August is last Renaissance Faire event on the Key Pen


By SD Galindo
KP News

Rumors have been flying for a while that the Washington State Renaissance Faire is moving to Belfair from the Wauna site off State Route 302, where it has been held for many years. Ron Cleveland, founder and president of the faire, confirmed the move to the KP News in May. He said the faire organizers were surprised by a rent increase this year but by then they had already spent close to $140,000 on this year’s event because planning starts well in advance.

The move has been in the works for some time. Cleveland said initially the organization tried to acquire the acreage owned by the Department of Natural Resources behind the present site, but when this did not happen, they teamed up with the KP Metro Parks District with an offer to lease 80 acres of the 360 acres the DNR offered to transfer to KPMPD (through its Trust Land Transfer program). The deal fell through, however, and Cleveland looked for other properties. The present site, at just 29 acres, is too small; parking and traffic issues in the area have no relief in sight, and the faire is growing yearly.

The new site is a 150-acre fairground with 45 acres of parking that includes a two-lane drive, allowing all traffic to be off the main roads. It has a creek and a logging road, and it is right off State Route 3, a couple miles from the State Route 302 junction in Allyn. When the site is finished, “…we will build the faire to six weekends and start a Shakespearean festival similar to the one in Oregon,” Cleveland said. “We will host Highland games, Society for Creative Anachronism events, black powder and Civil War reenactment, as well as other community and tourism related cultural and educational events.” 

Asked if the move to Belfair would impact attendance, Cleveland said they could lose up to 25 percent the first year, but he hopes to offset that by good advertising in 2008; and he feels the move is essential for the long run.

The fairgrounds will create many new jobs in the area as it grows, since a property with ongoing events requires both land and facilities management.

Meanwhile, planning is in full swing for this year’s event. There is nothing else that brings so much creativity, education, and fun to the Key Peninsula. Last year, kids could learn sword fighting safely in the melee area of the First Knights Academy; young warriors (girls and boys) were knighted, and Her Majesty gave formal certificates of princess-ship and lordship to young people on a central stage. There was a daylong scavenger hunt where children could seek out all the story book characters they know, get their autographs and a prize; there were several crafts areas and games to play as well as  rental costumes; some pirates brought colorful parrots and let the kids hold them. There was a variety of entertainment and shows, and even cannons were fired at closing time. 

With tens of thousands of visitors to our area over the three weekends of the Renaissance Faire in August, and most (80 percent) coming from more than 50 miles away, local travelers know they need to plan around the daytime event. Only Mount Rainier draws more attention in Pierce County. Although the flow is monitored, cars back up on SR-302 during the day. A controversy with the Kathryn Village shopping center could make things worse for Key Pen patrons and locals alike this year. The center’s management may revoke permission for faire participants to park on three acres nearby — putting 600 to 1,000 cars on the road to wait for parking at the main site (200 cars can park on an acre, but the turnover may be twice daily);  600 cars would back up traffic at least three miles. 

This many people coming to the area does — like conventions hosted in big cities — bring lots of dollars. Faire vendors earn around $1 million, Cleveland said, so Key Pen businesses are seeing profits, too. He said increased revenue to the local area, reported to the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, was $4 million to $5 million, and close to 1,000 room nights are purchased by visitors and vendors, who stay 18 days to set up and tear down their booths.

The faire spends close to $150,000 on the production, and the vendors spend money, too. Even those who have RVs like to get out, have dinner, grocery shop and refill their propane locally.

Pierce County recognizes the tax benefit of the event: It supported joint advertising with Renaissance Faire partners, such as The Little Nickel, with a grant of $10,000, according to Cleveland. Ads were run in the Key Peninsula News, The Kitsap Sun, the Peninsula Gateway, the Kitsap Tourism Guide, Pacific Publishing, NW Navigator, the Little Nickel and the News Tribune of Tacoma. The organization spent more than $26,000 on print advertising, plus about the same on radio ads.

Cleveland said the faire gives away more than 6,000 family weekend passes to nonprofits and media outlets to use as fundraisers, which can bring 20,000 to 25,000 visitors to the Key Pen, in addition to another 50,000-plus paying customers who purchase tickets at the gate or online. The 2006 event brought in about 18 percent more faire-goers than 2005, so an increase this year might be anticipated as well. 

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