Winter Park, 2/12/14 -- from the Orlando Sentinel
The City Commission has given final approval to a measure that would prevent individuals or groups from staging art festivals within a 30-day “non-compete” window leading up to and after the city’s annual spring and fall art festivals.
Anyone else surprised at this? The commission is protecting the Autumn Winter Park Festival that is open only to Florida artists as well as the March Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. Of course its purpose is to eliminate competition for these events and to protect the city from being overrun by other fairs that could dilute the popularity of these two big ones.
Is this a free speech issue? denying other events to be held in these time frames? Or is this an ordinance whose time has come?
Read the article: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/winter-park/os-commissioners-create-blackout-period-around-art-festivals-20140212,0,6413570.story
Replies
Well, it seems to me that a festival/show has to get permitted by the city in which it plans to set up. The city has a responsibility to make decisions based on environmental impact, cost of services, security, effect on neighborhood businesses, etc. You can't just have 100 canopies pop up willy nilly whenever they want. This is not about free enterprise. If a city decides that the cost/impact/disruption is too much to deal with more than 2 or 3 times a year, that is their call. In Buffalo we have 2 big festivals bookending the Summer season and a Saturday Market on the waterfront that runs 6 one-day shows a year. It is perfect. I hope they don't add another. Any more and the population gets sick of it. There are too many shows now. I'm glad to see the brakes being applied, personally.
I think this is great and hope other cities will follow. In Scottsdale AZ there is a small local art show that runs every Sunday, made up of mostly amateur artists, low end jewelry and other low quality arts. They run their shows all weekend, within walking distance of some of the other established art fairs. At one I was doing I heard people all day talking about how surprised they were in the low quality art that year. I had to explain to them it was a different festival, but most didn't realize that. Looks bad on the established festival.
It's too bad that some of the "high end jewelry ARTISTS" didn't attend as well, because being in a tourist town, I am sure there isn't room for everyone in the larger shows. You have to expect that in a tourist town as opposed to other places. Everyone probably wants to sell & be noticed, not the same people all the time...that gets boring too. Don't underestimate the customers as MOST of them know low from high quality when they see it, & if it was mostly low, the high quality Artists should be able to do it as well. I'm sure if this other "established" festival is so known, it shouldn't hurt them at all. A good mix never hurts~this is America!
I completely agree.
I have always been a champion of the free market. Good old fashioned competition! I have been successful competing and I have been severely hurt by competition. To most people, that only makes them stronger. It means sometimes an expanded price line may be necessary. And most times the value is seen by the customers in the better work for a lower price.
I read posts all the time on this and other forums where the higher end exhibitor expects, no, demands to be insulated from those "low end" people at a neighboring show. How dare those people set up near me!
To me it's like a Cadillac dealer not wanting that icky Ford dealer across the road. But Cadillac sells to one market, and Ford sells to another market.
And the same applies to our business.
I agree with Chris that competition is good. If a promoter does do their job of improving the quality of their shows, the public will look elsewhere, if they have the knowledge to tell the difference. Several new shows are popping up in Denver. There are now two on Memorial Day weekend within four blocks of each other, but nothing is piggy backed on Cherry Creek, hmmmmm. By analogy, old time saddlemakers, including the shop where I started my apprenticeship, would often open up their businesses next door or across the street from their competitor. No need to run all over town looking for them. It was a "may the best man win attitude".
The City commission wants to limit other shows to protect their city run show and their uniqueness ... but on the other side of the issue they don't seem to want to apply these guidelines to no-city operated shows.
What is good for the goose is not good for the gander...A definite one sided rule just for their benefit...
I probably should start a new thread, but as a general rule, we should just support a no new shows policy. Enough is enough, everywhere. We need no more shows...period!!
If you want to support a "no new show" policy, then just don't apply.
This is America. Are we now going to restrict free enterprise too?
I say let the promoters compete. And may the best man, or woman win.
OH, Chris, this was VERY WELL SAID!!!!!!! That is exactly what they are doing~restricting free enterprise. I would rather have more UNIQUE FRESH-MINDED Promoters, doing less shows, so they can make these shows extra special. I think if we had more of these kinds of promoters, it would bring more uniqueness into the shows & customers would start getting excited about going. I would think it would take more "creativity" & more work putting on one or two VERY UNIQUE shows rather than a lot of them all being the (again)~same old... Why can't more promoters have a "theme" to their shows like example the old Art Plus Arlington when we all dressed up in costume, Christmas music, & actually had ATMOSPHERE at Christmas~the customers LOVED it! I understand, people then also had more $ to spend, which is WHY the Promoters need to DO more these days! I have a million ideas for what promoters could do to bring more excitement into the shows, but I'd really like to hear your ideas too. What do YOU think about this CONNIE?!!!
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