St. Ambrose Spring Feis 2014

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The 22nd annual St. Ambrose Spring Feis was held Saturday, May 10, 2014 to Sunday, May 11, 2014 in Pomona, CA. This was our second year in a row attending this feis. We enjoyed ourselves so much last year that we decided to give it a go again and were not disappointed.

Venue

The venue for this feis is one of our favorites. This feis has been held at the Sheraton Fairplex Hotel and Conference Center in Pomona, California. The huge conference center building has all the stages and vendors in the same place plus a huge area to practice on the side, making it nice for parents with multiple dancers or parents that dance as well. There were quite a few dances that I was able to look down the line and see my daughter dancing while I was waiting in line to dance. Usually, I have to miss some of her dances because we are in separate rooms. It was a bit more crowded this year than last, however, we were only there on Sunday for the grades, not Championships. The building was nice and cool and the hotel is located in a safe little neighborhood close to the freeway. Parking is a breeze as there is always plenty of parking right in front of the conference center, and free too!

Judges

Most of the judges looked like they were having a good time and happy to be there. There were a few that were a bit more stern and didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the dancers, but you never know. One of the best parts of the day was watching one of my favorite judges hide the microphone from the announcer with an impish grin and then scurry off. The mood was playful throughout the day between judges and announcers and made for less nerves and butterflies for the dancers.

Music

The music at this feis was ok. It was a little faster than most feisanna as some tend to be at times. The only major negative I found with this feis was a music issue and it wasn’t really the musicians fault. Being that the building was so large and had a VERY high ceiling, the fact that the musicians were stationed at one end of the stages made for some very distorted sounding music by the time it reached the other end of the stages. It was very hard to dance to and a lot of people were complaining about that. I think they finally turned on a speaker at the other end halfway throughout the day.

Food

This feis had three food options on site. One feis food cart and a little pre-made sandwich shop from the hotel were located within the building, while the hotel lounge/restaurant was a few minute walk across the courtyard. I personally, did not eat at any of these but I heard that they were all pretty costly. As with most feisanna, we brought our own food to munch on during the day. Being that this was in Southern California there are a variety of really good Mexican restaurants within minutes from the hotel and we took advantage of one of them after it was over. There are plenty of other eating options in the area if you want to drive there.

Vendors

Not as many booths as most of the feisanna we attend. Two or three shoe/wigs booths and the feis shirt guy was about it at this one.

Results

Results were on time and posted on the huge wall over on the other side of the room so not much crowding and shoving to see them which is always nice.

Feis Flow

This feis was very on time and flowed very nicely just like last year. Once it started there was not a lot of waiting in between dances and the day went by very fast and was fun.

Summary

This feis was super fun and very low key. It is located in an area with lots to do and see as well. Cleary is well organized and makes it enjoyable. We hope to be able to come every year. One thing I really like about this feis was the amount of adults that competed. The numbers were a lot higher than most feisanna and if you are an adult dancer this is a great one to move up in since there were way over 5 in all my dances.

I give this feis 9.0

So what did you think?

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Dayton Feis 2014, PC/OC Levels Review

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The 42nd annual Dayton Feis was held on June 27th, 2014 at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.

This is the third time I have done the Dayton Feis at Sinclair. Here are the posts about past experiences if you are interested, but its going to sound like what is below 😉  In fact, so little has changed, I am copying and pasting sections from last years review where approprite (indented and italicized). Why rewrite history?  😉

Venue

Stages and Seating

The feis was split into three floors of the building. The competitions held on the lowest level in an indoor track and field building, a second floor that had a cafeteria, the tabulation room and where the OC/PC presentations were done, and the top level where results were posted and awards were presented. Lots of stairs so not the best for people with limited mobility, but there were elevators available.

There were six stages, which in general were good sizes. The smallest was 24 x 20 and the largest was 32 x 32 (one of the champ stages). While the smaller stage is bigger than some I have seen, the issue with this one is that it was half of a joined stage (stages 5 & 6) that were split down the middle by a piece of tape.

The stages were slippery, but the feis crew was VERY proactive trying to keep the stages safe. I saw multiple times where they stopped activity on the stage to mop. Sure, it slowed things down a bit, but in the interest of safety, who can complain.

Chairs seemed adequate, but… oh if you have read any of my reviews you know what I am going to say… although adequate, they were not used inefficiently and there were lots of standing viewers. 🙁

Camping and Access

Camping in the dance area was very limited, but the second level had a lot more area available, just not as convenient.

It actually seemed like there were more people there this year than in the past two years. Very crowded and more difficult than usual to get around the venue. Camping was an issue.

