Hunterdon Harmonizers Craft Show Third Weekend of September
Main Street,
Flemington, NJ 9:00am-4:00pm
We usually exhibit at this show because we live in the community, the music is fun and we run into people we haven’t seen in a while. The show is billed as a craft show; however, it is not juried and is more of a street fair. Main Street is not closed down to traffic and the selling area is on the sidewalk and runs about four blocks on both sides of the street. There are many crafters and a couple of artists exhibiting but there are also commercial jewelers, home improvement contractors and local fundraisers.
Set up usually starts at 7:00am and the event runs 9:00am – 4:00PM. Since there is no street parking during the show, curbside unloading is fairly easy. We were able to unload directly in front of our spot. There are certain areas of the sidewalk that are very wide and in these areas, exhibitors/vendors are placed on both sides of the sidewalk leaving a narrow path for buyers to stroll through. If you are in a “double wide” area, unloading can be an issue because the exhibitor/vendor nearest the street side of the sidewalk can be right where you are unloading. Despite this, unloading was much easier here than other places we’ve exhibited at. There is plenty of free parking - even spaces suited for cargo trailers.
The show is held over two days and despite not having overnight security, exhibitors who have tents with sides typically leave things set up overnight. Flemington is a low crime area and we have been told that the police pay special attention to the area overnight.
Clean indoor restrooms are available. Several (somewhat pricey) restaurants are available and are typically crowded during the event. On Sunday, one of the restaurants sent around two staff members who took orders from the exhibitors – this was a great service despite the $9 cheeseburger (fries extra). There are a few Main Street stores but Flemington is not known for a great Main Street commerce area – although they are trying to turn that around.
Entertainment (both days) consisted of a continuous oldies DJ and an hour plus of a live performance by Hunterdon Harmonizers – a male capella chorus singing barbershop harmony. Both were great!
My husband is a fine and decorative wood artist – I mention this because some things sell better than others. At most shows, soap, candles, spices, food, clothing, jewelry and ceramics usually sell much better than wood. In 2009 our sales were the highest for this show. In 2010, sales were way down. In 2011, sales went up but not as high as the first year. We skipped a year but came back in 2013 and sales were up to almost the 2009 figure. Approximately, 83% of our sales were made on Sunday. Despite having higher priced items, our highest sold item was $40 (this was an item we reduced from $80) and the lowest was $2. I wish I could say our sales equaled 10 times table, but it was nowhere near that for us. Clothing, jewelry, consumables…maybe, but not for a wood artist. There were two to three wood crafters at the show and a furniture maker – this show would not support another wood artist/crafter.
For $65 you get a 10x10 space, usually pleasant weather, good music and company. An estimated 1,000 -1,500 buyers filtered through between the two days.
Out of the Woods - USA
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We used to travel south to NJ for the UCE and CraftProducers shows in Flemington. We could always depend on 2 to 3 grand. But at the end the weather never cooperated and the shows went away. That show dated bact to the 70s when it was at the Flemington Fairgrounds.