It was mentioned in another thread, but figured I would start a new one to post some pics.  I was slinging at the Oakenmist Renaissance Faire in Maryland again this year.  It was on August 15 & 16.  This year I did the smart thing and drove out Friday.  Last year I got on the road at like 4:00 in the morning on Saturday for a 4 hour drive and then a full day of teaching people to sling.  That was horrible.  It was still exhausting this year, but not nearly as bad with some actual sleep on Friday night.

It was at a different location this year, the Carroll County Agricultural Center.  A really nice spot.  They had me and a guy who was demonstrating boomerangs in a big horse arena (just on Saturday, more on that later).  This year I was planning to give a little talk and demonstration a few times a day, but that didn't work out.  Most of the people who stopped by to try slinging were just wandering around outside, so guests were kind of random.  Having a set schedule for things just didn't really work.  And everyone seemed to want to try it out rather than hear me yakking for 10 minutes.  Which is totally fine.  It was good information to get for next year.

As far as guest slinging went, it was mostly the same as last year.  A few people who seemed to pick it up quickly and did pretty well.  Some others who started to get the idea.  Still others that weren't quite getting it.  And tons of kids who weren't going to listen to a thing and had tennis balls flying all over.
There was one guy who was familiar with slings.  He tried out one of the Balearics from LaHondaTrenzada I took out.  He had a pretty nice looking throw.  Good speed.  I didn't really get to talk to him much at all though because there were a lot of other people at my booth at the same time.  He knew what he was doing so I just let him go to it.

So overall Saturday was sunny, hot, and busy.  Sunday was the exact opposite.  A bunch of rain came in and it was coming down most of the day.  I was moved from the arena to the stage (with a roof) that was right next to it.  Unfortunately the boomerang guy got cancelled because there wasn't anywhere that was out of the rain and had enough (vertical) space for him.  Because of the rain, there was hardly any foot traffic outside, and so I was more than two hours into my day before I had anyone come by.  I got a number of people as the afternoon went on.  And it was kind of nice because it was a lot slower, so people could sling for a longer time.  So Sunday was a lot quieter and muddier, but it was a good cool down after the hectic first day.

Great fun overall.  I'll be out there again next year.  Here's the photos below:

• My booth on Saturday.  Inside the building in the background is where literally everything else is.  All the vendors, bands, etc.
• Target setup on Saturday
• Slings for sale
• The boomerang guy down the arena a bit
• Stage and targets on Sunday (hiding from the rain)

Joe, it's great that you managed to participate in such a festival! I also really like such events, when it turns out to introduce people to archery and historical archery. This always arouses great interest among visitors to such festivals and fairs. The children are especially delighted with the archers' souvenirs and badges with funny drawings of ancient warriors with slings and bows. This is a small souvenir, but it is liked by almost everyone who has tried to sweep with a sling and would like to leave something as a souvenir.
It's good to make such simple commemorative badges, and I'm sure people will be happy to buy them as souvenirs. These are the badges that the guys and I make for each turnstile, for all participants-as a keepsake.

Visitors also like the prize shooting. When they hit some small target, they can win some funny souvenir.

Snow Serg wrote on Sep 5^th, 2026 at 3:49pm:

That's a fantastic idea Serg.  Maybe I'll look into that for next year.  Get some pins made with a slinger on them, and give them out to everyone who gives it a try.

Only one car got bumped (that I saw).  No alarms.

When the cars left, I found a handful of tennis balls that were hidden under them.  No issues though.  Thankfully.

Very cool stuff! Great way to get slinging out there to some more people. The souvenirs are a great idea!

You can come up with a lot of things as souvenirs. The simplest is badges and stickers.  And they are also a good advertisement for the future, you just need to think about the design and information that can be beautifully applied to the souvenir. Embroidered chevrons and printed T-shirts are a little more complicated and expensive. I really like key rings and backpacks. Here you can give complete freedom of imagination. The charms from the paracord immediately suggest themselves. After all, we have so much of it left when making a sling. Look on the Internet for a paracord weave keychain.  Again, you can print beautiful plastic bullets with your logo in plastic and make them as key chains.  You have time, so I'm sure you'll do a lot of interesting things and children and adults will be delighted.