West Virginia Feis

The West Virginia Feis was held on March 23 and 24th, 2013 at Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Pittsburgh Airport in Pittsburgh, PA. Since the feis was held in PA, I have listed it under both PA and WV reviews.

Please add your feis rating for the West Virginia Feis at the bottom of this review!

NOTE: This review focuses on Saturday only for this two day feis. OC and PC stages and judging therefore are not included in the review.

Venue – This is the second feis I have attended at the Hyatt, and for the last one, I said it ‘wasn’t terrible as a feis venue’, and I still go by that, HOWEVER, I liked it a lot less this time than the last. There were four performance stages, and while I peeked in on the fourth, most of my time was spent in the large ballroom with the three stages. As in my last review for this venue, stages were good size and had sufficient chairs for viewers. The traffic area around the stages was not adequate and moving was difficult, especially since some people congregated on the back wall and in front of the doors into the stage area.

When the hard shoe dances started, the noise carryover between the stages was distracting to me in the viewing seats, but I cannot speak for the dancers on stage.

Camping spots were available in the meeting rooms around the ballroom. Hallways were clearly marked “NO CAMPING” but I saw plenty of people camped right beneath the signs. Camping in the seats around the stages seemed to be at a minimum however, which was nice (at least on stage 3 where we were).

For the last feis I thought the biggest venue ‘issue’ was the concession set up. For this feis, use of the hallways WAS WORSE. This was not helped by the people who did not appear to notice the ‘NO CAMPING’ signs.

Feis results were posted in the hall between the ballroom and the lobby, where the concessions happened to end, which made for an issue of the lunch crowd versus the results crowd. On top of that, there were vendors across from the results, which severely constricted flow. At lunch time that area came to a literal standstill, the rest of the time it was just horrible.

There were also vendors on both sides of the big hallway adjacent to the ballroom, so it was slower traffic through there. The hallway on the end of the ballroom did not really have vendors and might have made a better results area (my opinion only, since I have never set up a feis).

Parking was plentiful but may have involved a bit of a walk depending on when you arrived. There was a way to pull right up to the hotel to drop off dancers and gear though. The feis did pay for parking which was cool and saved me $13.

Venue Score: 5.5 (sorry the results-vendor hall made it worse this time)

Judges – Same as the last time, daughter danced four dances and was judged by three different judges.

Judge Score: 9

Music – Each stage had their own musicians, otherwise pretty standard.

Musician Score: 8

Food – Same as for the last feis, breakfast sandwiches, hot dogs, pretzels, pizza, salad, drinks and sundries… all apparently reasonably priced but we did not eat at the feis so I cannot speak to the quality.

Food Score: 6

Vendors – They had an airbrush artist which I had not seen at a feis before and I thought was a nice addition. Otherwise the standard feis tshirt guy, shoe booth, jewelry, feis and Irish themed apparel, knit goods, the wig stuff, nic-nacs, paddywacks, etc…

Vendor Score: 8.5

Results – Another negative. My daughter danced her first dance at 9 and the results were out at 930, not terrible but not great. After that though, it trended toward terrible taking about 90 minutes for the next 2 results and over an hour for the last (not sure how long since we went out to lunch and came back). A caveat, my daughters comps had nearly 30 dancers.

Results Score: 4

Feis Flow – As for the last feis here, I thought the feis flow was pretty good. There appeared to 5 or 6 dances between each of my daughters so there was time for rest between each although I did see 1 dancer from another age group what appeared to be back to back dances.

From my viewpoint the flow was handled really well and things were kept moving.

Feis Flow Score: 8.5

And the WTF Rating – a 7.07.

What did you think?

What did you think of the Feis Na Cara 2015, Champs Level (On a scale of 1 - 10 with 1 being lowest)?

  • 10 (25%, 1 Votes)
  • 8 (25%, 1 Votes)
  • 7 (25%, 1 Votes)
  • 5 (25%, 1 Votes)
  • 9 (0%, 0 Votes)
  • 6 (0%, 0 Votes)
  • 4 (0%, 0 Votes)
  • 3 (0%, 0 Votes)
  • 2 (0%, 0 Votes)
  • 1 (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 4

Loading ... Loading ...

Lavin Cassidy Feis

A SPECIAL THANKS to a Feis Mom (who asked to remain anonymous) who volunteered to do a write-up for this feis.  THANKS!

The Lavin Cassidy Feis was held on March 2, 2013 at the Grand Geneva,  Lake Geneva, WI.

