On Sunday, as I made the rounds of all the artists at Art on the Lawn, I had some interesting conversations on the subject of art fairs and festivals that include other things. We all know that the promoters are making money, but we are wondering whether artists sell better at dedicated art fairs or at the big festivals. Many felt that having unjuried craft bazaars, gourmet food, free flowing alcohol, dance performances and/or loud music distracted patrons from the art and the resulting competition for dollars hurt their sales.
In general, are visitors to these large events art buyers or fair goers, and how do they compare to dedicated art fairs?
b
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My thoughts:
I'm a fine crafter; I design and sew children's clothing. I LOVE the full-blown festival, because that's what works for my product. In my experience, though, it's not a good venue for fine art. I've been next to fine artists who barely make booth at these events while I'm raking in the cash. People are there to be entertained and have fun, not necessarily to make large investment-type purchases, so the really high-end pieces don't tend to sell. That's not to say that fine artists aren't welcome and don't make money, but since there are so many other distractions, it's not easy to do so.
Dear Barb,
In a sophisticated community in WI that supports the arts and artists which conducts two "Fine Art Festivals", one in spring/one fall, we were happy to be accepted last year.
The days held sober and rational clients. As we headed towards closing up, people were disengaged and in a party mode. We could not wait to close.
BUT
the real KILLER was being placed across from a site that was giving free haircuts to children.......
AND BLARING THEIR MUSIC!!!
All the artists went to the show promoters to complain. They said that the site gave too much money to the Chamber of Commerce. We were on our own to suffer.....and we did: in sales and headaches.
Finally, Sunday morning I went over to talk to the man. He referrenced a study which he quoted: X people=Y amps of volume=Z sales. The higher the music, the more sales. I led back with my best logic: it was Sunday morning, there were less people at the festival, could he turn the amps down. He was surprised, but complied. I received a round os applause on my way back.
Short story: we expected to make X. We made X/2.
Yet, at another Fair where the Art is seperated from the festival(it's actually on an island) we did fabulously.
Go figure.
I would say in general we sell much better at dedicated art festivals, the fewer the activities, the better. There are always exceptions, for example the NW Folk Life festival which focuses on cultural dance performances and music has been very good for us 2 out of the 3 years we've participated in it, however, it's more of an exception. I find very few art festivals that do not at least have some music, that being said, volume and quality of music do impact a show. For one particular festival we've just learned to requests a booth in section furthest from the music and we seem to sell better.