The Feis Survival Kit

What You Need for Your First Feis

Whether or not we will ever admit it, we were all first-time feis parents once. Every one of us at some time in our dancer's (or dancing) career has stood in the main doorway of a competition site, gazed across the vast sea of chaotically-colored costumes like a deer looking into the headlights of an oncoming SUV, and wondered the following two things:

We can't do a whole lot about the first thought, but we can help with the second. Experience doesn't have to be that mental quality that allows you to recognize a mistake the second time you make it -- we've made them for you :-). So, rather than have you go through what we went through at our first moments in Akron, you can learn from us.

Our page will concentrate on the logistical side of feis parenting -- namely, what to carry with you into your first feis. For those needing something that details the minutiae of Feis preparation, click on this link. It's the best site we've seen to date on overall feis preparation. We're also not going to concentrate on the one item which should be blindingly obvious -- your dancer's outfit. If you don't remember that, you've just rendered this entire list academic :-/

The List

Camp Chairs
For those who haven't seen them (or have never gone camping), modern camp chairs look sort of like the old-style Hollywood director's chair that can fold up into a small cylinder about two feet long and four inches wide. They generally tend to cost more than lawn chairs, but sometimes you can find them on sale at your local Wal-Mart.
Why camp chairs instead of lawn chairs? Try the following experiment sometime. Carry a folded lawn chair through a crowd. Now, carry a folded camp chair through the crowd. If you're an average sort of person, you're going to find the folded camp chair much less bulky. To make the experiment more realistic, repeat each run while simultaneously carrying a dance bag and a cooler. I guarantee you that it's now almost impossible to do this while carrying a lawn chair. The standard carrying "case" for the camp chair, however, allows you to sling it over your shoulder, leaving a hand free to carry something else.
2-way radios
When we first started competing, we thought they were a luxury. Then we realized that most feis committees treat competition scheduling as an exercise in rocket science, assigning individual competitions to stages more or less at random throughout the day. When you're trying to juggle schedules for dancers of varying skill levels across a large site, you realize it's worth the $100 or so to get a pair. The more technologically-advanced schools at feisanna will even agree on a common channel and code for everyone to use. This effectively gives you many eyes across the entire feis site keeping track of your stages, which greatly reduces the amount of running around you need to do. If you have the misfortune of being at a feis like Pittsburgh, it could also be a lifesaver.
First Aid Kit
This was dramatically hammered into our heads at Louisville our first year when Devonna slipped and fell during the Adult Beginner Reel competition. One of the only black spots against an otherwise outstanding feis organization was their unpreparedness to deal with a medical emergency. While other feisanna we attended were prepared (such as Dayton and Columbus), you cannot count on all of them to be.
Our recommedations for stocking your first aid kit assume for the most part you will be dealing with a medical problem concerning your dancer's legs or feet, and include: Even if your family doesn't need the kit that day, you're now in a position to help someone else less prepared if they need help (which is how Devonna's fall at Louisville was resolved. If you're reading this now, thank you!). You'll be remembered well by other feis families and you'll feel better about yourself in the bargain. :-)
Barf Bag and wipes
Laugh all you want, but we've had two instances in the past year of having to deal with food poisioning at a feis. Your dancer might get nerves real bad. Or, you might be stuck at a feis where the stage monitors could care less about the health of your dancer.
Bad Hair Day Kit
If your dancer is female and from a school that doesn't believe in wigs, you can count on her mother having made a significant investment in time the previous night curling her hair. Since you want this investment to last as long as possible, we recommend you carry the following gear in the event Murphy and his Law decide to be your hairdressers on Feis day:
Black Duct Tape
It's more than just the handyman's secret weapon; It's much less dangerous to use on the bottom of your dancer's shoes than black shoe polish. It will not only add a little bit of traction between the shoe and floor, it will also make it less obvious when your dancer doesn't have her foot pointed quite correctly.
Highlighter or Pen
The day of the feis, you should receive a stage schedule. Rather than hunt through the Irish equivalent of an eye test to find your dancer's competition each time you look at it, carry something with you to help you find it next time. If the feis committee is really good, they'll give you a highlighter at registration; this is the exception rather than the norm, though.
Competitor Number Kit
Feis syllabi always stress that the dancer's number should be visible to the adjudicator. Some feisanna are good at doing things like punching holes in your number card and providing yarn to tie it around. If you don't have a plastic competitor number holder, the safe bet is to carry your own equipment to put numbers on your dancers if the feis is not that prepared. This kit should include:
Makeup
If you're chromosonally-challenged (like Ges is), you won't really need this. If you're not, you will.
Extra clothes
Accidents will happen at feisanna. Tights will run (Devonna), poodle socks will stain (Rebekah), or sweat will ruin shirts (Ges). We like to be prepared with the following:
Extra ghillie and hard shoe laces
You want to be prepared for your dancer's shoe lace breaking, don't you? We are.
Food and Water
Nothing fancy; usually something easily transportable like fruit, granola bars, and/or bottled water. Why carry these? If your dancer needs quick energy or refreshment, you can usually count on a long line at the food vendor, that's why.
Kleenex
Laugh all you want, but it has as many different uses as duct tape. Comforting crying dancers, controlling makeup... the list is endless. Carry some.
Activities to Kill Time
Irish dancing is like combat in that the moments of intense excitement are usually punctuated by lengthy stretches of boredom. This is worse for the non-dancers you take along with you. What you choose is up to you; we've taken books, toys, and games to feisanna, while we've seen others with portable CD players.
Rolling Luggage
If you've followed this or other lists available, you've got a lot of stuff with you on feis day. To make matters worse, there are only so many hands and shoulders to go around your family -- less if your dancers are young (like Rebekah and Rachel). A small- to medium-sized piece of luggage with two wheels and a pull handle can be easily handled even by the young ones in your clan, which frees up Mom & Dad.
Taken to its extreme, we once saw a bizarre form of modified shopping cart at a feis that could transport everyting the feis-going family could ever want with them. I don't know how you get something like this -- yet.

A lot of these are paranoia on our part, because in a pinch, they can be found and purchased at the vendor's area if the feis has a decent one. This is not a guarantee, though, for we've been to at least one feis which had a very limited selection of vendors and items for sale.

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