I applied by accident meannint to apply to madisons show of the same name. I did notice and apply to madison but i got in to this lake forest one and Iam not sure to accept or not as the reviews i could find seem very old from 2013 and 2011 a friend sent me two others that where not great but had no date on it. If you have done or know if this show any more recent advice would help. thanks so much! I do 2D mixed media with lots of color btw.thanks again

Hello All,

A question for those of you who have a catalog or portfolio of "Other Available Artwork" in your art fair booth... Which do you have --or recommend-- a hardcopy or electronic presentation?  How do you have yours displayed in your booth... on a pedistal... on your desk... pull it out on request... other?

Thanks, in advance, for your input.

--Chris Fedderson

This year was the 62nd annual Talbot St show and the 1st annual attendance for me.  I sell functional fused glass pieces in the $35-50 range plus some decorative work that goes up to about $200.

Talbot St is on Talbott Street and a couple of side streets between 17th and 19th streets just north of downtown Indianapolis.  Hours are Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 10-5.  My impression was that the art and fine craft were of good quality with good displays and affordability, perhaps a level or two below the premium national shows with the highest-priced art. 

Others have written about this show previously so you can find many details in past blogs.  Here are my additional observations.....

Thunderstorms threatened much of the weekend, but didn't finally break loose until about 30 minutes into tear-down.  I don't know if the forecast affected the crowd size or demographics.  This year the first 3-4 hours on Saturday were packed with shoppers who were interested in the art and buying it.  Then at about 1:30 the crowd shifted to youngish couples with kids and the mood shifted from art sales to free entertainment.  Many artists I talked to had far fewer sales during the afternoon.

Sunday was similar.  Fewer but motivated art lovers/buyers in the morning and early afternoon, then a mighty thin crowd for the rest of the day as the rain got closer.  Lots of us made only half a dozen sales during those hours.

This show is run like a well-oiled machine.  They get it, and on top of that the staff is friendly and helpful.  Food trucks offer a tasty variety of food, and the nearby port-o-trailer provides air-conditioned, multi-stalled, gender-separated and well-kept facilities with toilets that flushed.  Even the neighbors -- whose front yards and driveways we're blocking for the weekend -- are a delight.  Mine offered the use of his shady front porch and bathroom for the weekend.  A neighbor down the street threw a bloody mary breakfast for the artists near him.  What a pleasure to have a genuinely nice, positive vibe swirling around the show all weekend.

It's worth repeating that the show is set up on residential streets that are old enough to be more narrow than today's streets.  The houses have been nicely renovated and the trees are lovely.  However to fit everyone in, the front 6' of your tent is in the street and the back 4' is up on either a grass curb or slanted driveway.  It's doable, and just requires some additional time and patience during set-up to get everything squared up and level.

My revenue at less than 2K was disappointing, but I expect to try this show again because the ingredients seem to be there.

June 2, 3 & 4
Mount Clemens, Michigan
Presented by the Anton Art Center
75 Artists
Deadline: March 1

Application fee: $20; Booth fee: $125

New this year: 

Marketing:

Uptown Art Fair, Minneapolis, MN, Aug. 5-7

Jury fee: $40; Booth fee: $550; 350 artists

Friday, 12-8; Saturday, 10-8; Sunday, 10-5 T

his was my first year at Uptown, and it was a long way for me to go for a single show (I live in Virginia). But it was a beautiful show, well-organized and structured, and I had a successful show, well worth my time and the expense.

I'm an oil painter, with pieces ranging from $100 to $4500. Many of my paintings are large. Not knowing anything about Minneapolis or the set-up of the show, I didn't know what to choose when the organizers asked for our location preference. I asked for a street location first, and ended up getting a location on the mall.

