Chill folks. It's a discussion forum which means you'll hear good and bad before, during and after. Organizers have thick skin and I imagine know the value of constructive criticism that flows from passion. If you see something you disagree with, please tell the poster why sans flames.
Its interesting that between this and Ribfest, you have two somewhat similar first-year events that get a bit of the short end of the stick for two very different kinds of weather. Ribfest was in the middle of a heatwave. For this one, if you believe the forecast today turned out to be about your worst-case September day between the wind, rain and temps it looks like we’re going to see... but Sunday has a chance to be better. You can't forecast the weather months away but the only thing I've wondered is if in the future it could be earlier in the summer before fall weather gets so hit or miss.... but I don't have all the info re budget, re facility availability, vendor availability, etc
Some talk re location in the middle of a construction zone.
Has there been a map anywhere that tries to make sure people know how best to get to the site considering baracades, detours? Last time I was in the area your best bet was to come up 34th from the South and avoid Victoria Ave unless there have been changes?
I suspect if they take another go at it next year it will have some of these kinks worked out... keeping in mind that even in July or August there would be bad days even if you could convince enough vendors to come out during peak summer. Its human nature to assume that new ventures are perfectly conceived out of the gate, but in reality so often they end up being an evolved thing over time based on feedback, on what works/what doesn’t, etc. Heard comments along those lines from a local Ribfest organizer about their event, who for next year were talking about improving the times that entertainment was available, improving options for families, etc.
At its core its a great takeoff on the similar general concept as Ribfest and I imagine a lot of work went into bringing together so many vendors to commit to one weekend. I hope they can pull enough momentum out of this year to learn whatever lessons they feel can be learned and grow it next year. Thats a big reason why if one really believes in the concept they need to try to support it this year even with these few factors conspiring against it. There does seem to be a lot of excitement around it and excitement sometimes has a funny way of out-duelling Manitoba weather (ask anyone that's lined up in -25 to get into a Winterfest pavilion)!