How do I go about finding shows in my area?

[Former_Member]

Hi guys! I just joined the team and am excited to learn about vending and craft shows.
I don't know if this question has been asked or not but I'm really wondering how do you guys go about finding shows in your area? I have checked the newspapers and usually don't find much there.

Thanks!

[TigersandDragons]

Join an Etsy team for your state/city/area. Some of the Etsy members of that team should have suggestions. Search online.

[Former_Member]

Also check out Facebook groups in your area! I am a member of a few in and around my county where people post craft shows looking for crafters!

[Former_Member]

ok I will try the facebook thing. I just posted an ad on craigslist, don't know if that will help.

[OutOfTheWoodsUSA]

Here are some craft show pointers that may interest you…

1) To find shows start by looking in your local newspapers or watching for flyers posted in store windows.
2) Go to the arts & crafts show as a buyer/looker to get ideas for yourself. If you see a particular way of displaying art work that appeals to you, ask the artist where the display was purchased. Most people are willing to share - just don’t interrupt the exhibitor while customers are in the booth. While you are at the show, look for a spot that you think you might like for your booth. Some promoters allow you to request your space. Keep in mind that corner spots often cost more than a space where you are sandwiched in between two other exhibitors. Schools usually have narrow spaces and not your typical 10x10 size. BTW…schools are usually hotter than hell…dress lightly even in the winter!
3) If you like what you see at a show, ask one of the exhibitors to point you in the direction of the promoter and ask for their contact information. Let the promoter know what it is you plan on selling. The questions you might want to ask the promoter via email include the following:

a) How many people attended the craft show in 2013?
b) How any artists/crafters did you have in 2013?
c) How many artists/crafters applied in 2013 and how many were accepted?
d) Is the arts & crafts show juried?
e) Do you have buy / sell vendors (other than food)?
f) Is there an admission charged for customers?
g) IS there a parking fee charged for customers?
h) What size is the allotted space?
i) Is there space behind the tent for sitting and/or storage?
j) What is cost for the space?
k) What are the other costs that may be involved? (jury fee, insurance, etc.)
l) What are the hours of the fair?
m) What time is the earliest / latest I can set up?
n) What will the 2014 dates be?
o) What is the rain date?
p) Do the artists have to break down or is there overnight security?
q) What is the web site I can download the application from?
r) Could you please send a craft show floor plan map?
s) If you plan on doing the art show by yourself (which we wouldn’t recommend for the first few times unless you have a very small quantity of items), you may want to ask about booth sitters for bathroom and meal breaks.
t) If you need electricity ask if it is available.
u) If you have special needs e.g. handicap, cargo trailer parking, need to be near a bathroom, etc. ask if these are possible

These are the things that particularly interest me, you may have other questions. If you sell jewelry, I would want to know if they limit the number of jewelry exhibitors.