Awards and Results

The results and awards were two floors up for Grades level dancers. Room to move around, but running up and down a few flights of stairs could be draining and not easy at all for mobility challenged visitors.

Awards and results for PC/OC was on the second floor on a small stage in the cafeteria area and there was plenty of seating and viewing room. There were three ways to get to the stage so there was no need for dancers to crowd around close which made it less congested than usual.

Parking

Parking was plentiful, in the schools parking garage and lots, and there was a covered walkway from the garage to the venue. Parking in the garage was only $2. It was a bit of a hike from the parking area into the venue and as far as I could tell, there was no where where mobility challenged viewers could be dropped fairly close to the door.

Other

The other ‘item of note’ that they have done in both years previously is the bathrooms. Considering the number of females at these events, they turned some of the men’s rooms into women’s rooms for the day, in fact, the only men’s room I knew about was on the top floor. I feel sorry for the potty training male parents or smaller-bladdered men.

Judges

Only really saw the judges on our stage. There were three of course, and I thought one of them seemed a bit distracted and saw that judge occasionally not watching the dancers. The other two were very attentive.

Music

Even I could tell there were music issues this year. There were complaints from dancers and I saw the musician fiddling with the speakers multiple times. Neither TGC nor the girl she was dancing with could hear well enough to start, and told the judges. The musician turned up the speakers(again) and the girls were able to complete their steps. I have seen this musician plenty of times with no issues, so I am wondering if it was an equipment issue. I thought there was a lot of ambient noise which probably contributed to the issues.

Food

Using the college concession worked to the feis advantage. Food was plentiful, had some variety and was priced for college students. There were also healthy options like fruit cups and hummus and chips in addition to pizza etc…

Vendors

Actually not as good as last year! I saw George the shoe guy, and the wig people, and the t shirt table that had a nice variety of add-ons for the t-shirts. The photography guy was there, and there was some ‘crafty’ stuff, but really nothing else ‘stood out’. Not an M&M in sight either.

Results

I have mixed feelings about the way awards were handled for PC/OC. For as long as I was there, they made Champ results announcements every hour at fifteen past the hour. Not really a bad system necessarily, but they only did a few comps each time, so if your comp didn’t make the cutoff, you would have to wait an extra hour. Since I was ‘associated’ with the feis, I found out the results for TGC’s comp had been tabulated in about 90 minutes (the average), but, they were not announced for about 2 and a half hours after she had finished dancing because we ‘missed the cutoff’. NOTE: I did not have access to results, just knew when the tabulations were done.

The other thing this feis does is announce overall placers first, and then announce the ‘shoes’, all the while having the overall winners stand on the stage. Sorry, not a fan. Do shoes, then overall 🙂

Two other thing I thought was out of place, no podium, which I suppose can be attributed to the venue, but the ‘worst’ thing (tongue in cheek worst of course), there were no sashes! OMG!

Feis Flow

Flow was actually pretty good. TGC and her comp got through both steps in around an hour, and they were staggered on the same stage with another comp. There were an average number of dancers so I thought an hour was pretty good.

Also heard an announcement that stages were moving pretty quickly and would be rearranged to move things along a bit faster. I remember the same thing happening last year. This can be good but can also cause issues if parents and dancers aren’t being attentive to the possible changes.

Scoring

Another tough one to score. A local feis and I have volunteered for the past two years. I know how hard the people work but there are some ‘things’ that could be done a bit better. I tend to think that we are outgrowing that venue, granted I don’t know what other options are available. Mix that with some of the music issues and the results comments I had, and I would have to put Dayton in the 6.5 – 7 range. Sorry Dayton, love you guys, but I gotta call them like I see them. Gimme a call, when can go out for a beer and talk about it.

Of course we will be back.

What did you think?

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Celtic Fling Feis 2014, PC/OC Levels Review

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cfLogoThe Celtic Fling Feis was held on June 28th, 2014 in Manheim, PA.

This is an outdoor feis, combined with an Irish-Scottish festival. Be aware that each adult needs to pay to get into the feis (it includes admission to the fair) even if you do not want to go to the fair. The parking is well organized with parking attendants leading you to your appropriate spot. A short walk later and you have been transported into a Renaissance Village with the signage to prove it. Ye Enter Here! Be prepared for long lines to get tickets and dancer numbers, although there is an option to pick them up the night before.