Venue – A very spacious and well laid out location for a feis.  In all the stage areas there were plenty of seats and room for limited camping, and even room for some practice space in the stage area.  Water was provided and the dispensers were frequently refilled and kept cold.  Most of the stages were on the main floor with a few on the second floor, but were all very easily accessible  A very handicap accessible feis as there was room to move around with a wheel chair if need be.  Some congestion in the one stage area, but it was to be expected and nothing to complain about.  Microphones were down in our stage area so if you weren’t watching the competition progress on your paper you were kind of in a pickle, but they were calling out for competitors very frequently.  The stage helpers (hey still somewhat new to this and still in beg2) were good about getting the kids lined up and if you missed your competition they would get you in between other dances with no issue.  The used dresses were in one of the coat check areas so they weren’t crammed in the back of a stage causing no room to stand.  Also there was a shuttle service in the lot if you needed to park a distance or if you were staying up at Timber Ridge Lodge.  Did not notice very many handicap spaces, but at least if walking was a issue for you there was the shuttle.

Venue Score: 9.5

Judges – Did not have different judges for my dancers different dances, but the judge did change two dances before she went on.  Nice to see some of the judges we have had at our level judging at the upper levels and getting to compete in front of different judges for a change.

Judge Score: 9.5

Music -Each stage had their own musician.  I loved having a fiddle for the younger ones.  The musician at our stage did not take a break.  From what I noticed at the other rooms that had multiple stages there was no major sound bleed.

Musician Score: 9.5

Food –Hotel food, prices were decent, could be less but it wasn’t too bad.  $2 for a can of pop was ok and not too high, but would have been happier to see it lower.  Was a bit upset that they did not have spotted cow, considering half the people there can’t get it in their home state.  I did not get a chance to see what food was offered up on the second level as we didn’t head up there.

Food Score: 8

Vendors – Usual suspects.  Nice to see the T-shirt people are having more options for what you can print on your shirt, but some of the prices could be a little less.  For example if you wanted a sweatshirt you were looking at easily spending $60 if you wanted all the printing on it.  The kid got some new shoes from the shoe people and it was nice they found the best shoe for her foot type. The author of the Leify Rivers series was there signing books for the kids.  I would also like to say the vendors were all spread out and not all in one area, so you weren’t getting pushed around looking at the items.

Vendor Score: 9

Results – Great.  Out somewhat quickly and with the given foot traffic in that area there was little to no issue viewing the results.  The tabulation room was close to where our results were and since the venue was very spacious the runners could get them there and posted very easily.  And if you were blessed to place, getting your medal was very easy, and the kids passing them out were very pleasant and congratulatory towards you.

Results Score: 10

Feis Flow -Wow…all I can say is wow.  They said our daughters group would be done by 10:30 before the next levels would start on that stage and they were done on time, it not a few minutes early.  This feis moved rather quickly and smoothly, in that you weren’t rushed or felt that you were waiting all day.  Again I can’t say how it was for the ones that did start later then us, but it seems that you probably wouldn’t have to be there too long or late as they kept this moving quickly.  I did talk to some friends who were there longer then us but they were done around 3 which wasn’t too bad compared to other feis where they were there till 5:00 pm or later.

Feis Flow Score: 10

North Coast Feis Eats

When we attended the North Coast Feis we stayed in downtown Cleveland which provided us a nice variety of eats. As I have in past posts on this blog, I wanted to point some of the restaurants out so the next time you feis in the area, you have an idea where you might want to try with a little info to back it up. Anyway, here goes for Cleveland…

Grumpys – We hit Grumpys for breakfast as it was between the hotel and the IX Center and was recommended by the hotel staff. This is one of those local places we were lucky enough to find. Great menu, huge portions of a lot of standard and not so standard breakfast fare, and VERY reasonable. This place will be our Cleveland breakfast place and I highly recommend it!

Flannerys – An Irish pub downtown. Good food, great beer selection, but get there early if there is a game in town. Recommended, but know in advance it is a bit pricey.

Winking Lizard – A definite recommendation if you are a beer fan, a huge selection, a lot of which I had not heard of. Food was excellent and prices were very reasonable. Three of us ate (and drank) REALLY well for half of what we paid at Flannerys. Great Bar food selection and family friendly. Keep in mind the ‘game in town’ rule. We will go back again.

If you found places you like in Cleveland, please add your comments and less share the ‘food love’.

North Coast Feis Review

The North Coast Feis was held on February 2nd, 2013 at the IX Center in Cleveland, OH.

