MLP Fair 2014 Recap

Well, Roomy and I are back in the land of cats and comfy couches after our annual Fair trip.  I think I can honestly say that, in spite of a few travel snafus, this might well have been the best Fair yet.

We arrived in Nashville shortly before the Hall of Fame dinner on Friday evening (an improvement on last year, when we came screeching into the parking lot half an hour before the dinner began).  The dinner was great fun, with a presentation created by the lovely and talented MustBe Jewel that you can check out here. The food was amazing again this year, and it was so lovely to see Bonnie Zacherle and Liz Knight, two creative women responsible for the creation of MLP, honoured that evening.

The next morning we were up bright and early for vendor set-up starting at 7am (thank goodness we'd jumped a timezone and it was really 8am for us!)  The vendor set-up took us longer than usual in spite of the fact we had only one table this year (or perhaps because of that).  At 10am the doors opened and the Fair was officially underway!

My booth, prior to adding ponies

This was the biggest MLP Fair by far, with activities taking place in six rooms (I never even made it into some of them).  Over 1000 people were in attendance, with 100 vendor booths as well.  Along with the usual contests, there were panels on customizing, Nirvana (Argentina) Ponies, and the Hasbro Q&A.  There were special events with the special guests, an opportunity to check out some new products not yet in stores, a pajama party, and, of course, the trivia competition.  There were also lots of games attendees could take part in, with the chance to win prizes and raffle tickets.

Trivia finals + Fair Staff

To be honest, I didn't get to half of the activities I would've liked.  This was mainly due to the fact that I wanted to spend the better part of the first day shopping.  The Fair is where I do the better part of my pony shopping for the year, and there were a few things I knew I didn't want to miss out on!  There were also some wonderful surprises, such as several Factory Sample ponies up for sale that Liz Knight had held onto.  I was lucky enough (and thrilled) to add a Factory Sample Peachy to my collection.

My Factory Sample Peachy

As usual, the contest entries were excellent.  I think the costumes get better every year.  The customs were fantastic, and I was excited to see Colorscapesart's working carousel in the Hasbro-inspired contest.  I was happy that my Aurora took second place in the Original custom contest.

Gypsy as the Smooze! - 2nd place in the most creative category

Colorscapesart's working carousel won the Hasbro Custom competion, surprising no one

As always, the Fair staff did an amazing job putting together a fantastic event.  I'm always amazed at how the staff manages to run such a large event with grace and poise every year, no matter what gets thrown in their way.  Their dedication and good humour is most appreciated by the community, and I hope the organizers know just how much we appreciate them.  The volunteers also deserve a round of applause for helping to keep things running smoothly.

We spend so much time looking forward to the Fair, and the weekend seems to fly by.  I'm already looking forward to hearing where next year's event will be held, and getting back together with my Pony Friends again.  Pony Summer Camp is the best summer camp.

My 2014 Fair haul

You can see the rest of my pictures here.  Until next year,

Elf