Dear Fairelanders,
I owe you an apology. Through an act of misunderstanding and miscommunication on my part, Patch Linden offered to extend the Faire by two weeks on Friday, May 6 at his Jail and Bail event. His generous offer was met with both excitement and panic as different groups of people realized what that could mean. In the middle of this I was paralyzed like a deer caught in the headlights. I failed to be a good leader for the Faire both when Patch asked if there was anything he shouldn’t offer at the Faire, and when he did offer the astonishing two week extension. I didn’t ask Patch not to extend the Faire, which I could have done. I didn’t offer Patch a possible extension date, which I should have done. Since I did neither of those things, Patch responded to the crowd, and we arrived at an extension of two weeks. I then failed to respond in local chat at the time and allowed the two week extension to go unchallenged.
Patch is an amazing man and a strong supporter of the Faire and Relay For Life communities. He has been joining us at the Faire for years, and it is always a highlight event which people anticipate with great enthusiasm. He has raised millions for the Faire. This year alone his jailing raised L$1,223,568! I am embarrassed and ashamed that I have put him in a position where the offer he made to the Faire needs to be undone. He did something wonderful by gifting us a platform to continue hosting the estate. As exciting as that sounds, there are very good reasons why the Fairelands need to fade.
It is my responsibility to see the Faire’s big picture, and I failed to make the good decisions that would have allowed Patch’s announcement of additional time to be a celebration instead of leading to mass confusion and disappointment. I took that from Patch and from all of you, and I am heartbroken. As it is, we are taking advantage of Patch’s offer by extending the run of the Faire by three days through Wednesday, May 11.
Thank you Patch for always wanting the best for the Fairelands. For loving us and for relaying with us. Together we will make a world without cancer a reality.
With Love,
Elizabeth Tinsley
Fantasy Faire 
There is nothing to apologise for, people do not realise that organising events of such magnitude take up a lot of the year…those are days not spent with family and friends, appointments not made, things let slide around the home etc. I know myself I have often made commitments with the wording ‘after Hair Fair I promise’ many times.
That means that the moment it ends, you have to resume life in a big way, there could be family lined up at the door ready to take that holiday, even health issues that you have put off etc….and extending any event cannot happen that way.
The incredible donations vendors make are also for a set time, you cannot commit those people to continue donating for another however long without having them all on board, even a few hours after an event closes, you do not have the permission to let someone get something cheaper, or have a percentage go anywhere but to the creator because the time they committed to has ended. There are way too many parts that make up any event…you did nothing wrong and should not be embarrassed or feel anything but proud.
you are a great leader and you do an amazing job, Elizabeth
Please don’t be heartbroken :)) It’s an astonishing and wildly complex happening, these Fairelands, which you have led with aplomb. It’s good to be human too. :))