The return of Hoggetowne Medieval Faire
Hello from Gainesville, Florida. It's Monday, June 15, and you're listening to StreetSmart. I'm Seth Johnson. StreetSmart is a weekly podcast from Mainstreet Daily News, where we cover local news that informs, engages, and inspires listeners like you. A big thanks to our sponsor, Forest Meadows Funeral Home, where compassion meets experience.
Seth Johnson:Check out their beautiful gardens, funeral home, and tribute center. Formations, funerals, and memorials all in one trusted place. With exceptional care and personal attention, Forest Meadows is here to honor every life with care. Here's the top headlines we're rounding up. Alachua County started to climb out of a rain deficit with above average rainfall in May.
Seth Johnson:Last month was the rainiest May since 2018, but the district remains in a water shortage with an over 15 inch rainfall deficit. The UF Board of Trustees unanimously picked doctor Stuart Bell as president-elect. The Florida Board of Governors will need to confirm that decision later this month. The UF trustees have now voted unanimously on the last five presidents elect. The trustees also approved a 15% fee increase for out of state students.
Seth Johnson:Gainesville Regional Utilities set its budget for next year with no electric base rate increase. There will be a 2% water and 1.75% wastewater increase, And overall, those rate changes will result in $1.5 million in additional revenue for the utility. Newberry's assistant city manager and chief financial officer, Dallas Lee, won a statewide excellence in leadership award. Lee started with the city seventeen years ago as an unpaid intern before climbing the ranks. Two projects in Western Alachua County advanced before the county commissioners.
Seth Johnson:The first would create an eight mile wastewater pipeline from Archer to Newberry, and the second is the University of Florida's 36 hole golf course, on Parker Road. Qualifying period ended on Friday, and 10 candidates landed a spot on the ballot across four open races for the Gainesville City Commission, but incumbent Bryan Eastman had no one challenge him for the District 4 seat, so he'll roll straight into a second term. That leaves nine candidates who will be on the August ballot. For the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners, six candidates qualified for two open seats and all of them will be on the ballot. For information on any of these stories or to find additional stories, visit mainstreetdailynews.com.
Seth Johnson:Thanks to our generous members, this news stays free for the whole community with no paywall. Thanks for joining us here on StreetSmart. I'm Seth Johnson, and I'm here with cohost Lillian Hamman. We are actually in a new setup, our own podcast studio in the back of the Main Street offices, so there's no fear of us accidentally going live on the radio.
Lillian Hamman:That's right. We have been jumping in between different studios for the radio stations that our parent company, MARC Media, also owns. And sometimes we're in the I am Country 106.9 studio. Sometimes it's the Beach 100.9 even Magic 101.3 we've been jumping around. But now, we have a StreetSmart studio.
Seth Johnson:Yeah. It was always a little kind of heart pounding to go in there and be like, which one of these buttons do I need to not press and which one of these mics do I need to not turn on? We had a couple I wouldn't say close calls because we're like, are we on the air? And I had to go and find the station live to say, their music is still playing. We are all good.
Seth Johnson:But now we've got a dedicated space to hope to bring you more dedicated StreetSmart content.
Lillian Hamman:And that dedicated StreetSmart content is going to start and end today with your special joint meeting between the city of Gainesville and Alachua County, Seth.
Seth Johnson:I mean, I don't know if I'll call it my special joint meeting. I just watched it from home, to be honest, this week. However, it was a good meeting and especially because it touches on a big event in Gainesville, which is the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire. Oh, yeah. Which draws in, you know, tens of thousands each year, especially in past years when they were able to do the full version.
Seth Johnson:In the past three years, they've been at Depot Park and it's been modified. But the big news is they are returning to that big multi weekend ticketed version of the Medieval Faire that includes jousting and birds of praise and all the bigger stuff they couldn't do downtown.
Lillian Hamman:You're gonna be happy about that birds of prey section, aren't you, Seth?
