Welcome to TCG Mark, and thanks for chiming in.

I know that I will have difficulty attending this festival, but I am having difficulty doing anything outside of work these days (very busy) so it doesn't have anything to do with location or price for me.

Just as a comparison from my US perspective:

a Comic Con four day pass runs $100, or about £60 (for today at least). That includes all of the panels, workshops, etc.

A Dragon*Con four day pas is $60 now, up to $100 as you get closer to the event dates.

A four day Myth Con (Mythopoeic Society) is $80 for non-members.

The One Ring Celebration (ORC) put on my theonering.net (last held back in 2007) ran about $350 for the full package, with much less expensive packages (such as $90 which did not include evening events or reserved seating in the auditoriums for main events).

All in all, I think the Festival in the Shire seems in the realm of reasonably priced, and I have nothing to complain about except that I am too @*$^%*! busy.

Further on the Festival pricing...

While it seems expensive think of it as three events at one place and time! You can just attend one part and only for a day. The individual prices are fair for each event. The VIP pass to all three makes it a bargain.

I have a question -

>Festival in the Shire is a three day event that will cater to the diverse interests of collectors, academics and those who simply enjoyed the books and films. It will be held in the heart of ‘Tolkien country’, Machynlleth the ancient historical capital of Wales, with its rich Celtic traditions and stunning location in the hills.<

Can I respectfully ask - in what way is Machynlleth 'the heart of Tolkien country?

Thanks! These things are difficult to price in a good economy let alone a recession. It is always a tradeoff between numbers and quality of content. So far ticket sales have been all VIP passes which means a vote for quality and smaller capacity.

I will answer this when a check something out which I've not had a clear answer on.

News just in -

http://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/news/i/4453/

It is nice to see the standard of Journalism is so good in Wales, look at the cover of the latest issue of the "Cambrian News".

I also noted a comment on another forum from the BBC article on the festival and its viability.

"It plans to feature "internationally respected speakers", and is expected to attract dozens of visitors."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/8485043.stm

That's a hilarious cover from Cambrian News.

On the BBC article, "speak and ye shall be heard". The current version of the article at that link has "thousands of visitors" so someone corrected it.

One would at least expect a higher standard from the BBC! I pointed out the error and they corrected it!

Strange and slightly humorous tangent to this event...

The Cambrian News (the paper that broke the story that the Festival in the Shire was moving to a different location) has now been banned from certain meetings of the Machynlleth town council because of that "leak".

http://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/news/i/5162/