musicians for the feis, one in the Champs room, and one in the Grades room. This caused some VERY NOTICEABLE stage delays in the Grades room where I saw dancers standing on stage because their comp had finished, but larger comps of other one or the other (or both) stages were still dancing.
No musical confusion because of the separate rooms which was nice.
A list of the musicians can be found here.
I did not feel the hotel was ready for the onslaught of dancers and fans. The cash and carry (I understand) was a nightmare at lunch time, and the times I went in there before lunch, it seemed like they had a standard sandwich, salads, drinks type selection, but it was all expensive. We paid $3 for an 8oz bottle of water.
The restaurant was not staffed for lots of people. We had 45 minutes, but did not have time to order a meal, and settled for appetizers and drinks. The restaurant food was excellent, even the appetizers (we had eaten there on Friday night too), but was REALLY, REALLY, REALLY pricey, especially if you wanted to enjoy a beer or glass of wine with your meal.
The small store had salads, wraps (I think) etc… but very limited selection. The coffee was reasonably priced.
There was nothing close to the hotel if you wanted to venture outside at lunch.
All the necessities, two different shoe options, wig and hair stuff, the tshirt guy, etc… There was one table that remained cover until after all the other vendors had opened, and I was very happy to find they had not only Lucozade (an early memory from my Grandmother’s store in Ireland), but also Smarties. These came in very handy later in the day. Facebook followers probably know what I am talking about 🙂
A list of the vendors can be found here.
Slow start, at least on the Champs stage, but I found out that was because there were Figures dances going on in the other room and they were waiting for those to finish before they ramped up on the champs stage. They probably started 20 – 30 minutes after scheduled start.
Once they got going though, they kept things moving, made announcements on what was coming next, made announcements when people were missing, giving them a chance to get there, etc… Remember, this is on the champs stage. I cannot speak to how the flow was in the Grades room.
Results for grades were posted along the two walls towards the back of the Awards/Results room. You would need to go back and check, and could get your awards at the table near the door on the way out. They had place holders for each comp until the results were posted, and had placeholders for Champ results on the walls, but I never saw them replaced with any actual results. Champ results were announced like I am used too.
One thing I did notice was that names and numbers were on the results for Grades. I am not a fan of that necessarily, check out my safety posts for my reasons.
This is where I usually say how fast the results were announced, but I do not know how long it actually took as they took a lunch break and announced them right after lunch. So, they could have been 30 minutes, or it could have been closer to 105 minutes, not really sure. If it was closer to 30 when they were ready (even though we did not know), that was great. If it was the other extreme, that is average to meh.
For Champs, they called out the top half of each comp who placed, much like I am used to. There was no individual rounds results, instead they went right to the placers, starting highest to lowest. I find this VERY NERVE-WRACKING, especially since individual rounds were not announced to give ‘a clue’ of the potential results. With each name called, you are both happy and concerned, not hearing your dancers name, because they either placed higher, or not at all 😉 If you follow me on Facebook, you probably know how TGC did.
There was a 3-tier podium, always a nice touch.
In case I don’t get a separate Grades review, I saw the medals for grades level events and they looked nice, but I was not able to see one up close. I did notice they gave just the medal, and no ribbon for the dancers to be able to wear them. Points off in my opinion there 🙁
For Champs, there were some nice crystal awards, BUT NO SASHES! SASHES, YES WE NEED STINKIN’ SASHES.
IMHO, sashes is THE appropriate award for top placers, at least the top 3. Other things are nice, but a sash is ‘the’ sign of success.
I am also used to champ level dancers being able to pick up their results at awards, which did not happen here. Not sure if this is the norm in the Southern Region, just not what we were used to.
No real social media effort that I saw, but to be honest, I did not look.
From a champs perspective, I think this was a pretty well run feis with a few nits, that may be regional. Still say they need Sashes, but maybe that is just me. If I had to score the entire feis, including Grades, I don’t think it would have faired as well.