Venue – The IX Center was pretty good as a feis venue. The feis wasn’t in the main area of the IX Center, but instead, downstairs. Not fancy, and they seemed to have a little temperature issue in the champ area early afternoon (got very warm), but they got it worked out a bit later in the day.

Camping was not sufficient and viewer ‘bleed over’ into traffic areas was, as usual, an ‘annoyance’.

There were 7 stages labeled A – G, with G being the champ stage. It appeared to be a bit bigger compared to the other stages, which looked smallish to me (but I think they were 20 x 20). There was good separation between the stages though, and I didn’t really notice any of the ‘music confusion’ you get when stages are too close together. They seemed to be a little short on chairs for viewers, and probably could have used a few more per stage.

Parking was good, not all ‘close’, especially considering the snow, but plentiful.

Venue Score: 8.5

Judges – Really good judge rotation. Sometimes they would rotate twice between my daughters dances. She had 4 different judges for the 5 dances she did, so no complaints.

Judge Score: 9.5

Music -Each stage had its own musician and as mentioned above, there was no music bleed over due to good separation between the stages. The musician on our stage did not take a pee break that I saw. I heard no music complaints from anyone else.

Musician Score: 9.5

Food – I saw normal convention center fair, pizza, pretzels etc… but we didn’t eat there so I didn’t get a good look. I was surprised by drink prices though with $12 for a water, Gatorade and a soda.

They did have beer, but sorry @washcap37, no Yuengling, only Bud and Bud Light.

Food Score: 7

Vendors – The shoe guy, and feis t-shirts, but the girl child didn’t like the design. Wigs, as always, a nice jewelry booth I had not seen before, but really not too much else.The thing I thought was COOL, and had not seen at a feis before, was a photo booth, but I didn’t catch the prices. You can see all the vendors at the the feis site under Vendors.

Vendor Score: 8.5 (a little extra for originality)

Results – Great work on results, out really quickly and they used social media to post info, although not quite as quick as a walk to the ‘scoreboard’. I always complain about no Twitter or Facebook posting, but I can’t do that here.

Results Score: 10

Feis Flow – I think the number of stages helped with the flow. They did not have to put quite as many comps at each stage like at many feises and even with comps in the 20s, my daughter finished 5 dances in under 3 hours (including the Treble Reel at lunch). Great flow. Grouping of age comps would have sped it up some, but on our stage there were only about 3 age groups, so it was still quite good.

Feis Flow Score: 9

And the WTF Rating – a WTF Rating is 8.85 which is the BEST WTF review score so far. Great job North Coast!

New friends from Pittsburgh…

And speaking of the Gem City Feis, I met another nice family yesterday. I mentioned in another post that I find it very refreshing to see dancers who excel, but don’t get all ‘diva’ even though they are kicking butt, because I have seen quite a lot of that in the past. Met another such dancer and family.

First saw this dancer in Pittsburgh last week and got a chance to meet the Mom and Dad yesterday. Because of the uniqueness of the dancers name, I won’t mention it, but if they find this blog, I think they will know who they are.

So a big WTF shout out to the parents from Pitt. See you guys and ‘* the big meanie’ at Oireachtas. And ‘big meanie’, CONGRATS again on getting the 1st you needed to advance!

* Before anyone gets all, ‘you shouldn’t call the girl names’, I called the dancer a big meanie after she beat my darling daughter. I didn’t mean it, and the smile I got after I called her that showed me she knew I was kidding.

Gem City Feis Review

The Gem City Feis was held on October 13th, 2012 at the Dayton Airport Expo Center in Vandalia, OH. What is it with these airport feises lately?

Venue – The Expo Center was great as a feis venue. Lots of room, plenty of space, plenty of area for camping. It was not ‘posh’, but the temperature was good and there was lots of room. They probably could have taped off a bigger area for camping then they actually did, since the camping filled up and became difficult to navigate in and out of, but the annoyance was minor.

There were five stages, well separated and all very good size. They had sufficient chairs for viewers but the campers were being their old inconsiderate selves… but I digress.

Parking was good, not all ‘close,’ but plentiful.

Venue Score: 8.5

Judges – Like last weekend, the girl child had four dances and was judged by three different judges, a good judging rotation.

Judge Score: 9

Music – All stages had their own musicians and there was good separation between the stages so there was no music bleed over. Our musician did not seem to take a pee break, so no complaints.