4) Create a form to keep your notes (answers to the above questions) and get a file started on that craft show.
5) Create a file for each arts & crafts show promoter you email and drop all email correspondences in that file for future reference.
6) Create a file for every month and as you find a show put the information in that month’s folder. In January and February start planning your shows for the year. Many shows have discounts for early bird registrations - you may want to take advantage of that.
7) Other ways to find arts & crafts show include the following:
a) Google “craft shows and whatever area you are interested in” – there are more shows than you can shake a stick at!
b) Subscribe to magazines such as Sunshine Artist www.sunshineartist.com/ which lists the top craft shows nations wide (usually they are the higher end and more expensive shows).
c) Check out www.ArtFairInsiders.com
d) Join an Etsy craft show team
www.etsy.com/teams/8070/craft-fairs-its-a-living
e) Check out www.zapplication.org/ but be prepared for higher end and more expensive shows here.
8) Go to the library and look for books on exhibiting at craft shows. Two books I am aware of are “Handmade Marketplace” by Kari Chapin and “The Crafts Business Answer Book” by Barbara Brabec.
9) You may want to stick with shows costing $100 or less during your first few years. Once you get the hang of it you can advance to the more expensive high end shows.
10) There are many places you can purchase what you need. Below are a few places I buy my supplies from:
Folding Tables BJs, Costco
Tent BJs, Costco
Table Covers www.premiertablelinen.com
Business Cards www.Vistaprint.com or www.Moo.com
Bags www.discountshoppingbags.com
Grids www.graphicdisplaysystems.com
Containers/Buckets dollar store
Find vendors you prefer and bookmark them for future use.
11) If you find a show that is local and inexpensive and you want to take a nose dive without checking it out as a buyer / looker first – go for it! Once there, network with the other artists and ask them which shows have been successful for them – again, people are willing to share.
12) Bring at least $150 worth of change with you including $40 worth of dollar bills and coins if you are charging cents.
13) Bring things like
o Calculator
o Tape
o Stapler
o Scissor
o Pens / pencil
o Paper
o Marker
o Paper
o Clips
o Glue
o Hand wipes / sanitizer
o Band aides
o Analgesic for muscle aches
o Rope / bungees
o Safety pins
o Your tools
o Money apron / fanny pack
o Name tag
o Mailing list sign up
o Extra price tags
o Bag for garbage
o Tissues
o Paper towels
o Tent with walls and weights
o Tables
o Table covers
o Clear plastic tarps to put over merchandise in case of rain
o Chair – a tall chair with an attached folding table works nicely
o Umbrella to attach to your chair if you won’t be sitting under your tent
o Mirror (if you sell wearables)
o Breakfast and lunch if you want to save money
o Small cooler for drinks
o Comfortable shoes and clothing
o Jacket / sweatshirt
o Shirt change (just in case you get dirty setting up or spill)
o Sunscreen, sunglasses and bug repellant for outdoor shows
o Business card holders to place in several places on your tables and extra business cards,
o Master inventory list (create your own method)
o Smart phone fully charged
o Hand truck
o and lastly a smile!
14) Pack everything the night before and be ready to roll out of bed and into your car – well, maybe you can stop to pack your cooler.
15) Get your tax ID number – many shows require that number on your registration form.
16) Think about your need for liability insurance – some shows require this.
17) We do not put our Etsy shop “on vacation” while exhibiting at an arts & crafts show; rather, we use our smartphone to deactivate anything we sell.
18) Use levels in your displays to add height; it brings your items to eye-level and helps to draw attention.
19) Don’t plan on reading or checking your email during the show. Look engaged in what you are doing, say hello to people. Sitting or standing w/crossed arms, on the phone or reading looks bad and as though you're not interested in being there. Working on your craft during the show is OK and may even bring lookers and encourage discussion and possibly create sales.
20) Check your display often – people may leave garbage and turn your things upside down. You need to straighten up to make your display look presentable.
21) Figure out a price tagging / inventory system that works for you. We use the small strung marking tags www.amazon.com/Avery-Marking-Strung-Inches-12207/dp/B001E6CYOO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1380850986&sr=8-2&keywords=strung+marking+tags. On the tags we mark the price and our item number. When something sells we remove the tag and put it in a designated area. When we get home, we indicate when and where the item was sold on our master inventory list. You may want additional info on your master inventory list. Please do mark the price of your items…when I go around to the different booths to shop, I walk right passed if I have to ask what the price is!
22) At any given time we usually have about 10 items that are red dot specials. This moves older pieces and other items that may be less than perfect and keeps our booth fresh each year.
23) Before your first show, you should definitely practice setting up in your yard or a park at least once (preferably more) to work out all the kinks.
24) We have four six foot tables, three four foot tables, three six foot benches that we use to put on top of our six foot tables to elevate certain items. We also use grids behind our tables to hang our wall décor. We don’t necessarily use all those tables each time, but we have them because different venues have different configurations and we want to be prepared for whatever. We like to bring the customer into our booth so we will often set the three six foot tables up to form a U. If we have extra room we use either another six foot table on each side (this has us sticking out of the tent by two feet), or one four foot table on each side. Again, depending on the configuration, we might have the tables flanking each side and leave an open space in the back so customers can walk through. Play around using a floor plan made out of paper.
25) Be sure to include an area for your things in your space planning – a landing spot where you can bag purchases, put a drink, have paper and pencil, etc.
26) Some people keep a money box or even a cash register, while others keep the money in a fanny pack, their pockets, or an apron – personal choice.
27) Some artist charge the same for their art work on Etsy and the shows, some charge more on Etsy to cover Paypal and Etsy fees. We charge the same price; however, we remind the buyers that they will pay more due to shipping.
28) We have a beautiful unique wooden chair that Bruce carved out of a sycamore tree. We place this chair right in the front of our booth with a sign that indicates how long the chair took to make (100 hours) and our Etsy web site. This chair is a real attention getter and gets people to stop and linger at our booth. Many people take pictures of the chair – which is why we added our Etsy web site to the sign. Find your eye catcher and use it to your advantage.
29) Color coordinate your table covers – various bright colors of green with brown accents work well for us – colors of a forest/woods. Our sign is also a bright green as are any containers we have on the table.
30) Depending on how much you have to sell, you may want to leave yourself two hours to set up. It takes my husband (the artist) and me two hours to set up; however, we have a cargo trailer full of large bulky items.
31) You can store your containers under your table as long as you have table covers that go to the ground. We prefer the non-fitting table covers as they are much easier to fold (actually we roll them to prevent wrinkles) than the fitted covers.
32) The lower priced shows (churches, schools, fire departments, farmers markets, nonprofit fund raisers, etc.) typically have customers that are not looking to spend a lot of money so be prepared with items that are less than $40-50. Your higher end shows ($180+) have customers who are ready to spend a bit more. At either type shows have lower priced items available. If you don’t sell your higher priced items, you may sell many small items to cover your expenses for the day.
33) We usually ask the promoter for a flyer and if they don’t have one, we create one ourselves using the computer. We post this flyer at various stores as we work our way around town doing errands. We also send the flyer via email to friends and relatives and ask them to send it to their email list. Facebook is our friend in this regard as well. You don’t have to do this; however, the more people who know about the show, the better it is for your sales. You can get as creative as you want with this – offer a discount for anyone bringing you the flyer or a certain code on the flyer. Use your imagination – think outside the box.
34) We usually give a show two or three times before we give up and more on to the next. Obviously, if a show works out for you; put it on your calendar for next year.
35) We have always accepted personal checks and (knock wood) have never had an issue. Now that we accept credit cards, no one has asked us to accept a check.
36) Recently another artist asked about crafts shows in Etsy Forums. In response, Nicole shared her blog and video http://www.art2theextreme.com/sht-craft-show-shoppers-say/. This blog is too good not to share again.
37) If you find you enjoy arts & crafts shows and plan on continuing, you may want to think about
a) applying for the Square www.square.com so that you can accept credit cards. One thing to be aware of…if you are in an area with poor mobile phone connection, the credit card reader may not work OR you may need to enter all your sales by hand (which cost the seller about ½ percentage more). With Square, you can use it as frequently or infrequently as you want to with no monthly charges – just pay a percentage of every sale. Simple, easy, fair.
b) getting a professional sign with your business name to hang on your tent.
c) getting a cargo trailer to keep all your things in – this saves on packing, storing and having to remember what to bring to each show. If I had to pick one thing that has enabled us to continue, a cargo trailer is it. Packing and unpacking for each show would have been the deal breaker for us.