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The Inaugural Maple City Feis was held on February 21st, 2015 at the John D. Bradley Convention Center in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, and was hosted by the Cornell School.
Any feis can have its positives and negatives, and this feis is no different. Not going to pull any punches on the lows, considering this was the first one, or restrain myself on the highs. I mean if I can ding the feis that I was part of, why would I be any different for anyone else 😉
I do think the hand made chocolates in the shape of a maple leaf given to each dancer was a nice touch, especially if the dancer has nut allergies and does not eat anything where we can’t read the label, do she gave it to her Dad. It was delish by the way 😉
Our initial reaction to this ‘convention center’ was “wow, that’s small.” Might be the fact we are used to places like the IX Center at North Coast, but considering our initial thoughts, I thought this was a pretty good venue. In general, it was of adequate size for the number of competitors that attended, but I thought they could have used the space a little better.
As soon as you walked in, to the right were a number of long tables down one wall, adequate for eating, but really not much else. These took up a great deal of space, were not necessarily located close enough to any stage to see, and ended up being camping so when it was time to eat, seating for eating was hard to come by.
Temperature wise, I thought it was comfortable considering the meh weather outside. There only seemed to be one restroom per gender, but that did not seem to be an issue considering the attendance, and the venue was small enough where they were fairly convenient.
There were two larger rooms off one end of the venue. One served as the Open Champs stage area, and the other held the Champs award area with a podium, the grades awards table, and a section set aside for used dress sales.
The Awards/Dress room was fine, the Open Champ room was a claustrophobes nightmare. The stage was huge and marley covered, raised well above the spectators, then came the judge area, a bit lower but still raised, and then the spectator seating. As always, it seemed that people took as many chairs as their luggage needed, leaving lots of people standing, blocking walkways, etc… At one point, they were three deep at the entrance to the room, making entry and exit nearly impossible. IMHO, they could have taken out a third of the chairs, which, if nothing else, would have made more standing and travel room.
There were six stages in all. Stage 6, the Open Champ stage, as mentioned above, was huge, with too much seating, which was a stark contrast to the remaining stages which were, considering the size of the venue, to small, and there was NO SEATING SET UP FOR SPECTATORS!
Stages 1 & 2, and 3 & 4 were combined, with a single musician each (at least the stage I saw, but it only makes sense considering the way they were set up that the other was the same). These stages were set so they were back-to-back, and the best I can tell they were individually about 20ish x 16ish feet each. Thing is, if you line a big comp of dancers up on each one, who, because they are back-to-back, are standing on the stage, and dance two or three dancers at a time, things start getting tight really quickly.
Stage 1 & 2 was covered with what looked like gray (or grey depending on your country) marley, and was used later as a single stage for PC set dances, which was an adequate size for that purpose. Stages 3 & 4 were just plywood, and still to small, but I digress.
Stage 5 was the PC stage, was marley covered, and appeared to be about 24 x 32. Good size.
The feis volunteers seemed to be on top of stage maintenance, and I did not see any slips or falls during the day.
Recommendation: I think there was enough room in the venue to separate the stages so none were joined, which would have reduced stage congestion since dancers would be able to line up behind, instead of on, the stage.
Recommendation: Chairs, get chairs, and put them out for the spectators, not just around the tables and in the OC room.
Oh, and did I mention chairs would be a nice addition?
Camping was probably adequate, but an area was not marked off, so it tended to spread out and spill over into the ‘walkways.’ Combine that with people standing to view the dancing, and the people who set up their camp chairs closer to the stages, it made it difficult to get around.
I cannot speak to the grades level judging, other than the fact there was one on each stage. How often or if they rotated I do not know, but I did hear one comment that one dancer had danced for the same judge for all her dances.
There were three judges on each the PC and OC stages, whom seemed attentive.
