I've been attending the Medieval Fair in Norman since around 1986 when I first moved here and still enjoy it, although I preferred the duck pond location much more than where they've moved it.

Yesterday specifically got me wondering if the event has gotten bigger than Norman's ability to handle it? It took me 50 minutes to get from roughly Lindsey and McGee to Jenkins and Constitution. It's never been remotely that awful on game days.

Seems as if there was no traffic management or even an attempt at it on any street south of Boyd. Lindsey, Berry, Chautauqua, Imhoff, Jenkins...all were gridlocked.

To further increase the chaos, if you happened to drive in on the south side of LNC and try to park, you were informed that some other event was going on there (pink ticket) and if you wanted to attend the Medieval Fair, you had to go on to Jenkins and turn north to get in the east lots of LNC. One might think that such a stipulation would warrant a large sign out front or well in advance of the entrance so you could readjust your approach to the park.

The parking south of the venue is a fiasco @ five dollars a pop every time you leave the lot, and none of the event staff or anyone else trying to manage pedestrian street crossings on Constitution between the parking lots and the venue...

It seems as if the city of Norman et al dropped the ball on managing the event this year. There wasn't a huge police presence that might have helped with traffic flow on some of the more clogged arteries, the parking lot attendants were running around like headless chickens because people weren't aware or ignored the barriers and drove over or through them. The ditches that border those lots were at least worth the $5 parking admission because suddenly people think that a Plymouth Neon has the ground clearance to cross those and get back on the streets.

I'm not sure there's anything that *can* be done with crowds like they had on Saturday, but something would be better than 50 minutes in traffic for a little over a two mile trip.

Finally, at some point, you have to depend on adults to act like adults and that's been proven time and again to be a complete joke. I don't necessarily mind the 'fetish ball' atmosphere that has an increasing presence at the fair, but I want to smack the stupid right off some jerk wearing a "F*** you, you f***ing f***" t-shirt. They should also ban public smoking at the entire event and fine people walking around with lit cigarettes. Crowd density is too high to "support" that, without editorial comment on the habit itself.

Amended: Apparently there is a "no smoking" ordinance in Norman city parks and they're roundly ignored. I spoke with one of the vendors there who actually makes the stuff she sells and she told me that she got called a "fat cow" for reminding a patron who torched up next to her booth that not only was smoking banned in the park but there's a burn ban in effect.

Too bad we've dispensed with some of the more effective "medieval" punitive and preventive measures that would thwart large outbreaks of such boorishness.

I was driving in that area yesterday and, I agree, it was a total mess...

Besides football games the Medieval Fair is Norman's biggest event.

I attended the 2011 Medieval Fair and all 3 of the nearby OU home baseball games and I would agree that there was little to no traffic management. The City of Norman and OU need to do better job of managing event traffic.

With the reconstruction of I-35 and bridges over the interstate Hy 9 in south Norman needs to be upgraded to near interstate standards. This is also a very dangerous stretch of highway, upgrading it would save lives.

I left the Medieval Fair early in large part due to the clouds of dust kicked up by the strong winds and foot traffic.
It would be nice if they took preventive dust actions.

Parking is something that always seems to make events a nightmare. This one was no different. They also didn't have adequate space roped off for the event. Next time, I'm going to park up at OU proper and walk down...it's faster than waiting in line, hunting spot like a hawk, and then walking (with angry kids in the back seat).

Agree it was a mess. I was just commenting that I wish they would start charging admission to thin the herd out. Maybe they could even move it back to the Duck Pond that way.

I went to the Fair for the first time this year, early Sunday. Many of the vendors were running low on supplies, which made for a few good four-finger discount deals.

I agree with everybody else about the parking and entry/exit from the area. I drive a small car, which in many cases is a plus, but leaving the lot across from the park at 2:30 that afternoon, I very nearly bottomed out in the ruts being dug by larger vehicles exiting onto Jenkins. Oh well. IMHO, you go to something like this knowing traffic will be a nightmare and not expecting to hurry, no matter what.

Overall I enjoyed it, and I'm sure I'll go back!

South of the Lloyd Noble might be a better place for the fair.

Not a helpful comment... but I have to say it.

The Fair was absolute crap this year. I will not be going back until something changes.

Not a helpful comment... but I have to say it.

The Fair was absolute crap this year. I will not be going back until something changes.

You're absolutely right that it's not helpful comment. It's a little strange to say something like that without at least a little elaboratation to explain what you mean.

Too many people, no dust control, have to pay for parking, lack of planning (softball tournament going on at the same time is just one example) and absolutely no atmosphere. It's basically just turned into an awful county fair.

I'm sure those putting it on are loving the income, but to actually attend is not enjoyable at all.

Too many people, no dust control, have to pay for parking, lack of planning (softball tournament going on at the same time is just one example) and absolutely no atmosphere. It's basically just turned into an awful county fair.

I'm sure those putting it on are loving the income, but to actually attend is not enjoyable at all.

I haven't attended since my kids were young and it was held at the Duck Pond. There were always a lot of fun things for the kids but as they grew up we quit going. The Duck Pond was a great location but I'm sure it has greatly outgrown that area. Since I haven't been to the current location I have no first hand knowledge of the current operation so your concerns may be justified. I have to wonder, however, about saying that having too many people there was one of your reasons for being displeased. That makes me think that perhaps you just really don't enjoy things like festivals, fairs, etc. Any of them that are successful will have large crowds.