Chattanooga Four Bridges Art Festival

I just got back from a quick swing in the south. I did a couple of very disappointing Howard Alan shows (Celebration and Hyde Park), then, on the way home, stopped in Chattanooga for the 4 Bridges show. Chattanooga was a good experience. Not great money, but OK. Did much better in Chattanooga than I did in both of the Florida Howard Alan shows put together.

They treat you very well in Chattanooga and I'd recommend this show to anyone. Quality of the art is outstanding, crowds are good and the event takes place in a covered, but open-air pavilion. We set up on Friday and the committee treated all the artists to an excellent dinner that night as well as an opportunity to sell to the "patrons" of the event. Lunch was provided on Saturday and Sunday.

It's a good thing the event was in a pavilion because it rained cats and dogs Friday night with lots of wind. When we checked in on Friday morning we noticed that our assigned booth was toward the outside wall and it already had a water puddle in it. Knowing that the forecast was for rain that night, we asked if there was another location away from the wall that they could put us in. Luckily, one artist had dropped out because of medical problems, so they were able to put us in that artist's space. After torrential rains  we were happy we made the change. The booth we were originally assigned was under water. Artists in that area and in other outside wall areas had lots of water problems. The committee worked hard with water vacuums to try to pick up the water, but it remained an issue for most of Saturday.
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  • Thanks for the info Linnea

  • The central booths all have space behind. Not sure if it was a whole 2 feet, but close. My rear neighbor and I coordinated seating so we would not be bumping into each other, in essence gaining another foot each.

  • Could anyone tell me if there are any spaces in the layout that have room behind the booth (at least 2 feet)?  From the looks of photos on their website it appears that the booths are right up against each other.

  • One change in the layout of the art fair at Chattanooga could have helped the standing water problem. The booths around the edges were backed up right against the outside wall leaving a very wide aisle for patrons to wander. Just by moving the booths toward the middle and reducing the aisle space could have left 90% of the water behind toward the wall. I've done art fairs with aisles less than half the size of ones in Chattanooga. When confronted with the water in my assigned booth, I suggested this solution, but it was immediately rejected by the staff. Not sure why.
  • Hi John! I was there showing my art too. It was my first fine art festival and really enjoyed it.  Glad you were able to move your space. I had just a little water coming in from the back and just moved stuff to the middle before I left Friday night.  I think Saturday was more chilly than people expected, but Sunday was gorgeous.  I did ok too, sold 5 collages. Hope I get to do it again next year!
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