As mentioned, the ‘combined’ stages shared a musician, and the champ stages (5 and 6) each had their own musician. If you were standing near the center of the venue, there was a lot of musical confusion, but it decreased nearer the stages.
I did hear one musical negative, and that was regarding the keyboard player. He seemed to start each of the pieces in a less traditional way. One sounded to me like the start of a 50’s rock and roll song, and I heard a similar comment from another spectator. I really didn’t put to much thought into that until I heard dancers saying that it was hard to get a good count with the way he started the songs.
Convention center food, pizza, wraps, salads, fried stuffs, drinks etc… which was not super expensive. I shared a wrap with TGC that was pretty good. The pizza looked good and the slices were large, so no complaints. There were two concession stands set up and there really never seemed to be an obnoxious line.
Well, there was one complaint, I did not find out till late in the day I missed an opportunity to have poutine. THAT won’t happen again.
Only a few, and not all dance related. You could probably get any necessities for dance, but compared to other feiseanna I attend, the vendor pickings were a bit sparse.
SIDE NOTE: They did have Cadbury, but no Smarties 🙁
I am torn here…. lunch break was set to end at 12:30, and close to 1:00 our stage had not resumed while others already had. When you have been STANDING AROUND (yes, that is a no chairs remark) for hours, it starts to wear on both the dancers and the spectators.
That being said however, when they got started, they were through the hard and soft shoe rounds, and the set for a ‘larger’ comp in just about an hour. Makes you wonder where the disconnect on getting lunch done on time if the morning had run the same way.
Results for grades were posted along one wall near all the tables. I liked the fact that they posted just competitor numbers and no names, but the size of the font was a bit hard to read and could have been much larger considering the limited info on each results sheet.
For champ results, I am used to waiting at least 60 minutes, and most often about 90 to get results, so I was VERY IMPRESSED that results were ready in about 30 minutes for TGCs comp.
AwardsThere were medals in the shape of the feis logo which I thought was cool.
Each of the ‘placers’ got a small momentum that looked like a nice glass statue, but on further investigation, were just plastic and felt a little cheap.
Champs had sashes for top 3, and some other chotchkies. Didn’t get a close enough look at them. The 1st place dancer recieved a bottle of maple syrup in a maple leaf shaped bottle. Very cool touch.
No real social media effort that I saw, but ONE OF THE BEST FEIS WEBSITES I HAVE SEEN. Parallax scrolling, very geeky and appreciated by those of us who notice stuff like that 😉
I really think this feis has potential. A number of the ‘cons’ I think could be easily corrected. I know it was the first one, so I am interested to see where it goes in the future.
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The North Coast Feis was held on February 7th, 2015 at the IX Center in Cleveland, OH. This is the second year we have been at this feis at this level, and the 4th (I think) time we have been to the feis.
This year was very much a repeat of last year, and I was thinking about just pointing you to that last review 🙂 Instead, I will quote that, and point out what might be different. You can read the whole review here.
2014 Recap
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.
Camping was not sufficient and there was lots of camping in the viewer seating. Many areas were marked ‘no camping’ but they were full of campers, and that caused some flow issues for people trying to get from the front to the back of the room.
There were 3 stages labeled G – I, for PC and OC dancers. Stage sizes appeared to be about 20 x 24 and were small for the level of dancers performing on them. The stages were extremely slippery and there were lots of falls. The feis team mopped often but it did not help.
There was pretty good separation between the stages, but music could be heard from neighboring stages. It did not seem to impact the dancers much though.
Seating was not adequate for the viewers, but was probably all they could put in considering room size. The feis committee attempted to leave adequate room for people to move around (I refer back to the camping in the no camping area comment), but it really did not work out.
Parking was good, not all ‘close’, but plentiful. It was a bit pricey at $8. The weather was not great on that day but there was a large covered drop off area in front of the venue.
Everything was pretty much the same, except:
Side Bar: I really wish they could do something about the fumes in the lobby. I think they are from generators from the home show. It makes spending any time in the lobby nauseating.