With each show you do and as you network with other artists you will find your own style and figure out what you need. Shows are lots of fun to do but they aren’t easy and take lots of physical work – especially if you have a large stock and / or heavy items. If you are not a morning person BEWARE…you will need to be!

[Former_Member]

wowsers!!! Thanks! I'm going to print out all of this info. I already feel much more confident!

[Former_Member]

Oh, not a morning person at all! oh well, I guess I have to do what I have to do. lol

[Former_Member]

Holy Smokes Bruce I just had to book mark your post for future newbie questions. And this question comes up often.

Tracey, when I first started in the "show business" I Googled

"art and craft fairs....my state"
"art fairs my city, county or state"
"summer art fairs"
"Juried art fairs in Utah"
"Juried art shows Montana"

Eventually you'll meet more crafters and artisan and be able to find events that fit your products. It takes time, many years of participating and failing and succeeding.

Don't get discouraged.

[stringnstone]

Tracey, Depending on how far you are willing to travel there is a major craft show in the Spoon River IL area.... 2 week-ends of a 20 mile circuit with a lot of locations...My sister and I have done this one a couple of times. I stopped because I live 6hrs away and it got to be too expensive ..then my brother-in-law became ill so our major help was disabled.. but worth the try. The Farmington area is strictly handmade and juried.

Any one in Central IL this is a fab show. http://www.spoonriverdrive.org/

[DevineDesignsJewelry]

Here's an article posting the best 50 shows in the U.S.
http://www.artsyshark.com/2013/10/29/top-50-art-fairs-in-the-u-s/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=e...

[heathercashart]

When I moved to Erie, PA, I started by doing a Google search and found a couple big ones in the area. After attending those ones, people started contacting me to be in others. Also, I met other crafters who are now my friends and we tell each other about shows that we find out about :)

[Former_Member]

Great refresher thread to browse.

