Trouble with Erin Feis

I was reminded by JadedGirl about some trouble I had at Erin Feis a couple of weekends ago. Instead of leaving a long comment on her blog, I thought I would post my own.

I actually went down to the riverfront to observe the Duck Race on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, my son took a late nap and we didn't arrive until 3:30 and the Duck Race was over. But the weather was beautiful and I decided to walk along the riverfront. I strolled past the Duck Race area and intended to walk all the way down to the playground at the Riverplex. Before I could get to the playground, Erin Feis was in front of me. I thought, "Oh, this should be fun. I have never been to Erin Feis and there should be plenty to look at and to entertain us for a few hours."

I walked up to the gate with my stroller and the guy looked at me and said, apologetically, "It's seven dollars to get in." Rather shocked, I said, "SEVEN DOLLARS?" He said, "Yes." Since it was already 3:45, I asked when Erin Feis ended. He said, "Six o'clock." I said, "You mean I have to pay seven dollars for two hours?" I said thank you and turned my stroller around and walked back down the riverfront.

I was a little shocked by the price (especially after hearing from JadedGirl and others it wasn't worth the price) but my decision not to pay it was more cultural than anything else. If I was of Irish decent, I probably would have paid it to support my heritage. Actually, I probably would have gone earlier in the weekend and celebrated for two full days if I was Irish or if it had been a Scandinavian festival of some sort.

I was more shocked by the fact that, with only two hours left in the event, they were still charging $7 to get in, even though nothing much was going on during the last two hours. I was most shocked by the fact that Erin Feis blocked that entire portion of the riverfront. I literally could not walk from the area around the Pride of Peoria to the Riverplex unless I wanted to pay $7 or walk in the street (with my 9 month old in a stroller). I also heard that people trying to get to the Duck Race were blocked from getting to that event by Erin Feis personnel.

I don't dispute that Erin Feis has the right to charge admission and use the riverfront. What I am saying is that there should be a better way to allow more than one group and the public to have unfettered access to the entire riverfront at the same time. Perhaps this will be solved with an extension of the sidewalk beyond the Gateway Building to the Riverplex.