2014 Recap
With the Girl Child having 3 dances, and dancing on 3 separate stages, and because PC dancers have 3 judges per stage, none of whom rotated to another stage, I have no complaints on the judging.
I actually thought it was an excellent opportunity for the dancers, performing in front of 9 different judges for the feis. With 9 judges, comments were more well rounded than the typical 2 or 3 judges that you ‘might’ get at a grade level.
Ditto
2014 Recap
Each stage had its own musician and I did not hear any complaints about music.
Ditto
2014 Recap
Standard convention center food, hamburgers, cheesebugers, pretzels, pizza, wraps and salads, a coffee stand, various drink booths and beer. Food quality was OK but not worth the price. It was about what you expect for a convention center.
We were actually done early and did not take advantage of concessions.
2014 Recap
George, the shoe guy, and Betsy, his daughter(who also responds to ‘George’s Daughter’ btw), the feis t-shirt table, wig ladies, a jewelry booth, an Irish wool and linens vendor, and the photographer. You can see all the vendors at the the feis site under Vendors.
Another ditto. But, GEORGE was back after having been away from us for a while. Very happy to see you George!
2014 Recap
Results are different at Champ level, as some of you know. Results for all dances are completed, top 3 in each dance determined, and then the overall top half from the entire comp are determined. When they are ready, the dancers are gathered and awards presented.
I can understand where it would take time to do this, but timeliness was only one of the issues I felt the results had. It took approximately 1.5 to 2 hours from completion of TGCs last dance to presentation of her awards. I felt that was a little long, granted, I have never tallied a PC comp so that might be normal.
Results were presented in an area on the lower level that would have been fine if comps had been done one at a time. Thing is, they waited until somewhere around 5 comps were ready before presenting the awards.
Picture if you will, 5 comps of dancers with 10 – 20 dancers each, the parents and friends for all those dancers, and dance bags and zucas for some of them, crammed into an area not fit for that many people. It was difficult for dancers to get to the presentation area when called, and for spectators to see, and picture taking was next to impossible. Not planned well at all. I feel simply doing them one comp at a time would have helped tremendously.
Huge improvement over last year!
2014 Recap
Flow was not bad considering the number of dancers, TGC had three dances on three separate stages, with about 20 dancers in the comp and she was finished in roughly 2.5 hours. Since this is only the second PC feis we have attended, I really do not have a standard to judge it by, but I thought that was pretty good.
Ditto, right down to the number of dancers. Oh, I have a lot more than 2 PC feiseanna under my belt now.
Overall, I thought this was a better feis than last year and would put it in the 7.5 to 8 category.
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The Raleigh Feis is hosted by the Inis Cairde School of Irish Dance. The 2015 Feis was held on Friday February 6th (Adult and Music Comps) and Saturday February 7th (Grade and Champs). The location for the Feis was the Durham Marriott Convention Center in Durham, NC. Information regarding the feis was available on their website Raleigh Feis. This is the third time we have attended the Raleigh Feis. We like it for it’s location and the size of the competitions not too small, not too big. This area of Durham is up and coming and is surrounded by eclectic restaurants and shops. Many of these places are within walking distance to the Feis.
The venue for 2015 was the same as 2014–Durham Convention Center, conveniently attached to the Feis Hotel, Durham Marriott City Center. The ballrooms (used for champs) were spacious and there was not a feel of overcrowding in the Champs competition areas. Air temperature inside the rooms was cool. Even the hallways were not as jam packed as many feisianna we have attended.
A feis rate of 121.00 was offered with a daily fee of 12.00 for parking (valet only). For those guests not staying at the hotel, parking cost 3.00 in the garage. The hotel is nice and staff are friendly, rooms are adequate in size. The price is a little above average but the convenience of location is a benefit. While the service in the hotel lobby restaurant is slow, that is of no fault to the feis committee! Besides, there are plenty of highly rated restaurants near the hotel.