Musician Score: 9

Food – Burgers, grilled chicken, pretzels, pizza, salad, sandwiches, drinks and breakfast items. I thought the prices were a little high for drinks, and was a little surprised by the $5 burger, but it was huge, so I take that back and will say the prices were reasonable. Oh, and they had beer, only a couple brands, but they had it for sale.

Food Score: 8.5

Vendors – The shoe booth (yeah George was back), and feis t-shirts which were preprinted, not customized like in most feises I have been to. Wigs, as always, and another Irish tshirt guy, and other smaller booths. The Zuca guy was there too, a staple in Irish Dance (the Zucas, not the guy).You can see all the vendors at the the feis site under Layout and Concessions.

Vendor Score: 8

Results – Good work on the results, and they were out within about 15 – 30 minutes or so after each dance. No apparent Twitter or Facebook posts, which I would love to see from all feises, so not perfect, but pretty darn good.

Results Score: 9.5

Feis Flow – I thought the feis flow was good. I am becoming a fan of grouping age comp dances because it seems to help get through the dances quicker, but GC did not group. They went through all the ages in each dance and then moved to the next dance. That being said, we were still through all 4 dances around 2pm after starting after 10am.

Feis Flow Score: 7

And the WTF Rating – a WTF Rating is 8.5 which ties for 2nd highest feis review score from WTF. Good Job Gem City!.

Pittsburgh Halloween Feis Review

NOTE: When you are done reading, please see the comments for a follow up by the Feis Chair.

The Pittsburgh Halloween Feis was held on October 6, 2012 at Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Pittsburgh Airport in Pittsburgh, PA.

Venue – The Hyatt wasn’t terrible as a feis venue, but I did have some ‘issues’ with it.

From the syllabus I see there were five stages but I really only saw three of them. They were good size and although they were all in the same room, there was adequate room to move between them. They also had sufficient chairs for viewers.

OBSERVATION: I did not see any ‘campers’ in the seats around the stage, not saying it did not happen, but it was not rampant as it is in many feises. A nice, less aggravating seating plan :)

Camping spots were available in the halls and other meeting rooms around the ballroom and seemed adequate.

A venue ‘issue’ was the concession set up. They set up serving tables in one of the halls which happened to be the main hall between the dance areas and the results area, and the lunch rush was just a huge traffic jam of people trying to get from one area to the other. They could have used one of the meeting rooms which would have helped the congestion.

Vendors were also set up in the halls which constricted flow a little, but it was not terrible.

Parking was bad and due to construction at the airport was extra bad. We ended up in extended stay parking the first attempt, and the nice man in the exit booth routed us to the right parking. Hotel parking (aka Long Term) was very full so there was a bit of a walk to the hotel, not good for some attendants. The feis did pay for parking, and they provided us with tickets to pay, but it was not obvious on how they were to be used. I saw some ‘aggravation’ with people trying to leave who were unsure what to do.

Venue Score: 6.5

Judges – My daughter danced four dances and was judged by three different judges, pretty darn good.

Judge Score: 9

Music – Each stage had their own musicians, always good. Our stage musician took several breaks, one seemed a bit ‘extended’, so much so that it was obvious. Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary.

Musician Score: 8

REALIZATION: I think I may be getting burned out on feising…. I feel like I was not quite as observant at this feis.

Food – Hot dog, pretzels, pizza, salad, drinks and sundries… all reasonably priced. A negative, a quarter pound hot dog was $3 and a salad was $5, which kind of put the kabash on healthy eating decisions. Not bad, but could have used a little more variety since it was catered by the hotel.

Food Score: 6

Vendors – A feis tshirt guy, and a shoe booth (not George)… always there. Nice jewelry and knit goods, the wig ladies, need I go on?

Vendor Score: 7.5

Results – This was a huge negative. My daughter danced her first dance between 11 and 1130, they broke for lunch, and then continued dancing. She finished her 4th dance at nearly 2 and the results for the first dance had not been posted when we checked before her fourth dance started. It was out shortly after, and the last three results came out by 3 so it seemed to speed up some, but in the meantime, there was a LOT of grumbling from dancers and parents.

Results Score: 3

Feis Flow – I thought the feis flow was pretty good. Age group dances were kept together with only a few dances between, always help the flow. During the lunch break I saw one of the feis staff go around announcing break was over, and got everything going again about 30 minutes after break started. I thought that was good and had not seen that much effort put into keeping the flow. (I did find out there was a wedding reception planned for later that day in the same room since the hotel double booked, which may explain the extra effort).

Feis Flow Score: 8

And the WTF Rating – a WTF Rating is 6.86.