A Guide for organizing A Regional Arts & Sciences Fair

1. Overview

Organizing a Regional Arts & Sciences Fair in the Middle Kingdom can be both a rewarding and intricate endeavor. These events celebrate the creativity, craftsmanship, and historical research of artisans while fostering community engagement and education. A well-run fair not only provides a platform for participants to showcase their talents but also serves as a vital stepping stone to the Kingdom-level Fair, ensuring a robust representation of the region’s artistic excellence.

This guide is designed to help successfully plan and execute a Regional A&S Fair. By outlining essential steps—from initial planning and communication to the day-of logistics and post-event evaluations—this document aims to provide practical advice. With careful attention to detail and a collaborative spirit, you can create a memorable event that highlights artistry, historical exploration and appreciation.

A Regional A&S Fair, is a judged event following the general format of the Kingdom’s annual event and using the Kingdom rubric for the scoring without those scores being sent to the kingdom. In short it is a practice and training environment to help improve projects, documentation and hopefully help one's confidence in their project should they choose to eventually enter it at the Kingdom level.

2. Site Selection & Preferences

As a regional MoAS sponsoring a fair one of the first things you will need to consider is what your venue options are. One option if you are part of a larger group is to see if they would host the event or pair it with an event they are already having if it meets the requirements. A second option is to contact the group MoAS’s in the region and see if the group they are part of will host the fair. This second option has the benefit of moving the fair around the region.

Ideal Site Requirements:

Check-in Areas: Designate a check-in station near the entrance to register entrants and judges, with clear, legible signage to direct people to the correct locations.
Private Tally Room: Secure a room for scoring and tallying with at least four tables, eight chairs, and electrical outlets.
Judge’s Room: A room large enough for 20-40 judges to meet, relax, and complete paperwork.
Performance Areas: A designated space for performances like dance, drama, music, and bardic acts.
Entry Display Tables: Ensure adequate display tables for the various categories of entries (craft, culinary, brewing, etc.), with room for judging.
Cooking Facilities: Access to a kitchen or nearby location for food entries, with necessary equipment (stove, water, etc.) and space.
Space for Workshops & Classes: Additional rooms if possible for learning opportunities or emergency judging space.

3. Staff Requirements

Key Roles:

Event Steward: The lead coordinator for the fair, responsible for managing logistics and overall coordination.
RMOAS : The senior officer overseeing the event, ensuring adherence to the rules and coordinating the judging process.
Group M0AS: if there is one.
Judges Coordinator: A key staff member responsible for recruiting and managing the judges, ensuring they understand the criteria and the judging process.
Check-in Coordinators: Staff who manage the registration of entrants and judges.

Staff Communication:

Ensure that the Event Steward and MoAS (both Regional and Kingdom) are in communication throughout the planning and event phases to ensure smooth coordination.
Update the Kingdom calendar and event webpages to reflect the fair details and registration instructions.

4. Event Scheduling

Regional Fairs Scheduling: Regional Fairs should occur anywhere from 6 Months to 6 weeks before the Kingdom Fair at the latest.The Kingdom Fair traditionally held on Memorial Day weekend, coinciding with the Crown Tourney.
Day-of Fair Schedule:

Check-in: Set your event start time with consideration to your location and time of year taking into account possible weather conditions and travel distances.
Judges and Entrants Meeting: Usually 1 hour after the gate opens to outline the fair's process, schedule, and any special instructions.
Judging Periods: Split into 1-hour judging blocks throughout the day, with careful assignment of judges to entrants.
Court & Closing: Court activities if any should begin at least one hour after the last judging period, to allow for review and scoring to be tallied.
If possible arrange so the site is open for at least an hour after the event ends for a final public viewing of the entries.

Sign up for Entrants and Judges: One option that we can use for registration of Entrants and judges is google forms linked to a spreadsheet to organize the results. Instructions and sample links below**

5. Entries: Types and Procedures

Types of Entries:

Individual Entries: Created and presented by one person.
Group Entries: Created by a group, but must be submitted with a representative for judging.

Entry Guidelines:

Timeline: Entries should have been completed no earlier than two years before the fair.
Exclusions: Entries that have been previously entered in a Kingdom A&S Fair should not be resubmitted.
Non-Attendance: If an entrant cannot attend, they may arrange for their entry to be judged based on documentation and display materials, pending approval.

6. Judging and Criteria

Judging Process:

Each entry should be judged by at least three judges.
The judges will assess entries according to the established Kingdom A&S rubric,

Documentation:

Documentation is an essential part of the judging process. Entries are expected to provide supporting evidence for their historical context, technique, and sources. The more thorough the documentation, the higher the potential score.
In cases where documentation is lacking, judges will still consider the overall quality of the entry.
During the face to face portion of the scoring period Judges will accept verbal answers to questions asked as part of the documentation.

Judge Comments:

Judges are required to provide constructive commentary to help entrants improve their future works.
Judges' evaluations should be based on clearly defined criteria, and shadow judges may be used to help train new evaluators.

Made Objects Rubric, Performance Rubric, Research Rubric are available on the Middle Kingdom document library under Arts & Sciences Fair.

7. Entry Limitations & Restrictions

Work Ownership:

Entries should represent the individual entrant’s work. Group projects must be appropriately credited.

Food and Herbal Entries:

Foodstuffs: Must be accompanied by an ingredients list. Any potentially dangerous herbs or ingredients should be listed in the supporting evidence. Use of prohibited herbs As explained in the Rules for the Middle Kingdom Arts & Sciences Fair pg7,will disqualify the entry.

8. Rights of Appeal & Removal

Appeals Process:

If a dispute arises, entrants may appeal the results, first through the Judges' Coordinator, then to the Fair Coordinator.

Removal of Entries or Entrants:

Entrants may be removed for misconduct (e.g., abuse of staff, plagiarism), and entries may be disqualified if they do not meet the required standards.

This document was created drawing from various unattributed sources on the midrealm webpage and personal experience.

Sir Crispin dela Rochefoucauld

North Oaken Region MoAS

**Instructions to Create a Google Form and Link it to a Google Sheet