"Crafts on the River" is intended to give crafters and the buy/sell crowd a more or less equal shot at the downtown tourist dollar. Crowds were pretty light on Friday, due to the blustery weather and the fact that there weren't any other notable Festival events to lure visitors, but somewhat to my surprise those who visited, bought. My day's take wouldn't have disappointed me at a higher-end show like the previous week's Coconut Point. Most of my sales weren't to locals, but to visitors--many of whom told me that they'd come downtown because the weather was too cool to go to the beach.
Saturday's crowds were light, too, until mid-afternoon, when folks began to arrive and stake out spots for the 5:30 PM 5K run and the 7 PM float parade, both of which would pass directly by the show venue. It was a family-oriented, kettle-corn buyin' crowd that definitely didn't have art in mind...though my sales were fair and the fine paper-cast artist (a cheerful lady named Ellen) next to me had very respectable sales. The show organizer left it up to each participant if they wanted to stay open through the race and parade. Many did, including the nearby vendors of the Street Fair Holy Trinity: kettle corn, beef jerky, and Budweiser) but I shut 'er down when the sun set. Because most downtown streets are blocked off for the parade, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get out of the artists' lot 4 blocks away. But mercifully the barricades started a block away, so it was easy to escape--despite the parade watcher who crashed the artist lot and parked his/her SUV so it blocked the rear exit to the highway I'd planned to take home. Arrgh....
Sunday was light for everyone despite the antique Corvette and auto show at curbside, as the day dawned with fair skies and warm temperatures, and the sun-starved denizens headed for the beaches in droves. Clouds and even a spritz of rain moved in not long after teardown began at 4 PM.
Lessons Learned:
* Three-day shows, especially ones with a low booth fee, can be profitable, even when the crowd isn't my usual target market.
*The vendors/artists who make country crafts work as hard all day as the "fine artists" in the upscale shows. And they're just as much fun to be around.
* Don't try running a 5K race after you've been standing up selling photography for 7 hours straight. You're not as young as you used to be!
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