Venue

The dancers loved the Renaissance look. As far as trying to lug a Zuca bag through the village…. not easy. The paths are all rocks and hard to push or pull the required many items that feis people need. The smart people arrived early with their tents and chairs, camping in the very small amount of shade available. Overall, since it wasn’t really humid, it wasn’t raining and it wasn’t all that hot, it was nice once you managed to get your gear past the rock path.

Rating – 9

Food

There is a small snack stand close to stages 4 and 5. The offerings were pretty slim. Think granola bars, fruit and cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Nachos, chicken fingers and soda for lunch. My guess is that they keep the offerings minimal because the good food is over at the fair. Prices were reasonable.

Rating – 6

Judges

The ones that I saw seemed attentive. The dancers rotated stages so they were able to experience different judges.

Rating – 10

Musicians

We had a well-known musician on our stage, who is always fabulous. On one of the OC stages, there were reports that a less than wonderful musician was present. Stories of wrong music, wrong speeds and a lot of starting and re-starting. It may not be a good idea to place a new musician on an OC stage where these dancers can clearly call the musician out….just a thought.

Rating – 6

Awards

The champ awards were nice. Medal round awards for only the first place champion dancer. They did have crystal awards instead of trophies (a nice change) and nice sashes. The grades awards came out relatively quickly with happy dancers receiving trophies and medals. There were even ribbons for places greater than third.

Rating – 9

Vendors

Only 3. One shoe, one tee shirt and one “feis essentials” vendor. Nothing special. The real vendors were at the fair.

Rating – 7

Overall

A nice feis as long as the weather is good. The flow and results are good and everybody can enjoy some traditional Irish and Scottish music and games post feis. Get there early and bring your chairs and a tent and you will have a good day.

Overall Score – 9

Did you Fling? What did you think?

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Louisville Feis 2014, Grades Review

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louisvilleThe Louisville Feis was held June 21, 2014 in the South Wing A of the Kentucky Exposition Center. The McClanahan School has hosted the Louisville Feis for 18 years. The feis is sponsored by The Greater Louisville Irish Cultural Society, Inc. This year was an excellent example of why it is an enduring feis tradition in the region.

Venue

The Kentucky Exposition Center is enormous. It is home to several different buildings and structures. The Louisville Cardinal stadium, Kentucky Kingdom, and Freedom Hall are all located within it’s boundaries. The feis was housed in South Wing A. Once we located South Wing A, we were good to go. Please see Parking for my suggestions for next year. This was fine example of a well run convention center feis. South Wing A is a large convention hall. It was well lit and clean. The bathrooms were large, clean, and well marked. They were also well stocked the entire feis. The only areas congested were around the stages. Everywhere else was easily traversed. Each stage also had their own marked camping area. Restricted areas and No Camping areas were maintained and respected by attendees, from what we observed. There were also several expansive, open areas for practicing. The feis also offered discount Kentucky Kingdom tickets for attendees. The parking fee, paid at the gate, covered both the feis and amusement park for the day.

8 out of 10

Vendors

There were several vendors present at the feis. The variety was unexpected, with the local artisans really supporting the feis en masse. A third of the vendors were crafters or artisans. No Smarties or UK Cadbury bars, unfortunately. The vendors including the following:

  • Made by Mare
  • Dance shoes
  • Craft bottle lights
  • Irish doo dahs
  • Dancer wigs and doo dahs
  • Custom glass and metal artwork
  • Ireland theme children book seller
  • Custom soap maker
  • Paint your own canvas
  • Raffle
  • Refeis the Dress

8 out of 10

Food

The food selection was very limited at this feis. A feis volunteer let me know one of their food vendors did not show up. This pushed all the stages back more than 30 minutes for the scheduled lunch break. The feis did not want to release everyone for lunch until there were options for attendees. Several families ate packed lunches in their vehicles. Ash Wilkes purchased his afternoon feis coffee. He was most pleased. He was also more pleasant for the remainder of the feis.

The food and drinks were also quite pricey, $3.75 for a bottle of soda pop, $3.75 for a medium coffee. There was an ice cream vendor, a beverage vendor, and hotdogs etc.

After lunch, we overheard many complaints of indigestion, regarding the hot dogs.

3 out of 10

Judging

Judging was a jumbled carpet bag. 2 little darlings danced all of their competitions for the same judge. It worked to the benefit of one darling and to the detriment of the other. Our other two darlings danced for a different judge each of their soft shoe dances. They appeared to stop rotating the judges after lunch, since they danced their hard shoe for the same judge. If they had continued rotating them after lunch, my score would have been a 9.

