Quote Originally Posted by David in Maryland
As an experienced festival organizer/planner/chairman, having an archery event or contest can present logistic problems depending on the field setup and field environment. Most of the time it is field environment that stops the archery event. Field environment means what is the natural layout of the field, what area is the field in, what borders the field, is there a thick tree line, or are there houses right next door, because if you have a stray arrow that goes past the back drop, guess what? You are responsible for where it lands. I have also competed an archery competitions and arrows will go over, around, and under the backdrop. The field environment may not lend itself to being safe should the arrow go beyond the backdrop. You have to make certain and close off any area that goes from archery area and beyond and you also have to have lots of empty space beyond the backdrop, so you end up losing alot of valuable grounds that you could put more vendors/clans/possibly another stage. Archery can be done, but your logistics/ground layout person has to know exactly what they are doing, and know the problems that can arise and how to solve them with proper layout. In the past, I know Potomac has had an archery demo, I have never seen it, but my understanding is they are back in a corner and the grounds for the festival are huge.
Another thing, is that at most of the festivals I've attended, the athletic field is surrounded fairly closely by the clan tents. Richmond might have a space somewhere to set up an archery range. The festival is held at the Richmond International Raceway complex, which is the old Va state fairgrounds. There are a lot of unused areas during the festival. I have even seen a modern archery shoot held indoors at a hunting show.