# First Outdoor Craft Fair



## AK_Homesteader (Jul 19, 2009)

Hi Everyone~  I will be selling in my first outdoor craft fair next weekend - I have done some indoor fares, but never any outside.  It is a new venue in our downtown area where thousands of tourists visit each day.  It will be Sat, Sun & Mon from now until end of September.  The fees seem reasonable - $10 per weekend plus 5% of sales.  

I am busy deciding how to rearrange my display, decorate my tent and make everything look inviting.  I use market baskets and crates to display my soaps.  I think I'll test it out here at home tomorrow and see what I may need.

I am also anxious about dealing with the weather - rain and wind  )  Working on best method to keep tent anchored - tying sand bags to the legs or using some lumber to screw the legs to.  Depending on the weather, I will probably take down each day even though it will take more time as I worry about the wind and about leaving everything out where you never know what could happen.

Does anyone have some advice on doing outdoor shows for a newbie?  

Thanks!


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## Bigmoose (Jul 19, 2009)

Alaska is just beautiful.  I was there about 3 years ago.  What a great time.

You said you have a tent, is it a tent or a canopy?  I did a show yesterday and the winds were 12 to 15 mph with gusts to 20 mph.  I saw a few vendors who were hanging on to thier canopys almost the whole time.  One across from me was hanging on to the front of his and during one gust I saw the back end of his jump about 2 feet into the air.  Next to me was someone selling dog cloths.  She would grab her canopy on some gusts but her table displays (large racks with cloths hanging on them) blew over maybe 10 times.  Be ready for the wind.  I was and had a nice day while those around me were very flustrated.  I just use some large landscape blocks on each leg and strap them into place.  I put one side wall on and had it down half way just to keep the sun off my product.  If I do a 2 day show around here most put all the side walls on and zip it up tight and leave them for the night.  Some cover thier tables with tarps at night and clamp them down good.  Just be ready for the weather and even uneven ground to set up on.

Bruce


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## AK_Homesteader (Jul 19, 2009)

Thanks for the tips - landscape blocks are a great idea and would be easy to secure to - and heavy.  I guess it isn't a tent, but a canopy that I have.  It came with one wall, but I will be ordering more walls to keep the rain out.  Good idea to only have the wall down halfway so the wind doesn't catch it as much.


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## Lindy (Jul 21, 2009)

Sounds like a great price and a wonderful idea - I see the tourist cruise ships going up to you all the time!  Huge one last night!

Bruce what a wonderful idea - I was trying to think how you would secure a tent if on pavement - thanks to you now I know - thank you!


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## Guest (Jul 21, 2009)

I was at a rally last weekend. One of the vendors on pavement had 5-gallon buckets of WATER to anchor their tent. Ropes tied to the buckets. New one for me.


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## Lindy (Jul 21, 2009)

Another great idea!


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## heartsong (Jul 21, 2009)

*z*

i saw a clever setup-3 gallon buckets filled with cement with a short piece of pve pipe sticking up thru the middle.  then the upright "legs" of the canopy fit inside the pipe.  no staking, no ropes to trip over, and easy setup/takedown.   

good luck with your market-hope everything goes well and you make a TON of MOOLA!  :shock: 

regarding weather-hope for the best and plan for the worst!


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## Guest (Jul 23, 2009)

Good luck AK Homesteaders , sounds like a lot of fun to me .

Kitn


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## AK_Homesteader (Jul 26, 2009)

I would say that this first show was a definite success!!  I brought in 10x my space fees.  There were 8 vendors at this first weekend, but there will be more in future weekends - goes now through August.  Hoping that a bigger event will draw in more people.  

My friend helped me setup the canopy here at home so we could figure out how the tables should be arranged.  We arrived 7am on Saturday - we were the first ones there and nothing was marked, so we didn't know exactly where we should setup.  So we unloaded everything, sat and drank our cocoa and waited until someone showed up.  It took 1 1/2 hours start to finish to get everything setup.  Today, it took just 45 minutes to put everything away.  I ended up using 2 cinder blocks on each corner of the canopy to secure it.  Left it setup last night without incident.  One of the crafters found someone sleeping in hers this morning!

I purchased the tent, walls, banners, cash register, credit card machine and a kitchen island on wheels that I used as my checkout counter - which worked very well.  It has a solid back, side that flips up for more counter area and a cupboard area that I used to store extra inventory.  I'm happy I spent the money on it.  I felt very professional - glad I invested the money in everything.

Here are some pics:


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## Vinca Leaf (Jul 26, 2009)

YAY!  You look great! So happy!


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## Rosey (Jul 26, 2009)

oh wow that looks great!! Glad it went so well for you!


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## heyjude (Jul 26, 2009)

Go you!!!    

The reason that you felt professional is that it WAS very professional. So glad that you shared your photos.    

Jude


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## dagmar88 (Jul 27, 2009)

You go girl! That's an amazingly professional setup.


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## Avalon (Jul 27, 2009)

Your set-up looks spectacular!


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## AshleyR (Jul 28, 2009)

WOW! What an awesome set up! YAHOO!!

Thanks so much for posting pics.... you have given me some great inspiration for my first craft show in September!

And congrats on making 10x your booth fee!


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## Tabitha (Jul 28, 2009)

Looks REALLY great!


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## heartsong (Jul 28, 2009)

*x*

really great set up!!!   

everything looked, clean, neat and orderly and just kinda flowed.

you did a great job!  

i hope you have a wonderful season, and make lots of moolah!!!


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## Guest (Jul 29, 2009)

I've vended with overnight stays (not soap) and had a terrible time with moisture and dew. Did you have any problems with the soap/merchandise?


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## krissy (Jul 29, 2009)

wow! that is gorgeous! it looks so beautiful


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## agriffin (Jul 29, 2009)

WOW!! I would walk in there and do some major shopping!!  Looks wonderful!


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## AK_Homesteader (Jul 31, 2009)

Thanks for all the comments!  Looking forward to next weekend - hoping it is as successful!  I've been making soap like crazy to get the stock up for the upcoming shows.

CastorFan:  I didn't leave the soap out overnight.  Boxed it up and stored it inside the building.  I left everything else out though and didn't have any moisture issues.


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