7 out of 10

Stages

The stages well spaced and curtained. they were not raised. Duct taped plywood on a grid of 2×2’s, from what we could see. The feis volunteers did clean them at lunch break, and at signs of them becoming slippery.

Good speakers were stationed at the front corners of the stages. This kept music overflow to a minimum. Each stage had adequate stage seating for viewing. There was an enormous amount of room for camping by each stage.

7 out of 10

Music

This feis showcased some of the most talented, versatile, and accommodating feis musicians I have had the pleasure of witnessing. Delays were handled professionally. They were in control of their music, tempo, and had speaker volume control. Many of them were encouraging to the dancers, in addition to playing the required music with enthusiasm and skill. A few of them did experience challenges with the sound systems in place. The wiring was not in their control. Fiddles and accordions were spaced well apart. Stage music overflow occurred only a couple of times, that we noticed. It was handled with surprising speed.

9 out of 10

Parking

There was an $8 parking fee to enter any gate pf the Kentucky Expo Center. There was plenty of parking outside the South Wing Hall. Everyone paid the same price to park. If you wanted to avoid the parking fee, there was a shuttle service from the feis hotel, for hotel guests. For future reference, the gate across from the Louisville International Airport is the most direct route to the feis hall. Otherwise, you could be driving quite a distance on the one way loop around the expo center. Just trust me, it is a large loop. Try to avoid it. Just trust me on this one.

8 out of 10

Results

Speed for awards seemed dependent on the stage. Average was 20 minutes. Some stages were longer, others within 10 minutes. Volunteers were plentiful, industrious, and helpful. They were well connected with radios and well marked in WORKHORSE shirts of red and blue. The feis also provided comments for all dancers. Champs received their comments at awards. All other results were posted on a wall, toward the front of the convention hall.

There seems to be a trend with Mid America feisanna to go small with awards. From first feis to open champion, they all received the same medals for individual placements. I did not see any treble reels, so I do not know what was given for those competitions. 4th and 5th place received printed, colored ribbons. Beginners received a stuffed horse and purple beginner ribbon. This made the feis for the little dancers. At least from what scenes of bouncing and squealing I witnessed when passing the awards table. Prizewinner level dancers received small pedestal medallion trophies for 1st place. Champ awards were not posted. They were announced at a separate area, on a raised stage. It was also where the flags were posted and anthems were sung. Champs received boxed gifts for overall placements. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd received sashes. Champs received Medals for individual shoe placings.

6 out of 10

Feis Flow

As with results postings, this seemed to be dependent on the stage. The stage two our little darlings were on most of the day moved quickly. It wrapped up just after 2pm. Other stages were still running after 3pm. The feis was comp,eted with competitions at close to 4pm. Stages and vendors were tearing down at 4:15pm. Results were still ongoing at the champion awards stage. The feis was, overall, organized and well run.

The WORKHORSES of the Lousiville Feis certainly did themselves proud. They “ran” an excellent race. Very well done. The Wilkes family plans to attend the Louisivlle Feis in 2015.

10 out of 10

Overall Score: 7 out of 10

And What Did Y’all Think?

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Indianapolis Feis 2014, PC/OC Feis Review

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indyBanner

The Indianapolis Feis was held on June 14th, 2014 at the Indiana State Fair Grounds Exposition Center. This is the second time we have attended the Indy Feis, although this year it was held at a new venue.

Venue

This was the first time the feis was at this venue and there are mixed feelings from lots of people on it. It is a fairgrounds building with a concrete floor but it was big and fully enclosed and it was climate controlled, unlike another fair grounds building we all know, but I wont go there right now 😉

The provided a nice map of the venue that might be a good reference.

Stages and Seating

There were 6 stages made of plywood, and the one that I mentally measured was a very good size at 32 x 32. That was a PC/OC stage and I cannot say if the grades stages were the same size.

Being plywood, there was the traditional issues that go along with that type floor. I saw one fall and numerous slips on the stage I was viewing. The feis committee did mop the stage during lunch however, so they tried to keep up with maintenance.

Seating wasn’t bad, and I never saw all the chairs full on the stage we were on. There were those that decided that chairs were better suited for their gear, and on some stages, people actually took some of the chairs and formed them into their own little camping area. You know my thoughts on this topic, but this time, other feis goers captured the event in a photo. smh

Camping and Access

Camping wasn’t horrible, admittedly no where near the best I had seen either, but they tried. Seems like each stage had an area behind the viewers seats so people could stow gear, and the far end of the venue and along the outer walls had more areas, so you could probably find a place to park your gear.

Access in general was pretty good. I found the main issue was people standing in the aisles between the viewers chairs to watch the comps. You could usually find another way around through.

