What craft shows in 2017?

[ToddM]

I hope this is the proper forum for this question.. I'm looking to try out the craft show circuit next year and I know you need to get applications in early. Any recommendations on good events? I don't mind paying higher booth fees if it means there will be good traffic coming through. I live near Charlotte and so far I plan on applying to the Charlotte Freedom Festival. This is a great event although very expensive. I'm not sure I'll even get in so I need to apply to a few others as well. I thought about the Lincoln County Apple festival but it seems geared toward very inexpensive items. There was this awesome older gentlemen selling 10-12" diameter bowls at crazy good prices(20-40$) and appeared to be having a tough go at it. He had the best products at the event in my biased opinion. Thanks for any suggestions you may have!

 

[walnutjerry]

When I was doing shows I used "Ronay Guide". It is a publication that listed the shows, juried or not, longevity of the show, estimated attendance, entry fee. and contact information for an application. They were publishing one that covered North and South Carolina, and several volumes that covered different states. I do not know if it is still being published or not. Keep in mind that it has been about 15 years since I did craft shows. Best of luck on your endeavor.

Jerry

https://www.amazon.es/Ronay-Guide-Crafts-Carolinas-English-ebook/dp/B005OSXZZU Here is a link that may be of help to you.

 

[ScottM]

Cary,NC has a large spring event (Cary Spring Days) and an even larger summer event (Lazy Days). Both are outdoor events. Go to the Cary website.

 

[NOTW]

Durham has CenterFest every year.

 

[ToddM]

Thanks. I'll look into these.

 

[Pop Golden]

​Check out Blowing Rock and Sapphire Valley. Both shows have a broad price range of products.

 

[tri4sale]

depending on what you are selling and price point, check out local high schools, many have christmas shows.

 

[NCJim]

Wife & I have been doing "craft Shows" off and on for 20+ years. Mathews Alive is one of the best also the shows in Maggie Valley,NC.We have never done well at schools or church's. That is unless your kids go to that school or your belong to that church. We do well at the Tega Cay Fall Festival but we do well (I believe) only because we live in Tega Cay and people know us. At that show we sell mostly CHEAP kids stuff but don't make much money.

 

[tri4sale]

Successful shows depend a lot on your product and price point matching the show you are at. If you're average item is $500 you probably won't do great at a church show. But then again, at a church show you only need to sell one at that price to cover entry fees. If you sell at the $5 to $10 price point you can blow product out at a small show and do fine. Really depends on what you want out of a show. Is a $500 day selling successful for you, or do you need $2500 a day to be successful at the show.

 

[walnutjerry]

Successful shows depend a lot on your product and price point matching the show you are at. If you're average item is $500 you probably won't do great at a church show. But then again, at a church show you only need to sell one at that price to cover entry fees. If you sell at the $5 to $10 price point you can blow product out at a small show and do fine. Really depends on what you want out of a show. Is a $500 day selling successful for you, or do you need $2500 a day to be successful at the show.

I read in a publication some years ago that your sales should be 10 times the entry fee to consider it a success--------I believe there is some truth in that, but consider the other expenses involved though------travel, lodging, meals. I could go to Berea, Ky. to do a 3 day show, pay all my expenses and still have more left than gross sales in my home town. Go figure!! If you get it figured out, put it in a book and sell the books and probably make more than any craft show will yield--------LOL

Jerry

 

[tri4sale]

I read in a publication some years ago that your sales should be 10 times the entry fee to consider it a success--------I believe there is some truth in that, but consider the other expenses involved though------travel, lodging, meals. I could go to Berea, Ky. to do a 3 day show, pay all my expenses and still have more left than gross sales in my home town. Go figure!! If you get it figured out, put it in a book and sell the books and probably make more than any craft show will yield--------LOL

Jerry

A lot of the vendors I talk with have a similar mentality, but part of me chalks it up to they use that as "rule of thumb" cause they don't have a great grasp of the real costs in a show. I don't care what the entry fee is in determining what a good show for us is. I base it on what the total costs I have is, and since we are selling perishable product (baked pound cakes, quick breads, etc.) I know what volume I can sell at the shows I attend and what all my costs are. I don't do travel shows so I don't have lodging fees, and I can only make so much of my product since it is all sold fresh. Some of my shows we sell 15x the entry fee, some 10x entry fee, and some closer to 7 or 8x the entry fee. All of those shows are a "success" to us. Only doing the Christmas high school shows now, they are successful for us as we've developed a large following of people who shop with us year after year.

