Fernfest 2023 (community event review)

The cliff’s notes version:

• What’s working for it? It was free to enter! Fernwood has a great atmosphere, everyone there was really vibing on the music, lots of people were dancing, everyone seemed happy/on-brand/happy-to-be-on-brand.  There was beer-by-donation, there were cute wristbands.  Lots of very cute hipsters to scope out; great people-watching space.  Very cute place to walk around/walk to (Fernwood is a Victoria gem, the Greenwich Village, if you will–the Haight-Ashbury). 
• What’s not working for it?  Super super small demarcated event space, my girlfriend just kept calling it “underwhelming” and she was right.  We both expected vendor booths down most of the block from the theatre to past the community center.  She was pretty disappointed.  The food options were limited and pretty uncreative really–hotdogs, butter chicken.  I can’t do a hotdog above costco price so that was out.  The drink ticket line/process was slightly too hectic to deal with.  Without a beer I’m not doing curry.  There wasn’t really anything else going on, the music was a little folksy for us and the crowd was a little granola.  Also: no legal parking to speak of, plenty of residential-only parking adjacent though.