Vermont man gathers thousands
There is a fine line between it being a show and it being a community. Once an individual becomes a “play-tron” and no longer a patron, it’s more about the community, not just the show.
Play-trons is the term Jeff Folb, Vermont Gatherings owner and founder, uses when referring to all the regulars who come dressed in costumes when attending one of his fantastical festivals, as opposed to those who attend in civilian attire (like the writer of this article).
Vermont Gatherings is the area’s premier producer of local festivals. Its annual events include the Vermont Renaissance Faire, Winter Renaissance Faire, Steampunk Expo, Sci-Fi & Fantasy Expo, Living History Expo, and the Vermont Holiday Market. Although there are friends, family and his wife Debra helping out, Folb is Vermont Gatherings sole employee. He orchestrates all these events himself.
“My festivals are places where you can get your geek on. Let me be clear, geek does not have a negative connotation with us” said Folb.
In April Vermont Gatherings hosted its 4th Annual Sci-Fi & Fantasy Expo at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction. To many, it may seem like this would be a very niche market, but over the course of two days, the expo had about 5,000 attendees and more than 100 vendor booths. Many of those in attendance were play-trons. Among the attendees were Vikings, Storm Troopers, X-Men, Ghostbusters, Xenomorphs and countless other characters from videogames, comic books, TV and film. It’s quite a spectacle to see in person.
The Sci-Fi & Fantasy Expo isn’t even Vermont Gathering’s largest or most prominent event. That would be the Vermont Renaissance Faire.
Seven years ago, none of these shows existed. Folb and his wife, longtime play-trons, geeks and rennies (people who regularly attend renaissance faires) themselves, had the idea to produce a local renaissance faire because the closest one was three hours away and they felt Vermont needed more family-friendly events.
He has been involved in faires and festivals for more than 30 years, starting as a patron then becoming a playtron, a vendor and even doing stage combat. Before starting Vermont Gatherings, he managed a variety of businesses. He knew with both his business and geek backgrounds, he could make Vermont Gatherings work.
“This business is a part of my personal self and business self. I couldn’t do this if I was one or the other. If I was just a geek, I wouldn’t be able to host eight festivals a year and if I was just a businessman, I wouldn’t know what our patrons want. Funny thing is this is the first industry in 35 years I actually had a background in,” said Folb.
The first year the Vermont Renaissance Faire was held in Stowe, Folb expected attendance to be about 1,500. The attendance exceeded 4,000. Folb, the participants and the town were ecstatic with the turnout. It was then he knew it was only going to grow.
This year the 7th Annual Vermont Renaissance Faire is scheduled for June 24 to 25 in Stowe and expects to have about 8,000 in attendance with more than 100 vendors and dozens of performers.
However, success isn’t always a straight line. A small business that specializes in hosting in-person festivals was particularly hard hit when the pandemic started in early 2020. We got our first show of the year up and running and were then told everything would be closed for two weeks.
“So often it was kicking the can down the road. We were told many times by state officials that maybe we can host an event next month. Next month would come and be told the same thing again. It ended up being almost 18 months,” said Folb.
During this time, Vermont Gatherings received pandemic assistance through the Small Business Administration’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. SVOG provided emergency grants to eligible live venues affected by COVID-19 and EIDL provided funding relief to small businesses that have suffered a substantial economic injury in a declared disaster area.
“The financial assistance from the SBA allowed us to survive until we were allowed to reopen in mid-2021. The Renaissance Faire in June 2021 was the first big show to open back up in the state. People were clamoring to come out, we had 1,000 more people through the gate than we did in 2019,” said Folb.
As difficult as the pandemic was for him, Folb felt the participants, mostly small, local crafters, artisans and performers were hit the worst.
“Although the patrons are important, I believe the participants are even more important. Patrons need a reason to come. The participants are a cottage industry and I want to support them 100%. If they are happy, the patrons will be happy and so will we. It’s great things are looking up now,” he said.
Going forward, Folb says he has no current plans to add anymore events; he only wants to grow Vermont Gatherings current events. As more patrons and play-trons come to each event, he will be able to support more artists, authors, creators, performers and merchants.