One thing I have learned is keep the booth simple. Simple setup. Simple take down. Especially simple take down cause you will be exhausted at the end of the show, and it's nice to be able to easily pack up and get on the road home.

 

[walnutjerry]

Daniel, It is a rule of the thumb. I had a formula to rate my shows. Gross rating was gross sales divided by entry fee. Net rating was gross sale minus expenses divided by entry fee. There is a big difference most of the time. My view was to look at the whole picture at the end of the season-----------much like farming where you hope you did well enough to keep on doing it. My products were not perishable so I was able to keep unsold items in inventory. It is hard to compare what one vendor does versus another vendor---------when all is said and done it is the profit margin that tells the story. I totally agree on you with the set up statements. I never mastered that with what I had to display. It is a lot about what you enjoy doing also.

Jerry

 

[ncfromnc]

Like many have said above, it depends on what you produce and who your audience is. I build furniture, and that is what I want to sell.....high end. Unlike a potter or a jeweler, etc, my products are too big and expensive to tuck under your arm and walk it to the car. So why do I do shows? I think of them as "Fishin' for Commissions". For example I like to do my hometown show in Weaverville, NC. Called Art in Autumn. It is a good small town show near Asheville. Yes, I do produce some production items such as small shelves, small wall cabinets, boxes, end grain cutting boards and other misc. small objects. Also, In my booth, I will put a couple large show pieces and GOOD photo posters of larger work. This past Sept I sold about $400.00 worth of small objects. This was enough to cover booth fee ($135.o0) and the cost of being there for a day. BUT!!! the show generated over $8000.00 in commissions. This is why I do shows....to be seen.
Try looking at www.zapplication.org for a large listing of shows all across the country. Many decent shows use Zapplication as their application process. It's free and you can upload your pics and enter shows at the touch of a button. Very good resource.
Other advice is to enter shows where people are coming to buy art and craft. The shows that are a part of something else (apple festivals, Music festivals with little incidental shows (L.E.A.F.) and shows that are a PART of something else are not great places to make any sales or gain commissions. Match your show to your work and audience.
neil

 

[ncfromnc]

Also, with my "Fishin for Commission" allows me to do far fewer shows per year.....4-5, to maintain a good workload. YOu may also consider a gallery or two. I know many hate to give up a %50 commission to a gallery. Try to think of it like this......%50 goes to the maker and %50 goes to the seller. You might say.."%50 is rediculous". So I may do a 2 day show in Atlanta,Ga. It's a four hour drive for me. While I'm there, I won't be making anything, Iwill have to pay the $300 booth fee, I will have to pay for a place to stay while I'm there, etc, etc. So besides needing to sell enough to cover all of these show expenses.....and I might not sell enough to even cover my booth fee. Weather can also cause you a lot of grief if it is an outdoor show. So, I do both, I sell much more work through a gallery than I would if I didn't have gallerys.....and even though they take %50, I don't have to do a thing to sell the work. ONe gallery I sell through is the Grovewood Gallery near the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. This is a very high end craft gallery and it exposes my work to a very craft conscience and wealthy clientel.
Study the show you are interested in . Seek out information about the crowd the comes, the sales made, and the treatment of the artists. There are many shows in NC that are located in wealthy tourist towns (Blowing Rock, Cashiers, Hendersonville, etc.). Go for the money. If you think of yourself as a Church or School handy crafter....you won't make much.
neil

 

[cyclopentadiene]

I joined the local artisans guild and did the annual gallery tour. It was easy as I set up in my garage and did not have to travel. The cost was $100 to enter and I sold $1800 in year 1 and $1200 in year 2. Generally higher end items such as a Mlaoof rocker at $2000 did not sell and the majority were items between$100 and $500. Some of the sales were commissions. I decided not to do the show after year 2 as I found myself building items that would sell as opposed to items that I enjoy building. I also did an Artisan show in Hillsboro NC and sold over $1k each year and in year 1, I received a $3k comission. I realized after the comission that I hate to build someone else's vision and it was torture to complete the piece. My new strategy is build what I like and enjoy. If my wife likes it, we keep it, if not I sell it.

 

[Kent Adams]

Lots of good advice on this thread. I work during the day at a bank and I have customers with insane amounts of personal wealth that will spend their money based on what their interior designer puts together for them. Recently, one of my customers put $700k in furnishings in their new home all based on the designers tastes. Top designers would probably really love a private label collection of furniture they could sell to their clients.