Awards and Results

Both Awards and Results were along one wall on the side of the venue, out of the way but still convenient to get to.

There were chairs for viewers in the champs results area which not all feiseanna do, so that was good. They did have room, and probably could have used more chairs there. I was also a little disappointed to see a few dancers held chairs with their solo dresses, so some of the parents had to stand to see results.

Parking

Lots of parking, but not all close. There was a $5 charge for parking which was a surprise to us and apparently to other attendees. Not that $5 is a big cost, but if you are not expecting it, and don’t have cash, it can be an annoyance.

Other

One other thing I heard complaints about was the directions on the feis site. I did not use them but heard some complaints from those that did, that the directions could have had some more details.

And speaking of finding the feis, if you tell your GPS 1202 W 38th instead of 1202 E 38th, you will end up at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, a lovely building and grounds. Just trust me on this one 🙁

Judges

3 Judges, attentive and pretty good comments considering the size of some of the comps I saw. No complaints.

Music

OK, here is where I heard the most complaints. Each stage had their own musician, which is always good because shared musicians tend to cause delays. Not the musicians themselves mind you, but the stages waiting to get caught up or to catch up as the case may be.

More than one dancer on the stage we were on complained about the tempo of  some of the music, and also the ability to hear it. As a viewer, I could hear music from everywhere so I could understand how the dancers might have issues. TGC had a start issue on one of her dances, and that has never been an issue for her (not making excuses, just commenting on the music).

I also saw a musician play the wrong song. The dancers danced anyway, and it was not until the 1st set of dancers had nearly finished their steps that the judges realized what was going on and stopped them. They were able to redo their dance.

Not sure what the problem was, might be a musician thing, but I can’t help but wonder if the acoustics in the Expo Center contributed to the issues.

Food

There were three food stands, but it appeared that two were not as fully equipped as the third. You could get drinks, corndogs and few other items at all three, but if you wanted grill items you needed to stand in the long line for the third stand.

Prices seemed very reasonable but I cannot speak to the quality as we did not eat at the venue.

Vendors

The usual suspects. If you have been to a Mid-America feis you know who they are. There was some nic nacs and non-feis swag on top of the typical feisessities (feis necessities). You can see the vendor list here. Oh, and if you follow me on Facebook, you already know there were Irish M&Ms 🙂

Results

Results for PC/OC, for TGC’s comp anyway, were out in about 75 minutes, which has been close to the norm. The awards were off to one side of the venue, behind the stages and the vendors. There were chairs for viewers as mentioned above, but there was room for more and they needed them. Lots of younger dancers sitting on the floor between the chairs and the podium, and lots of people standing behind the chairs.

At most PC/OC feis I have attended, the hard and soft shoe results are announced first, followed by the overall standings. They did it the opposite way here, announcing the overall first, and then the hard shoe and soft shoe results. And they did not allow time for the dancers to leave the podium between overall and the ‘shoes’, so you had a number of dancers standing there, kind of awkwardly.

I prefer when they announce the ‘shoes’ first personally. It gives an idea of how your dancer might have placed overall and you can prepare mentally a bit better 😉

Feis Flow

The flow was great. I heard a few comments that comps on a few stages, were moving along and from start to finish for us was less than 2 hours. Kudos on keeping it moving.

Scoring

Kind of torn on scoring. If we had been in last years venue, I think overall the feis would have faired much better. But, the venue issues combined with the music issues and I am afraid I would have to give this years feis somewhere around 6.5 to 7. We will be back though!

What did you think?

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Hurley School Feis, 2014 Review

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Hurley-Feis-Logo_Basia2_vectorized-300x292The 1st Annual Hurley School Feis was held at The Showplace Arena in Upper Marlboro, MD on may 25th, 2014.

Venue

A horse arena. Yes, I said horse arena. When we pulled into the parking lot we were immediately greeted by a parking attendant who promptly showed us where to park. The arena was large with several layers of stadium seating. Very spacious with plenty of room to spread out. There were several rows between each family. On the main floor were 8 stages, 3 champ and 5 grades (switching occurred later in the day). Each stage had its own musician and there were only a few stages stopped for small amounts of time. Surprisingly, the music was easy to hear when the stages were so close to each other. Competitions ran roughly to schedule, with some running early. Hands down the best part was the abundance of bathrooms. During multiple trips during the day, there was never a line. I have never seen this before, but it was a welcome surprise. Very helpful parent volunteers. Overall a very nice venue – which included a nice hamstring workout lugging feis gear up several flights of stairs in the stadium seating.  Did I mention no lines for the bathrooms?

