Yes. And I can't see these events costing that much. There is a Confederate church a few miles from where I live which puts on re-enactments every year with about (40) participating and no corporate sponsorship. It is a very high quality event which attracts a thousand or more.
The problem I see with corporate sponsorship is the corporate culture which will end up corrupting the events.
Yes. And I can't see these events costing that much. There is a Confederate church a few miles from where I live which puts on re-enactments every year with about (40) participating and no corporate sponsorship. It is a very high quality event which attracts a thousand or more.
You would be amazed at the costs. Think, first, of the insurance, which in today's litigious society has become staggering, especially when there are horses involved. Some sincere people have dropped out of organizing good events when they found that the up-front costs for insurance alone for tiny events would run $7000 whether or not the weather turned out good enough to bring in participants whose fees would cover that cost.
In addition, organizers have to bring in adequate hay for the horses, straw for human bedding, and tanker trucks full of water for everybody. They have to arrange for full-time rescue-unit coverage of the event, which is costly. (One of the biggest expenses at Manassas last year was for Medevac helicopters to get out people who were in danger of dying of heatstroke in the 103-degree temperatures.) At many events the organizers keep a large-animal vet on call because the horses get in trouble, too. Somebody has to check the Coggins on all the horses when they arrive. Somebody has to pay for the electronics--the walkie-talkies that keep widely-dispersed event staff in touch. There is trash removal, ice delivery in hot weather, pre-event site work. Even at this year's Recon II, which was supposed to be a highly authentic, restricted, no-spectators by-us-for-us event with zero modern intrusions, safety considerations compelled organizers to use walkie-talkies as cell phones often don't work well in the Shenandoah Valley.
So you see, the costs really can mount.