I have done Blowing Rock in July for the past two years. Last year was great, this year was rainy and cold. However considering the weather and the number of patrons I still did pretty well. I was considering adding August next year. But there is also the Banner Elk show which is 17 miles from the Blowing Rock show and at the same time. Banner Elk is a three day show at almost the same booth fee as Blowing Rock which is a one day show. Banner Elk set up will be soooo much easier, Blowing Rock setup and breakdown are an exercise in stamina. I've already seen that the area can have bad weather which makes a one day show very iffy. However the lodging in the area is expensive and a three day show will have higher expenses and I have to use 2 1/2 days vacation as opposed to 1 day vacation for Blowing Rock and we are planning a two week trip to Colorado in the fall which means vacation days are at a premium for 2015. If I do Banner Elk I can only do it once and then do Blowing Rock for the other month. My work sells well in the mountains and I think either show will be good for me as long as weather holds.
So - Banner Elk in July, Blowing Rock in August? Blowing Rock in July, Banner Elk in August? Blowing Rock both months?
Is there any reason to stay away from Banner Elk?
I sell digitally modified photography. Most of my work is of the mountains, a significant portion is of North Carolina. My best selling pieces will be $295 next year although to have a good show I generally need to sell a couple of groupings which would be $750 - $1000.
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I did Banner Elk four times in the last three years, losing money three of those times. My experience includes the Independence Day show (twice), the mid-August show, and the Labor Day show. The 2013 Independence Day show was a real horror, featuring ankle deep mud, a stream running through my booth, and the smell of manure (which apparently had been used to fertilize the field). I spent all four days strategizing how to get out without any damage or getting stuck in the mud.
This year the weather behaved, and both promoters moved their shows onto the asphalt sections of the park to avoid the mud issues. That worked, but at least at the mid-August show the buyers did not show up, and everyone I talked to was not happy with their sales. Moving to the asphalt made these already small shows much smaller since there is less asphalt than grass in the park, but the shows had been shrinking anyway.
I don’t blame the patrons – once you have had the experience of having your nice shoes, pants, and dresses destroyed by ankle-deep mud while being overcome with the smell of manure, you don’t go back. And the didn’t.
In my opinion the Banner Elk shows need to be completely re-designed if they are to survive. They need a different venue, there needs to be less of them, and they need to be coordinated with the Blowing Rock show so that the two shows are never on the same weekends. Once they have solved those problems, they will need to engage in some significant promotional activities to attract the patrons (not to mention the non-local artists and crafters) back.
Thanks Bill, that is helpful.
Alison - We did Banner Elk two years ago and and it was really bad for us. There was no interest at all in contemporary/abstract. Those who did well were primarily mountain craft.
I think your work would be well accepted there but I don't know if the show would support your price points.
It's a really pretty area and there is a really nice, reasonably priced Best Western just about a mile from the venue. There are a few decent restaurants. Set-up/tear-down was very easy.
Weather in Banner Elk I imagine is very similar to Blowing Rock. The three days we were there it was sunny and warm followed by damp, chilly fog/mist that covered the mountains and seemed to alternate between the two every couple of hours.
One person told us the crowds were better at Blowing Rock that weekend but that was two years ago so who knows. Hope this helps.