Overall score: 10

Food

Typical feis food, but plenty of it. Multiple places to buy the arena’s food plus a Dippin Dots cart and Italian Ice cart. There was also an adult concession area. Trust me, if I wasn’t driving, I would have been in there taste testing.

Overall score: 9

Vendors

Typical vendors with an added embroidery vendor and the always cute Curly Girlz vendor. Who can resist a tiny image of your solo dress?

Overall score: 9

Judges

Rotating stages for grades dancers, so they never had the same judge which is good.

Overall score: 8

Results

Grade results were posted on a level higher than the actual awards. Again – getting a good hamstring/ quad workout. When we arrived to pick up some hardware, we were told that they miscalculated the number of trophies needed, so they were out of the 1st place trophies. They did give my dancer an extra medal and smaller trophy to make up for the miscalculation. Champ awards were in a lovely area overlooking the arena. There were medal rounds for PC and OC. The trophies were large, sashes were nice and the podium placed 5 dancers. Beautiful place to get that special photograph with your happy dancer.

Overall rating: 9

(would have been 10 except for the miscalculations)

Feis Flow

Appeared to run very well for a first feis. Some stages were stopped for small amounts of time, but nothing too dramatic. From the schedule it looked like there would be many conflicts, but stage managers handled it well and kept the feis moving.

Overall score: 9

Overall score: 9.5

Would definitely return and we really enjoyed this feis

Whatcha think?

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UICANY Feis 2014, PC/OC Review

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UICA LogoThe United Irish Counties Association of New York Inc. 76th Feis was held on June 8th, 2014 at Saunders Trades High School in Yonkers, NY.

Venue

The venue is a typical Mid-Atlantic high school with a twist. Small hallways, crowded stairwells, but it was a trade school, so we were able to admire the woodworking, auto mechanic and cosmetology information on the walls. There were about 75 parking spaces in the front of the school and quite the maze trying to figure out how to get to the two parking lots in the back of the school. Many locals at this feis, so they seemed to find the parking easily.  The auditorium was spacious with plenty of room to spread out. Early in the day, one of the volunteers locked one of the exit doors (thank goodness there wasn’t a fire!) which created an issue getting in from one side of the auditorium to the other (no path – had to climb over everyone or walk directly behind the judges). This is a very “old” feis, run by lovely elderly Irish enthusiasts. While these volunteers were always pleasant, a common answer to my questions were “I’m not sure”. Where are the awards? – I’m not sure. Where are the bathrooms? – I’m not sure. A friend had a daughter on the grades stages in the basement. She said that the temperature was “sweltering”. The auditorium was a pleasant temperature.

Overall grade: 7

Food

I am not sure – too crowded to get to it.

Judges

There were three of them 🙂

Musicians

One for champ stages, daughters said they had no issue hearing the music

Vendors

The typical vendors, shoes, headbands, socks, sock glue. I didn’t see anything special.

Results

The grades trophies appeared to be large, from the dancers carrying them around, but that is the highpoint. The awards for champs were in a small dark classroom in the basement. Once your time was posted, we were instructed to stand in the hall (not allowed in the room) until the scheduled time. This of course caused a big crowd in the hall near the vendors. Once allowed in, we crammed all dancers, parents and on lookers into the tiniest room while awards were called. No medal rounds for PC, only OC. No sashes, no podium and only one trophy for the 1st place winner. All other placers did receive a nice plaque though. Next, was a large picture taking session with many of the wonderful elderly volunteers who were very excited to take pictures with all of the dancers.

Overall rating: 5

Feis Flow

If you didn’t read the syllabus, you would be unaware that all adults would be charges $10 admission. This seemed to shock some people and the line to get in was quite long. The feis tried something new this year – mailing competitor cards ahead of time. It would have been helpful to tell people ahead of time, since the replacement line was long and only manned by two of the lovely elderly enthusiasts. By the third competition of the day, the feis was already 1 ¼ hours behind schedule. We did not stick around to see if competitions were moved or if they picked up in some way. The schedule for the feis did not come out until Friday night, late, after a social media outpouring from concerned parents – Facebook and Voy Boards. Apparently, this is unusual for this feis. Past years the feis posted the schedule early on Thursday.

Overall Rating: 4

Overall feis rating: 5.5

And you thought…?

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McGrath Feis 2014 Review

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An after the fact review from a new contributor, but anything we can post that might help others is fine with me. Thanks Feis Mom X2!

The McGrath Feis was held on March 30th, 2014 at Osbourn Park High School in Manassas, VA.