Seth Johnson:Yeah. I'm a big birder and love, know, spotting the hawks and the falcons out at the parks. So I'll definitely be watching for the Birds of Prey show, which I've not seen at the Medieval Faire. So it'll be my first time if I go in January. Typically hosted in January.
Seth Johnson:And in the past, it's been, you know, three weekends in a row. This one, they're currently planning on two weekends, returning to a ticketed event. And they're planning on having it at Gainesville Raceway, which is up north of Gainesville, kind of, you're going up off Waldo Road and you kinda get up out there.
Lillian Hamman:Yeah. I think I passed that on my way to some of the rural meetings and
Seth Johnson:Obviously, Gainesville Raceway known for Gator Nationals that happens each year drag racing. It's owned by the National Hot Rod Association. But they have other events in other races throughout the year. They've even hosted a hot air balloon festival out there a couple years ago. So they had done community events.
Seth Johnson:I was out there in the fall for actually the Gainesville senior games. They had the cycling event out there. Oh, okay. And where that cycling event is gonna be exactly where Medieval Faire is at. So it's not on the actual drag strip if you've been there with the stands that they use for the racing.
Seth Johnson:It's kind of on a little parcel further back, but they have a lot of property there, a lot of room for parking, and it should be a really nice space. And the city of Gainesville is going to rent the property for $80,000 for both of those weekends. And the city had reached out before when Alachua County sold the fairgrounds where the Medieval Faire had been for thirty years. And actually, before that, it was at the Thomas Center, which I did not know. But it started for four years at the historic Thomas Center, went to the fairgrounds, those were sold, and they immediately began looking for other places to host it, you know, looking close to Gainesville Airport, Ironwood Golf Course, you know, all these large tracks of land and weren't able to make anything stick, hence, the modified downtown plan, which commissioners said they really enjoyed.
Seth Johnson:It brought a different crowd to the medieval fair. It allowed it to be free. It helped local businesses, people, you know, seeing those who wouldn't normally come across them. But it was also being subsidized by the city and it was costing them money and they weren't making that revenue back. And it also wasn't the full throated, you know, medieval fare.
Seth Johnson:And so during that search, like I said, they had looked at Gainesville Raceway but they weren't able to make a contract work, worried about insurance, I think primarily. And in a previous joint meeting, the county put its support behind the city in trying to reach a contract agreement with Gainesville Raceway. And so it looks like that's going to be happening. A couple of figures of note is that tickets might increase. So they've been $20 in the past, might go up to $25 for adults, which according to city staff, still on the cheaper side for these renaissance fairs and kind of the the circuit that they have.
Seth Johnson:Youth tickets though for City Of Gainesville, you know, a lot of places, they're 12 and under are youth. But for Gainesville, it's 17 and under. So kind of a bigger spectrum on that. Ticket sales are projected to cover about 92% of the revenues, which could reach, you know, $600,000, something like that. I mean, expenses are gonna hit $592,000.
Seth Johnson:So the city gains were hoping those ticket sales cover it and they have, you know, very conservative estimates they said for this first year because it's kind of building back to what it was before. So not sure how people are gonna react to it after three years of being free, things like that. But they're covering, you know, revenues to cover expenses but that's in large part to a 130,000 from the Gainesville General Fund along with $10,000 from Visit Gainesville, Alachua County, which is a county controlled program. So that's a lot of the dollar figures and what's happening. I know a lot of commissioners said they're really excited to see the full thing come back.
Seth Johnson:County Commissioner Anna Prizzia asked if there's a way to do discounted tickets for Electric County residents. So that's something perhaps they'll look at in future years. Now, Lillian, were you at the Medieval Faire since you've been here? You've been in Gainesville two years now?
Lillian Hamman:Yeah. Two years. I haven't been to the event in its entirety but I did stop by the Living Chess Match earlier this year and that was kind of a preview to the fair. It was at Bo Diddley Plaza and they have that big old chessboard on the turf. And I witnessed that but that was as far as I got.
Lillian Hamman:I'd be interested in going though if it was the full thing.
