All of the shows I'm doing this summer/fall are in Rochester NY and the Finger Lakes areas.
I was wondering if anyone has done any of these shows and whether they liked them:
Corn Hill Arts Festival (Rochester NY)
Waterfront Arts Festival (Webster NY)
Sonnenberg Arts at the Gardens (Canandaigua NY)
Clothesline Festival (Rochester NY)
Letchworth Arts & Crafts Fest (Castile NY)
From what I understand, Letchworth and Corn Hill are more "Arts and Crafts" festivals, whereas the others are more "Fine Arts". I would be interested to hear what kind of difference in customer base there is between those two different kinds of shows.
(PS I am an acrylic painter who paints wildlife)
Replies
I was accepted at Corn Hill however I declined. I was also accepted at Syracuse. Did the Syracuse show. No buying energy. I was warned in advance, about the entire area. However i chose the try it anyway. Seems a financially depressed area. A lot of lookers but not spenders. This was true of many different mediums and artists.
I have done Sonnenburg and Letchworth, will you be staying at hotels for either?
I will post more later,
Judy
Will you be staying overnight for either of these two shows? I was going to provide info on the areas if you were.
I would be interested in info on where to stay for Letchworth, I usually just sleep in my van at shows for the most part.
Nova,
There are two ways to get into Letchworth, a north and south end. I always came from the south, but that is the longest, driving about 15 or more mile of park until you reach the show area. Also outside the south end of the park there are very scant amenities. My hotel was there, a small mom and pop, nice safe, moderately priced.
I don't have my Letchworth folder here, I'll look when I'm home.
Nowhere to eat, it is best to bring your own food.
The north end is better, there are some small hotels, I have never stayed up that way. A few small restaurants but you have to look around, best to get your bearings ahead of time. The entire area is remote. No chains.
The show food is just typical, but they do have food, also breakfast food (I think.)
The show is swarming with people.
Also, don't be too alarmed when you set up- there will be a large crowd, and mixed in will be some customers. Best wishes for a good show.
I stayed at the Colonial Motel in Portageville, 3 or 4 times.
Phone is/was 585-493-5700. Looks like the last time I was there was 2010 or so, only because it does not fit into my schedule.
Hotel was small, safe, middle price range, no food nearby. I don't know if it is still there.
I live locally, so I won't be needing to stay overnight anywhere :-)
Well, then I assume that you have visited these shows, so you already know a bit about them.
When I did Sonnenburg, the weather was nice. It was easy to do, easy set up and tear down. Art show. Not busy, not a lot of traffic, but steady, my sales were ok, enough to justify doing the show, but I don't think that I would be able to increase sales here unless there were more people coming through. The other artists did not travel far distance to come to this show. I think that I may have done better than my neighbors as I was new. I recall selling smaller art pots
Letchworth, I have done at least 3 times, never able to stay more than the first 2 days, as I have arrived to this show with depleted stock from another show the week earlier. This show has lots of people going through, many will not stop and do not seem to be art buyers. No one is dressed up, probably due to the setting.
Even though this show is not the same quality as Sonnenburg, this show has buyers mixed in with the crowds. I have not done Letchworth lately I am just too low on inventory at this time of the year.
Western NY has been good to me, I have found good customers at the local shows.