Absolutely agreed, especially re: shade. Yes, there were more canopies than at Secret House; no, they weren't enough in this hot, bright weather.

My own observations:

The size of the Mt. Pisgah venue was wonderful in terms of keeping it from feeling crowded, but posed serious challenges to those fae who have trouble getting around: The youngest (and those who had to carry them), the oldest, the mobility impaired. Combine that with the heat and relative scarcity of potable water and porta-potties, and the weekend was ... challenging ... for a lot of people.

In addition, information was hard to come by, especially on Friday. The guys at the gate were as helpful as they could be, but on Friday they were unable to say where the water was located, where it was OK to smoke, where the first aid tent was located, etc.

Potential solutions:
1. Consider contracting with someone to provide earth-friendly shuttle service from the parking lot to the gate, from camp to camp, etc. Pedal taxis, electric carts, horse-drawn wagons - there's bound to be something out there that would be in keeping with the faerie ethic and the qualities of the site. If necessary, festival-goers could be asked to pay for the service (per ride, with a weekend shuttle pass offered when you buy tickets).
2. Add a third water truck somewhere near the stage. Make it clear just where the water is located (big signs or tall banners or something). And make sure someone is stationed at each truck to prevent things like the guy I saw - twice - using the drinking water to take a shower and then leaving the hose - with the water running - in the dirt.
3. Make sure the gate-keepers are fully informed from the get-go. They should have immediate access to answers from the moment the site opens, either written or by walkie-talkie. (Instead of "no, you can't smoke inside the site area," for instance, they should be able to tell people exactly *where* to smoke. This information was not widely available until Sunday. Yes, it would be great if nobody smoked. We aren't there yet, but most smokers at FW seem to want to be polite about it if they know where it's OK for them to go. Having a butt can would be helpful, too.)
4. Consider reversing the site layout so that the stage is at the sunset end of the site. Afternoon acts were *blasted* by the sun (did anyone see the sunburn Sue Tinney got from the Friday afternoon Gaia Consort set?) as were the dancers. Putting it at the end that gets the first afternoon shade would make a big difference, assuming enough shade canopies for the crowd.

Finally: Hire experienced event coordinators to set up critical systems such as electricity. Whoever thought it was a good idea to string heavy-duty household extension cords from the generators, *across the public walking areas* to supply vendor power needs some education about how electricity works and the hazards it can pose. The power supply failure on Friday was a big problem for many vendors, particularly those trying to keep foodstuffs at safe temperatures.

I'm confident that Faerieworlds can overcome these challenges. Some, I suspect, result from the short notice on the venue change. Perhaps the organizers could sit down with some veteran Burners for consultation. Those folks have figured these things out and know how to make a large gathering function well under conditions far more extreme than this.

I'm liking the constructive suggestions here. In addition to more shade, I think several "cooling stations" would have helped immensely, with iced water, squirters and misters, and fans blowing. Some benches would be nice too, for just sitting.

It's very cool that we're bigger, but with the wide open spaces it loses a little bit of its community feeling. Breaking up the space into smaller areas or courtyards, and having walkways between rows of vendors would give more of a village feeling.

Having at least one vendor serving breakfast would be nice for those who stay overnight.

Despite the weather, I heard no arguments or grumpiness, just saw lots of smiling faces. What a great attendance!

I agree with what most everyone here is saying. More shade, more water, better lay out and more well informed folks at the gates and parking would have saved most of the worst curve balls thrown my way.

The power issue was defiantly something of concern. Had I known they were going on I wouldn't have ordered certain food items on Saturday night and saved myself a bit of food poisoning. So much fun that was to deal with in Sunday. Somehow I stuck through it. Oh yes the tons of wonderful people I kept meeting kept me going :)

Defiantly public enemy #1 was the weather. That high of heat and humidity is a little unusual for Oregon but not unheard of.

Lack of shade and you get people with critical sun burns, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. I heard of at least 2 people heading off to the hospital for that. Myself and another vendor came close to heat exhaustion ourselves. And a horrible purple/red sunburn sent me heading home to take care of my fiance.

The lack of sensitivity to peoples needs was a big issue too. Well it may have simply been a lack of information provided to the staff and volunteers. I requested shade camping for my group because I had two super photosensitive people with me. But was told where to camp with no option of shade. Even with shady trees tauntingly close I was flat told to camp in the sun. The next day people were camping under those same trees. My entire crew ended up not camping at all because of this. We had to commute for the rest of the weekend. Thankfully we live close enough that we can. I can't imagine how things would have gone had we been unable too. But to deny my request with two people who are the color of milk sitting right there seems so horrible wrong. :(

Speaking of camping. I ended up in the party camp area not because I wanted to but because I was told it was the vendor/volunteer camping. Vendors need a nice spot to set up that is secure in case we decide to bring our wares in with us.

My booth partner had an idea that might have solved at least some of this. Perhaps instead of the islands in the middle form the center booths into a second ring that faces out and put more vendor camping inside. This would let everyone get great traffic but would also provide a better area for vendors to camp as well. Set up a shade in the middle for them all to use and presto!

I defiantly think the stage needs to have a north or east face.

Despite my gripes I can see how this is a great festival. For my first year yes it could have been better but I can see how much better it can be. Lets see what we can do to make it better. A different site with a better lay out? Work more on making this one work. Whichever! :)

thanks everyone for your input! Yes Parking was an issue. It was killer in that heat to be hauling babies a long way just to get to the event door. Also there was no one there checking wrist bands... I heard several folks say they had just walked in..
I think some hoses or sprinklers set up like they do at zoo's and county fairs could have been great. I know we kept my 20 month old son well watered but he still kept turning red from heat... We left sunday earlier than we wanted to just cause of the heat and lack of lots of shade..
It was great though... Hopefully next year wont be so flippin' hot!!!

Already mentioned but I'll add my voice -

fixing the unevenness of the main field.

rearranging the way the vendors were set up to be more..... "village-like". I definitely visited the ones on the shadier side more, circled round the entire field next, and had to remind myself to visit the vendors in the middle (who must have suffered the most from the heat.

I miss the way that Secret House had different "areas". It would be nice if the big field could be made to feel more like different areas. I liked someone's suggestion to put vendors along one side and then circle (or rather, oblong) vendors across to make camping area in the middle for them. I'd put it to one side though.

The children's area we visited a lot with the five kids and it was great except the tables and entrance area were too squished together. There was lots of room, it should have had a much larger entrance that wasn't also where kids and parents and volunteers were trying to stand to create as well.

The showers were awesome - the first night. Then they smelled from the toilets in them. Maybe next year you could find showers that don't include toilets, just have toilets nearby? And they could have been swabbed out more often which, just for the record, hubby has offered to volunteer for. I know, he's very weird. But he loves things clean and I bet NO ONE else wants the job. LOL.

All in all, the only really big difficulty was the heat, and that was out of everyone's control. We might wish it had been cooler but we'll also remember this year forever and share stories of how we all dealt with that fiery orb. I was pretty impressed that things went as smoothly as they did considering the last minute location change.