The last Fantasy Fair that I went to (which I think was the last) had the smallest dealer's room had ever seen, with hardly anybody shopping, and I saw Kim Cattrall walking the halls with a 2 geek escort, looking spooked at the fans (I don't think I've ever seen a celebrity that uncomfortable around a crowd).

I like the art show, and appreciate that Artist's Alley is now connected to the Art Show, and there are plenty of good artists. But the renewed interest and scrutiny of the art presentation has had some pluses and minuses:

+ you have to pass a panel to get your stuff displayed now, which has cut down on the majority of people who just traced photographs for art, or did amusement park-style caricatures of famous people

- Because of that, it seems like the last few years have seem more of the same artists displaying, and sometimes displaying mostly work that was there the previous year