Chandler Ostrich Festival and Brown Amusements

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Every so often, vendors do an event that turns out to be a real doozie such as the Chandler Ostrich Festival as promoted by Brown Amusements.. This can be due to a number of reasons and the most sensible thing to do is to avoid doing that particular event in the future and avoid promoters such as Brown Amusements in the future. There are some really great promoters out there and I commend them. However, there are other promoters that are more interested in raising fees, charging for everything possible, etc. Vendors were virtually 'ripped off' by Brown Amusements as booth fees were increased and were forced to pay additional 'added fees'. It's very hard for vendors selling their things at events to make a living and when excessive fees are extracted from them, something must be done. Brown Amusements does not care that a huge majority of its vendors will not return next year. Vendors and attendees of the Chandler Ostrich Festival were cheated. Brown Amusements is under the mistaken impression that they can go ahead and screw a whole new set of vendors again next year. I have emailed Brown Amusements concerning problems at this year's event and I have no response yet regarding the Chandler Ostrich Festival.

A true story about how Brown Amusements cheated the vendors and attendees of the 2007 Chandler Ostrich Festival

It looks like Brown Amusemnts screwed this up Every Which Way They Could. Last year at the ChandlerOstrich Festival, we were flooded out and they proceded to raise booth fees for us this year. Additionally, those with RV's were FORCED to pay $100 for their so-called 'hookups'. We are all bunched together in a far area of the parking lot where sand was blowing all over the place and our motor homes became filthy, outside and inside from parking in the sand, etc. Their water connection composed of a hose where we all had to use 'Y' connections to obtain our water. So, you know that water pressure was at a minimum. For our electricity, we had to connect long extension cords to their 'box' and most of us only had 15 amps. Wouldn't try running more than two things with it......would not even dare turning on our air conditioners....90 degrees and super hot. See photos below. Last year was a disaster there....it rained for 1 1/2 days and since the booths were located in a gulley, a huge bunch of us had over a foot of water in our booths and a lot of things were ruined. Our motor homes were stuck in the mud and were unable to move them until the mud had dried. Even then, some of us couldn't get out. No sympathy from the devil!!! After all that, they decided to charge each person $100 for parking their RV's. Thank you Brown Amusements...very amusing indeed, huh? Chandler ostrich festival

Brown Amusements increased the entrance fees for visitors to the Chandler Ostrich Festival around 15 percent and the Chandler Chamber of Commerce increased the parking fee to $10.00 per car. Very bad thing to do. Several years ago, this event was held downtown and admission was free. Everybody knows what happens when you increase the costs of attending a festival. You affect the 'mood of the crowd' from being upbeat, loose and positive to one that is uptight about spending their money and limit themselves to purchases of food and possibly the carnival rides. Our booth was located in the vendor area and the crowds were scarce most of the time.

Pora-potties were absolutely filthy at night and many people avoided using them. They were unlit and you could not see inside. I heard many people making comments such as 'It's too dark' in there..."I can't see'.....'wow, it stinks in there'...'I don't want to step in anything' As for us, fortunately we had a flashlight to use. I wish I took pictures of the condition of these porta-potties at night. Since I had a flashlight, I was able to observe the condition they were in. So, not only was I able to smell the stench of urine and fecal matter, I spotted much urine, etc. on the floor of the potties. Two years ago, the same condition existed and one of our neighbor vendors tripped in the dark. and fortunately, she suffered no more than an ankle sprain. Believe it or not, but it was completely dark in the area. Washing stations were placed at the far end of each set of porta-potties situated in a way that they could not be spotted by somebody exiting the stalls. Naturally, these washing stations were probably required, but were situated in a manner where use would be minimal and therefore maintenance would be held down. brown amusements

I found it to be quite humorous when the promoters of the Chandler Ostrich Festival, Brown Amusements, passed out a flyer mentioning that 'we could not tear down until 11:00PM and if we were to do so, then a note would be place in our files. By 10:00, more than half the vendors were in the process of tearing down and many were gone well before 10:30. Can you guess how many vendors will be returning next year? On Saturday night, while exiting, I passed by three sets of vendors discussing the show. One pointed out with his hands, "All new vendors next year..." The other two agreed. I turned to them and said "YES...ALLLL NEW VENDORS" Yes...all new vendors for the Chandler Ostrich Festival.

Even the City of Chandler is not without blame. Each and every vendor had to pay them $50 for a City Business License in order to participate in the Chandler Ostrich Festival. Many cities derive all kinds of methods of extracting money and this is another. There was a time when vendors were not charged these fees. Fifty Dollars IS EXCESSIVE. They sent me a 'bill' for this amount earlier in January. I hadn't decided on whether to do the Chandler Ostrich Festival or not, so I didn't sent in the payment for it (until later). Next thing I know, I'm getting a bill for a $50 LATE FEE...even when I hadn't even signed up for the Festival. What is the matter with people in Chandler? MONEY THIS, MONEY THAT...RIP YOU OFF FOR THIS...RIP YOU OFF FOR THAT... everything is money, money, money. We only do festivals in cities lasting 2-3 days and are usually charged amounts ranging from $15-30. Everybody has their hand in our pocketbooks & wallets!!!! Moreso with Brown Amusements and the Chandler Ostrich Festival.

So people, there you have it and I should be adding more in the coming days. Your comments are welcome. Please email me at DSTEFA4621@aol.com and if you so desire, I can post your comments below regarding Brown Amusements, the City of Chandler, Chandler Chamber of Commerce or the Chandler Ostrich Festival..