There’s No ‘Arrr’ in Wentzville for 2012

A St. Louis Renaissance Faire board member confirmed the not-for-profit agency will not host a Pirate Festival this fall or in 2013.

“It just didn’t grow like we had hoped it would,” said Mike Dinello, a St. Louis Renaissance Faire board member. “It wasn’t really a money maker.”

The started in 2006 and ran three consecutive weekends this past September.

 “It wasn’t an easy decision. A lot of folks like the Pirate Fest and shooting off the guns,” Dinello said.

The good news is that the , which runs each weekend from May 10 through June 10 this year, has been doing very well, he said. In fact, in 2013 there are plans to extend the Faire from four weekends to six weekends in honor of its 15th anniversary.

In a blog, Renaissance Faire Board President Bob Stanza wrote that one of the reasons for suspending the Pirate event is the “time, energy and resources involved in expanding the Faire.”

But it might be too early to bury the Pirate Festival in Davy Jones’ locker just yet. Dinello said the event could be brought back if there’s enough demand for it after 2013.

He also said the Faire board is considering adding single-weekend events, such as Celtic, German or other celebrations. He said several faires around the country do similar events.

“The Michigan Renaissance Festival has a chocolate weekend. They bring in chocolatiers and have chocolate wine tasting,” Dinello said.

The Michigan Renaissance Festival also offers themed weekends that include an Italian Carnivale, a Highland Fling that includes Scottish games, a Buccaneer Beer Fest and a Royal Ale Fest.

The St. Louis Renaissance Faire is based on 16th century France.

 “Most faires are basically period specific to the English,” he said. “We’re one of the only French faires that exists. We looked at St. Louis history, and it was settled by the French, so we thought it would make sense to make it unique to St. Louis.”