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McConkey’s Market
Washington Crossing State Park

River Road Intersection of 32 & 532                                                       

Washington Cross, PA 18977

Saturday, 10:00am-04:00pm
3rd Weekend of June

http://www.mcconkeysmarket.com/home.html

Amy Smith (promoter) did a nice job at organizing this first time ever show.  Allowed into this juried event were artisan crafts, up-cycled items, handmade jewelry, original art and photography, pottery, vintage clothing, reclaimed furniture and collectibles.  Amy communicated with the exhibitors on a regular basis prior to and after the show.  Amy’s husband has his own PR firm and Amy had her own booth in the show.  The registration fee was $100 for the one-day show. 

Washington Crossing Bridge (free) crosses the Delaware from New Jersey to Pennsylvania right next to the park.  We originally thought we could use that bridge to get into Pennsylvania; however, we were pleased that Amy took the time to warn those of us with cargo trailers to seek an alternate crossing because the Washington Crossing Bridge is too narrow to accommodate cargo trailers or panel trucks.  Instead, we used the 202 Bridge ($2) to cross the Delaware.  That word of advice saved us time and aggravation on the day of the show. 

The Pennsylvania side of Washington Crossing State Park is a lovely setting with a wide-open field with the Delaware River at its side.  We were lucky to get one of the few shady spots.  The weather cooperated – sunny, low humidity, and in the high 70’s.  Loading and unloading was easy – we were allowed to pull up to our spot.  Parking was no problem for our cargo trailer or visitors.  Washington Crossing State Park has several historic buildings, tours, demonstrations, Friends of the park walking around in period clothing, and a very nice visitor’s center.  There were two porta potties but visitors could also use the clean rest rooms in the visitor’s center as well.   There were several staff members walking around in the event we had questions or needed help. 

Amy did a nice job with jurying the approximately 50 exhibitors – no buy sell that we could determine.   Not too many food vendors either, but definitely enough and reasonably priced.  They even had a tent set up with picnic tables inside for people to enjoy a hot dog or pulled pork sandwich.  For those looking for a nice sit down meal or alcoholic beverage, the highly rated Washington Crossing Inn is located across the street.  

Despite this being a new venue, we were hoping that the heavily traveled area and a professional PR firm would bring out many buyers.   By popular request, Amy sent exhibitors an electronic copy of the flyer for us to print and post or distribute.  She also utilized social media.  There were visitors – many more than I suspect the park usually has, but for us not enough for sales.  As I have often pointed out, wood art isn’t necessarily the biggest seller of the day; however, after the registration, gas and tolls our income for the 12 hour day was approximately $50.   

Amy plans on a fall show (September 21st) and it is my understanding that Friends of Washington Crossing State Park will be having many more activities on the same day as the show in hopes of drawing in more visitors.