[weekendjewelry1]

Check with your local Chamber of Commerce, too - or just yourcity.org - lots of times they'll have "upcoming events".

[Former_Member]

In addition to all the great ideas mentioned so far, you can also try this:

http://www.artscraftsshowbusiness.com

Now, most of these craft & art show directories want you to pay for a membership in order to get the contact details of the show promoter. But, you don't need to spend any money.

These directories typically will give you the name of the show, the dates, town/city the show is in & state. Once you know the name of the show, head over to the mighty Google & type it in the search box.

The vast majority of shows have either their own website, a Facebook page, blog or something online. When you find that, you'll get the name of the promoter, phone number or email, & where to get vendor information to attend the show.

So, use the directories to find shows you might be interested in attending, then use Google to find their website/blog/FB page to get contact details.

[LuluDeuxMillinery]

All of the above and city websites, convention and visitor bureaus, search "craft show (city)" or "festival (city)" etc. Once you start meeting other vendors at shows you get a lot of info that way also.

[Former_Member]

Go to your good old Google and look for the Chamber of Commerce in whatever county you're targeting. They usually list "almost" everything that's big enough to attract people and businesses. Then there's the little local newspapers like a PennySaver and things like that that are looking for vendors. Then you can call some of the larger churches in your area and ask if they have a Christmas boutique or craft show. If not, who does?

It takes some time, and sometimes if you attend a show the first time, it makes it easier to know whether or not you would like to "do" that show in the first place. Sometimes it might take a couple of years to get all the shows you want into your book, but it's worth it.

I myself like the smaller shows. You're taking much less of a "chance" and don't have to sell as much product to break even.

[Former_Member]

As Katie said, you can also get info on other shows from other vendors at shows you do. We just had our best show ever this past weekend, & one of the vendors makes & sells really cool purses. Cindy got one of her crab purses last year as a birthday present & her booth was directly across from our booth this weekend so Cindy spent some more time over there looking for yet another purse, lol.

Anyway, she gave us a print out of shows that she'll be at. She had a total of 14 shows listed on that sheet, 2 of them we've done & will be doing again this year. But, the other 12 shows we weren't aware of. She told us that these were all good shows that she's worked in the past so now we have 12 more proven shows that we can check into & possibly add to our schedule. Nothing like getting personal show referrals from other vendors that had proven success at those shows. Takes a lot of guess work out of deciding to attend.

[MariasWorkshop]

Oh Wow, Bruce. What a list. I am somewhat new to shows and I was looking for help finding venues and kind of bumped onto this thread. I am glad I did. A lot of good information.

[Former_Member]

I have done the "internet searches", talked to other vendors, facebook was not real helpful for me, and I just started writing them down if I actually see them or hear them ADVERTISED! I might not be able to get in this year but I do take the info and look for it online for the future. I've noticed a lot of the shows in my area claim to advertise, I have no idea where they are doing it because I am actively looking and don't see anything, so I figure if I'm not seeing it, how would an actual paying customer ever know it was going on...

[weekendjewelry1]

One more small-show idea.... check the websites of local schools or churches. Lots of times they have fundraisers and will advertise them mostly just to the people that go to church there, or parents of kids at their school.... but often they do have websites of some sort, and will mention upcoming events.

They aren't always good shows (cheap stuff, etc) but sometimes they can be - local customer base and all that - and they're usually low cost.

[Former_Member]

To piggyback what Jen said about local schools & churches, pay attention when you're leaving the grocery store.

We do a lot of fairs at local schools & churches. They do these shows as fundraisers & are typically have a very small advertising budget. The grocery stores are usually where you'll see ads for these local shows.

At our local grocery store, there's a large corkboard by the last exit door, where people can pin their business cards, flyers, notices, etc...

I usually see flyers or notices for the smaller local shows pinned to these corkboards. Also, right across from the corkboard is the rack for smaller local newspapers & ad books. These are typically free so I'll take the local town's newspaper to look through. Sometimes you'll see an ad or you might also find an article that's promoting an upcoming show.

[PlaynwithScraps]

I look at "upcoming shows" that local Etsy shops have listed. I've convo'd a few to ask about the shows and everyone so far has been very friendly and willing to discuss the shows- both good and bad.

[BlueHandsBoutique]

wow there is alot here I did not know, this is a great group. I have just been googling and at one of my shows connected with other crafters who told me what was best in the area. She gave me her business card to go to her website where she listed upcoming shows she is in. So then I googled those shows to get applications if it wasn't too late.