At first, I was bummed, but as the show played out, I was really glad that I ended up there. The street part of the show is on Hennepin Avenue, a busy street in the center of Uptown. I believe booths there were set up cheek to jowl, and I don't know if they faced the sidewalk or the street, which was closed to traffic. I do know that set-up on Hennepin was Friday morning, with the show opening Friday at noon. On the mall, set-up was Thursday afternoon.

The mall is a grassy strip between two one-way streets. Hennepin Avenue is at one end of the mall; the other ends at a road that circles a lake. I was near that end. Set-up was easy, storage was pretty much unlimited.

Registration is inside a building on Hennepin, and registration times are assigned. I was there early, and they did let me register early. The organizers were very nice, and had already helped me with a series of question.

Set-up on the mall was in shifts. The first shift, which included me, was for people who had tents on the grassy area between the two streets. I had a spot that ended up as a de facto corner, as I was beside a tree. I pulled up, and found that my neighbor had parked in the spot directly across from my van, so I'd have to haul my crap farther, and probably dolly. I decided to turn the van around, and at least get the back doors closer to my spot. My neighbor, seeing me do this, volunteered to trade spots with me, if I'd help her back up. I am a believer in omens and took Stephanie's generosity to be a good one.

Because of what I'd heard about vandalism at this show, I set up my tent but didn't put any of my art in it. I got my van out in time for the second shift, which was artists setting up booths in the street (where we had parked), facing the grassy strip.

Friday morning, I arrived early, set up my art and went off to find my parking spot in the Sons of Norway lot. I'd paid $55 for this; it was about a half a mile away. I am 60, am lazy and have bad knees, and while it was an OK walk in the morning, by 8 p.m., it felt like a long, long walk. My day started well with a couple who had found my art on the show's website (http://uptownartfair.com/), found me on the mall, came in and bought a $1,000 painting. Yay!

I sold four more paintings during the show and also got a commission, so it was a profitable weekend for me.

In spite of everything I'd heard about vandalism at the show, I decided to leave my work overnight. I spoke to painter friends who had done the show before. I spoke to police officers, who assured me that there were more officers on patrol, and showed me that they'd brought in huge lights to illuminate the mall.

I took my paintings off the outside walls, ziptied all my tent zippers, and then ziptied everything to uprights or stabars, and moved furniture to make it harder for someone to slip underneath. I had no problems, and heard of no problems. One officer said that the year that there had been the most vandalism was the year that a bridge collapsed, and all police were attending that disaster. Also he told me that he had approached the show organizers and helped them restructure the security plan.

On Saturday morning, I was able to get a very good parking space within dollying distance from my tent. Parking is a real problem with this show, and I felt like I'd been given a gift. I left my van there Saturday night, and took an Uber car to and from my Air B&B. This parking place was a real blessing when it came to take-down.

     The Garage Sale Art Fair was held February 27th.  I really look forward to this show every year.  It is great fun catching up with people and the deals are crazy good.  Usually I am there as a shopper.  This year I went with Connie to sell some of Norm's art fair equipment and his art work.  I have not helped her do a show in about ten years.  It was always fun being on the artist's side of the fence and I missed that.  It was really nice talking to the artists as we set up.

     So, three of us loaded up a cargo van, and I happened to be the only person with two good hands, and headed for Kalamazoo.  The load in was super easy.  We were able to park right next to one of the many entrances into the Kalamazoo County Expo Center.  So, the walk from the van to our booth was fairly short.  There wasn't any extra space around the booths for storage.  This event is held indoors and space is at a premium.  That wasn't a problem though because the van was not far away.  We were able to go back and forth all day to get things. 

     The doors opened at 9:30 am on Saturday morning for customers.  The line was huge and stretched out for a long ways indoors.  People said it was huge outside, too.  When they let the crowds in the place was packed.  At about 12:30 I heard thy had already had 6,000 people come.  Shoppers want to get there early because the deals are so good.  By one o'clock I was already seeing a few booths had shut down and left because they had already sold out.  