The Good

  • Lots of really great competition
  • Excitement in the air
  • Nice medals, overly generous with the numbers given (placements up to 9th
  • Centrally located, easy to get to

The Bad

  • Uncomfortable bleachers to sit and camp on
  •  One set of musicians for 6 stages….slowed things down to a snail’s pace
  • Registration on opposite end of stages
  • Medal Room on opposite side of results posting
  • Awarding PC and OC awards in the lobby created a huge traffic jam

The Hopeful

  • First Feis — will be improved
  • A Feis this big (950+) has to improve in order to keep attracting new dancers
  • There are many venues in the Manassas area (Patriot HS?) that are newer and more comfortable

Did you go to  the McGrath Feis? How would you rate it?

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Detroit Feis 2014, Grades Review

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The 2014 Detroit International Feis was held on Saturday, June 7th at the Ultimate Soccer Arena in Pontiac, Michigan

Venue

Huge, open space to hold a Feis. There were 4 stages set aside for the grades and there was ample spacing between each so that music didn’t bleed over and confuse the dancers. There was plenty of space set aside for camping and bleacher seating was always available when sought out. My only suggestion would be to set up a few practice areas with a flat/dance friendly surface. It was difficult for my dancer to warm up and run through her dances on the turf areas and the rolled out temporary surfaces that covered the turf areas.

Parking

The parking lot was large and parking was free. We arrived an hour after the Feis started and were able to park in the 3rd row right in front of the doors. I did notice when we were leaving for the day that an arena employee was out front with a giant golf cart “limo” offering rides to families if they so desired. Nice touch!

Feis Flow

For the size of the Feis and the amount of competitors, I think it went really fast even though we were there until 4:30. We really enjoyed an actual lunch break with time to rest and regroup in between soft and hard shoe dances. Our stage was very timely and there were no real lulls in the dancing except for a 10 minute break when the musician needed to run to the endless line in the bathroom!

Judges

5 judges for 5 dances. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Results/Awards

I will admit I was very leery of how this would all play out because this Feis doesn’t split grades until numbers in a comp reach 30 and with some comps reaching 28, I thought there would be a lot of tears across the board with so few having the opportunity to place. I was pleased to learn that the Feis committee required the judges to place at least half of the total comp numbers regardless of how small or large they were. Medals were awarded 1-5 place and ribbons were given for 6 and 7 place winners. We have a rule studio wide that results are not to be checked until the end of all your dances so I can’t speak to how quickly the results were posted on the wall but they showed up on Feisworx within 10 -15 minutes of the completed dance. I was able to show the awards staff my daughters HP results via Feisworx before it was posted on the wall and we were able to collect all her medals and leave before it came out from the results room.

Food

Total disaster for anyone who attempted to order from the concession stands. They were completely overwhelmed and could not keep up with the throngs of families that all showed up during the lunch break. I spoke with people who waited over an hour for their food that never was produced. Lots of people were issued refunds and were not able to eat. The venue did not allow outside food or coolers to be brought in but didn’t really enforce it. Saw lots of people eating picnic lunches in the camping areas and also several who gave up on the concessions and made a run down the street to the corner to one of the several fast food restaurants located there. We had ample time to eat our lunch and snacks that we packed and enjoyed the break outside in the sun on the front lawn.

Vendors

Standard Feis fare. Nothing out of the ordinary there. I will say that I did like the choices and the prices for the Feis T-shirts being sold at the registration table.

Summary

This was one of our favorite Feisanna to date. I am very glad we decided to give this one a try and we will definitely go back next year! On a side note: I have been told that the Feis committee is reevaluating their split policy for next year. I hope they lower it to the more customary 24 split guideline most follow.

What Did You Think?

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Detroit International Feis 2014, PC/OC Review

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b7516be3d6a350f0bb91a148aef24a62The Detroit International Feis was held on June 7th, 2014 at the Ultimate Soccer Arena, in Pontiac, Michigan. I wrote a review for this feis last year, and with the exception of the date and one or two other items, I could pretty much copy and paste that here. I suggest reading that review as I am going to just annotate the differences here. It is good to see how things change.

Venue

Still love it. Probably one of my favorites. LOTS of room to literally run around if you want.

Stages & Seating

Stage setup was exactly like last year but this year since we were on one of the PC/OC stages I was able to figure out the stage size, which was 32 x 32. This feis, if I am not mistaken, has the biggest stages of any feis I have attended. Even the grades level stages are big at 24 x 32.

