This is not the first year for a Kid's Day at the Fringe. It existed back in 1999, when the Beer Tent was in the parking lot of that restaurant (and the last time the Beer Tent was actually one tent). So typically, few details beforehand, I did leave a stamp pad and some rubber stamps with Rebecca the Beer Tent Manager the day before, if the Fringe talks to us we can become involved. I didn't spend much time at the Beer Tent that year, other than every time I passed by there was something to do, it was busy, there weren't enough volunteers, so I don't know what actually happened at Kid's Day. So not only does the current crop of kids running the Fringe not know there was a Fringe Day, but they sure wouldn't know about my post about it that year, Kid's Day at Fringe Fest on Saturday, complete with my first mention of Blork's reviews, the classic volunteer line "Oh no, frozen nipples", some reference to Fringe shows including the one specifically for kids, and the ET "stuffed animal" that was at the Beer Tent, the program that year had an alien on the cover. Who's the pariah?
Adding something because your pals would like it is not a good thing. That's the delusion of the group, surround yourself with like minded people, and of course "the world thinks the same thing". It's just more clutter to boost "attendance" but without helping the actual Fringe shows. Amd small children at the Fringe is not a new thing, I keep mentioning them, the year Kim Olson/Sweet Edge danced at the Fringe, she brought her baby, and Helen from Solid State had a baby along too. Elaine the venue manager constantly fussed, worried that the babies would be cold, despite the heat. There was a time when there were kid's shows at the Fringe, but they trickled away, the Fringe typecast so they couldn't pull the audience. I wrote about that two years ago, Children's Shows, but there aren't any.
Instead of adding more clutter, let's work on making the Fringe a place where kids come for the actual shows. The "kid's shows" have disappeared, but there are always shows for kid's, sometimes "well it won't shock them" other times things they might find appealing. There's always dance, like I've said endlessly, so many motions like the world of kids. I took Mira to some noon time dance excerpts at PdA when she was about six. Two years ago, Vinnie offered Venezuala for two dollars (like I said at the time, one week's allowance, too bad it took another week's allowance for the "service charge). Vinnie was basically punished for putting a low children's price on his tickets.That show should have worked for kids, as well as the silent film last year, the radio show in front of an audience about a decade ago. But it was a goof thing they also worked for adults, since I don't think the kids appeared. We could bulk up the audience in shows like this by pushing the kid's angle, Darcy brought her daughter Lydia to some Fringe shows, though now Lydia is no longer a kid. Figure out the kid-suitable shows this year, indeed you should have brought it up in the fall to try to lure a show or two for kids into the Fringe (give them a discount, at the very least wave the "service charge" for the especially low priced tickets for kids) and get the list up at a prominent place. Make it easy for kids to go to shows, don't add more clutter and think it will bring kids back. Don't add more clutter without connecting it to the paid shows. Jeremy was adding endless things, right back to 1997 when he thought some craft selling to the Beer Tent would bring in new people, and actual Fringe attendance is flat. Work in other ways instead of adding clutter. The kids are a whole new area, the lucky producers of kids shows should see a surge, they are working a fairly new area and making actual attendance go up, but not until a lot of work is done. And adding something free is no guarantee that they'll pay.