Day 427:
Whether another Venetian.
For all of those who are from out of town - the best way to describe the Venetian Festival of old would be food, food, food,....several music stages with various degrees of musical talent (which made it all the more interesting),....beach activities / fireworks that culminated with a rather impressive volleyball semi-pro tournament,.... and family fun.
You paid one price to get a wristband for the day and you went on to the festivities to enjoy. When you wanted something to eat from a specific vendor, you walked up,... ordered your food,... and paid for it.
Over the years the Venetian has morphed into a pricey affair in which musical talent comes for a price. I didn't venture to musical stage where 'Oliver' from the highly viewed Hannah Montana show was performing. Yet I heard tickets where available for between $25-35. "I didn't even know that he could sing," was my comment to Hannah.
"He's just starting," was her reply.
"For $25 a head, he's starting pretty good," I was thinking that someone was riding the Hannah Montana coattails.
The food affair is another morphed wonderment which leaves me wondering who they made it easier for: the vendors, the Venetian organizers, or the customers. I'm going out on a limb when I say that it's not for the betterment of the customer.
When you have multitudes of food choices to choose from and a family and friends in-tow, you have to find the exact food choice you want, find out how many tickets it will cost, then go and find a ticket booth, then head back to the food booth where you wanted your food from, and finally order and hand over your tickets. Now doesn't that seem simple? I forgot one thing - now do it when everyone wants something different. Oh geez,... I forgot the last little tidbit. If you have extra tickets (which are equivalent to $1), you need to either buy something or try and find someone to buy them off of you because the ticket booth does not refund.
Now I realize many people love the Venetian. I do too. I love what it stands for, but not for what it's become. The organizers of this event try their best to bring to Saint Joe and its visitors the best possible experience. Yet somewhere along the way I can't help but think that they've lost the connection that once made it a family affair and customer friendly. They've become like so many politicians who have gotten to the big show and can't see past the bright lights - you tend to lose focus on what's most important: Family Fun.
Here's a wild idea. Let's forgo what's it's become and go back to the 'good ole days'. You get to say stuff like that when you get past 40.
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7 comments:
No Venetian Festival for our family...it has become more of a hastle than family fun. I was wondering if the ticket fiasco was still happening of it they ringmasters smartened up. Thanks for answering my wonderment! The positive is that you had quality family fun and probably saw many friends (and ex-students).
I'm going to be able to work on Hannah's thermometer and poster this week :)!
I hope you ate an elephant ear for me!
MR
Dave, I too remember when sitting by the main stage next to the river was such a relaxing and fun time at the Venetian Festival. Hearing the Challengers sing old tunes was just great! I also remember when you didn't have to trudge down the bluff for your food. Ah, memories! For now I just watch the festival goers walk by the house and hope they enjoy it.
Ahhhh. Family fun. With good food, and good company, life is simply...good. That's my motto.
Love,
Shanna
PS: Bronze!
Ahhh...the good old days when local groups ran booths to raise money...the Greek Orthodox Church had their gyros, the Cystic Fibrosis group had their grilled corn, band boosters sold personal pan pizzas,.....Oh for those days again.
Suzie
Ahhh....the good old days! I'm all for making Venetian like the days of past. Lower priced food, wristbands for concerts, Three Dog Night playing on the "river stage", family fun focus, etc. As a youngster it was great - now that we have a family who can afford it?
I would have to agree with everyone it was a better festival in the days of old. I can remember spending the whole weekend with my parents at the festival. Sitting on the banks of the old saint joe, watching the boats go by and listening to the bands. It didn't cost nearly what it cost us to go on Sunday to the country concert which the radio station gave us free tickets too.
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