The stages were huge! They were slightly (one inch?) raised off the ground and covered in marley. There were no slipping issues that we could see and none that my dancer experienced. As for seating, the ballrooms offered plenty of chairs for guests.
Three judges scored dancers in both rounds. They all left comments for my dancer and as most will agree, that is appreciated. The set round judge also left comments for my dancer and seemed attentive throughout the competition.
Champ stages each had one musician, whose music could be heard without issue. Thank you to the musicians for doing a wonderful job.
No outside food/coolers were allowed. The Feis program which was available about 10 days in advance provided a menu (with prices) of what would be available for purchase that day. While I prefer to bring my own food to a feis, knowing what will be offered and how much it will cost is beneficial. Items were somewhat pricey- the food was provided by the hotel and not affiliated with the feis. The hotel didn’t prepare well and had decreased options by lunch time. By the way, the hotel didn’t appear strict about the “no food” policy (we had our own drinks and snacks…shhhhhh). Vendors also sold snacks (taytos, cadbury, etc).
The ballrooms provided plenty of seating and therefore traditional “camping” is unnecessary. As usual some chairs were covered in dress bags, zuca bags and coats to “hold” seating. Overall there were seats available to those that wanted them.
Location was close to the stages. One stall for the ladies room was “out of order” but this is at no fault of the feis. A short line was usually present. Another restroom was just outside the convention area and easy to get to.
The feis began at 8am with the National Anthems and then teams competition. Stages were held until teams were finished (there was an issue with this but that review should come from the grades reviewer). Once Stage 3 started (around 9:45) they moved the comps nicely. Dancers danced two at a time. While the stage was large enough for three dancers it’s always nice to have your dancer out there with only one other competitor. Morning Sets were held up a bit waiting for an adjudicator and musician. Later in the day there were more delays. This was the only negative thing that we experienced.
The results for the first few champ competitions were posted nearly 2 hours after completion of dancing. As the day pushed on it took as long, if not longer for results to be posted. This is a long time to wait! But, once the recall list was posted the awards were presented within 10 minutes. (“Recall” meaning if your number is up there you are getting an award, not the “recall” like at Oireachtas).
The awards were made of crystal and they were splendid. In looking at pictures on twitter, instagram, and facebook, some examples of the awards were candlesticks, vases, cake platter,butterflies, and others. Sashes in bright hues of White (3rd) Purple (2nd) and Aqua (1st) were awarded as well. Top three dancers had a podium to stand on. Awards were in a separate room from dancing- it was spacious and the announcer could be heard easily. The person/people in charge of awards did a fantastic job.
Everything you needed to know about this event was posted on Facebook and here. The Raleigh Feis also has an Instagram page and utilized Twitter Twitter handle to announce results/awards- although it took until 11:30a.m to begin informing anxious parents/dancers when awards would finally be announced. A competitor list was posted which most attendees are happy about. I cannot praise the social media volunteers enough for the information that was provided (more info during the feis please) Something else worth recognizing at this feis was the Charity Reel to support the South Florida Chapter of the ALS association and in honor of the late Maureen Harling-Welty. The Feis raised $840.00!
The sluggish result time is the only hiccup we experienced at this feis on the champs side. According to pictures on facebook the last competitions received their results/awards just after 6pm. That seems like a long day for both the champ families and the feis volunteers! Had the results been quicker the overall score would have easily been a 9. However, there are positives to this feis such as spacious rooms, large stages, hallways were not cramped, a dress room (monitored) was offered, food was available, awards were fantastic and the volunteers were helpful and available. Special Competitions were offered for Adults, Figures, Parent/Child, Trad Set, Non Trad Set, Treble Reels/Charity reel (hard and soft shoe), Irish art, Irish baking, Vocal and Music. If you are looking for a nice feis in the Southern Region during February, consider the Raleigh Feis in 2016.
Thank you Inis Cairde Families!
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