There was quite a bit of complaints from both parents and dancers about how slippery the stages were however. I heard from 3 separate parents on different stages as well as witnessed some of this myself. I did not see any falls, but there were lots of slips.

Contrary to last year, the feis team did not appear to be up on stage maintenance. CAVEAT – I left the building at lunch and cannot say if there was any mopping done then. Otherwise, I only saw one stage being swept. We took the precaution of using gaffers tape on TGC’s hard shoes, and we dampened her soft shoes with a wet towel before she danced and she did not seem to have any problems.

Seating was the same as last year, bleachers for stages 1 – 4 and lots of chairs for stage 6. I did not take note of how many chairs there were for stage 5, but there was plenty of room around the stage to set up your own chairs or blankets. Overall, seating was no problem.

Some people did complain that it was cold inside the venue, but I personally thought it was pleasant.

Camping & Access

Camping? Lots of it!, not all necessarily close to ‘your’ stage, but there was lots of room in the bleachers and if you were up to it, there was a ton of room where you could spread out behind stage 6.

Access did get a bit tight between the grades stages and the bleachers as people chose to stand in that area to view or have chats with their firends, but generally you could get through without too much issue.

Awards & Results

Grades results were posted on the far wall behind stage 6 as they were last year.

For PC/OC awards, the podium was set up in a far corner. Lots of room for viewers and dancers, and the distance from the stages didn’t cause any distraction for the stages. Great setup!

Parking

Seemed to be plenty but it filled up quick so you might have to park out in the boonies and hike in. They did provide a “shuttle” out to your car after the feis, but that didn’t help with your arrival necessarily.

The other thing they have done the past two years I have been to the feis was block off the circle up to the door. It would have been nice to have that for pickup and dropoff, especially for older spectators and others with mobility issues.

Judges

We had no problems with the judging. 3 judges for the stage we were on and they all seemed attentive. It was at this feis last year where I mentioned the ‘distracted’ judge after having seen him judge at one other feis. I think he is the one that got me started watching judge actions a bit closer. This feis though, no issues.

Music

Each stage had their own musician and from where we were sitting, I could not hear music from the other side of the room, so distraction was not an issue, at least on the far side of the venue. I cannot speak to the Grades levels where the stages where closer together.

There was one musician there that I heard playing, and admittedly I don’t dance, but I thought the tempo was off as he played. I did not hear any complaints at this feis, but I have heard issues with this particular musician in the past. This time I heard it for myself.

Food

OK, here is what many consider THE issue for this feis. On the feis website it states quite clearly:

  • NO COOLERS are allowed inside the facility, there is plenty of reasonably priced food available in the venue

WRONG!

Last year the setup was much better, with two concessions. This year, it had changed with the removal of the smaller concession and the addition of a Starbucks (or maybe I didn’t see that last year).

Food lines were outrageous, and food delivery was slow. They ran out of food and was able to scrape up just a pretzel for one of our school parents. I can understand the rules, but make sure you are able to back up the rules.

The saving grace was that the venue is a short drive from a major intersection with at least 5 popular fast food chains. We literally drove out, bought, came back and had a nice lunch (outside) before some people got their food in the line we had tried in the venue initially.

Vendors

Very similar, is not exactly like the past year. A nice selection of items, including knit and Guinness wear. You can see the list here. Sadly, no Irish M&Ms 🙁

Results

As mentioned above, the results for grades were posted on a far wall, away from the stages, and they could pick up their awards right next to the results display.

The PC/OC had their own corner for the podium and it was roomy and remote. Thought it was well done.

Feis Flow

It seemed like a very long day. Like last year, the lunch seemed to take forever and there was grumbling among the masses. We knew we probably wouldn’t start until after lunch, and that is exactly what happened, but you know as well as I that you can never really be sure, so we got there at 10am.

TGC did not dance till mid afternoon and her comp (which was kind of big) finished in about 30 minutes. Her awards were announced about 75 – 90 minutes later, which seems close to what we have experienced at other feis lately.

Scoring

If you have been reading my reviews for a while, you may have realized that I didn’t score the individual sections. It seems to me that the scoring does not always capture how I really felt about the feis, and either way, will probably differ from how the person next to me felt about the feis. I have chosen instead to list the facts and just tell you how I would grade it. As always, you can add your rating below 🙂

Overall, not a bad feis. Nothing was terrible and even the food and slippery stage issues had workarounds. And as for the long day, I was the one that got there early, and that is not the feis’ fault.

So, based on all that, I give this feis an 8.5

Don’t even need to think about whether we will be back or not, we will.

What Say You?

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