Seth Johnson:Yeah. We're actually in the same boat. I've not been to it yet. When I first came, some of the friends I met, you know, were pretty big into the Medieval Faire and that's right when it was in its transition and they talked about getting big old turkey legs and non arm and all the different things you could go to. But I don't know why it just felt a little bit like work when we cover events.
Seth Johnson:It's like, oh, if I go, I feel like I'm gonna need to be carrying around a camera and here's like a little bit part of work. But I think now that they're back, Gainesville Raceway, I might give it a shot, especially for the birds of prey. I just can't pass up on that for too many years.
Lillian Hamman:Don't think I'll let you. We're gonna take a quick break to hear from our sponsor, Forest Meadows and get back to you with the news forecast and event segment for the week.
Forest Meadows:At Forest Meadows, our commitment is simple. Exceptional care, personal attention, and respect for every family we serve. Forest Meadows offers every option in one trusted place. Visit our beautiful gardens and glass front niches or plan ahead for cremation, funerals, and memorials at our funeral home or tribute center located on our cemetery grounds. Forest Meadows, where compassion meets experience and every life is honored with care.
Seth Johnson:Now for this week's news forecast. Two new commissioners will be sworn onto Hawthorne's dais tomorrow at 6:30PM. The city commission will also elect a new mayor and vice mayor. The school board of Alachua County will also meet tomorrow. They'll discuss and potentially act on a contract with the city of Gainesville to purchase Citizens Field.
Seth Johnson:The board members are also scheduled to talk about family homelessness. The Gainesville City Commission will convene on Thursday for a regular meeting.
Lillian Hamman:Now for our event segment covering upcoming family friendly events this Father's Day weekend. The Humane Society of North Central Florida is having its June adoption days Thursday through Saturday. From one to 3PM, cat and dog adoption fees will be reduced. UFI FIS is holding a free Father's Day fishing event Saturday from 8AM to noon at its Fisheries and Aquatic Science catch and release ponds. Volunteers will be on hand to help and provide loaner poles and bait.
Lillian Hamman:Dave and Buster's is hosting its annual dad games all day Sunday. Each ticket includes food, drinks, and a chance to win unlimited gameplay. The inaugural Grateful Dad Father's Day Fest is bringing live music to Swamp Head Brewery. The free event is open to all ages and features the lineup from the bands Aisle 14, All My Friends, and Glass Camels. The city of Gainesville will host a series of events this weekend for Juneteenth, including a Saturday Freedom Fest starting at 3PM on Bow Diddley Plaza.
Seth Johnson:Thanks to everyone who joins into StreetSmart every week and supports Mainstreet Daily News by going to our website and checking out our other content. And of course, one of our big other features is a free weekly print paper that we've been doing for the last three years now.
Lillian Hamman:I think it's actually been four, Seth. I know you've been here a little long.
Seth Johnson:That's
Lillian Hamman:memory a is starting
Seth Johnson:to fade.
Lillian Hamman:But, yeah, four years Mainstreet has been in print. We're free just like all of our other content. You can find all our drop locations online. But special milestone for the print newspaper this week, we will have a 20 page paper, which is the largest paper we've ever put together. Usually, it oscillates between twelve and sixteen, but we've got enough room for 20 this week.
Seth Johnson:And another milestone is is an award winning paper. It has been for several years, but we were just down in Orlando for the Florida media conference last week and Mainstreet won 10 different awards for the print product and the stories that we're putting in there. So you'll wanna go and find a copy and pick it up, it's actually got a little bit of an unusual front page this week, so that's something you can look forward to. And that's all we've got for this week's StreetSmart podcast brought to you by Mainstreet Daily News and made possible by our generous members. Another special thank you to Forest Meadows for believing in local news and sponsoring us.
Seth Johnson:We'll be back next week with more local news that matters to you. Take a minute to share StreetSmart and help us continue the work. Our theme music is Sunset Sonata by Gainesville's ska band Now Leaving Space. This episode is a production of MARC Media.