     This show is produced Michael Kifer and Bonnie Blandford's Road Wife Productions LLC.  They do a great job.  They were always visible to take care of problems.  Even though Saturday is wild and crazy they were both in great moods and they stayed like that all day long.  On Friday night during set up they served cold bottled water and pizza.  Someone brought in the best brownies to share, too.  Then, on Saturday, to encourage shopper spending, they have a drawing.  About once an hour they draw a shopper's name and give them $20 in Garage Sale bucks to spend at the show.  About 2 pm Bonnie began making announcements from artists for further mark downs.  Poor Bonnie was getting these announcements fast and furiously.  She happily stayed on course and kept making announcements. 

      Artists occasionally posted funny signs to grab the customer's attention.  This sign was on Alison Fox's table.  Alison came with a tons of things.  I walked by her booth about 2 in the afternoon and she was down to a few pieces. 

     This show had about 150 artists.  The artists were housed in to adjoining rooms.  There was food available to purchase from the concession stand in the building.  The food was not the highlight of the day and people were not there to eat but to shop. 

      This artist with the pottery sells a lot of his inventory every year.  I have seen him before but this year he was determined to get rid of it all.  This was taken later in the day when most of his stuff was gone.

There are about 150 artists that get into this show.  Many artists apply hoping to get one of those spots.  I saw several AFI members there.  AFI member Joan Tweedell was not far from our booth.  I have read many of her show reviews over the years but hadn't met her.  She had some very pretty work with her.

My iPhone usually takes crisp photos but I think it was taking a hiatus the day I was at the show.  I had to sharpen these photos.  Sorry about the blur. 

This really is a great show to get rid of your no longer wanted stock.  I have seen some strange items for sale at this show, too.  Last year someone was selling a microwave.  Every year there are a few strange items.  It is worth a try and you never know who may want that item you brought.  This show is a great way to kick off the new art show season.  See you there next year.

I won a great prize for doing something I should have been doing for years -- I made a small contribution to support Art Fair Insiders / Art Fair Calendar this year. Given how much I get out of the Calendar and Insiders, the call for artists, show reviews, etc., I wish I could have done more.

I am so appreciative of all that goes into running these sites/services and providing the wonderful support to artists across the country.

I won a free show from AFFPS (Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces)! They contacted me immediately with instructions on how to redeem it. Love those folks, always so professional and always doing something to help the arts.

Thanks to everyone who donated prizes, thanks to Constance for all she does.

This week I traveled to Kalamazoo, Michigan for the Garage Sale Art Fair put on by Bonnie Blanford and Michael Kifer.  I have attended this show several times in the past but this was the best one yet. 

The place was packed.  There were lots and lots of shoppers.  There were 138 juried artists with amazing art work.  Most of the artists had art work that they wanted to sell off before the spring shows start.  They were cleaning out their inventory.  However, the art all looked like it was in great condition.  There were deals there to be had and the shoppers were in a buying frenzy.

I tried to talk with a few of the artists but they were kept pretty busy by shoppers.  I don't recall any artist just sitting there without several shoppers in their booth.  I even heard some shoppers talking about the fact that it was hard to just leisurely stroll into the booths because they were so full of shoppers.  Many of the artists could barely bag up the sales fast enough to get to the next shopper.  What a problem, eh?

We arrived early to the show.  I think we got there about half an hour after the place opened.  There were lines already to pay to get into the building.  It cost $5 to get in and that didn't seem to bother anyone trying to get in to this show.  This show has a great reputation in the Kalamazoo area for good deals and this show has a great following of loyal customers.  

There are lots of people helping to make sure this show runs off well.  There were workers helping in the coat check room, at the door when you arrive, in the lobby, and inside the show area selling bags to carry to shoppers to carry their purchases in. Event staff was everywhere. 

People were allowed to check their purchases at the coat check room so that they didn't have to lug early purchases around with them all day.

Shoppers could also enter a raffle to win money to spend at the show.  Every so often they drew someone's name and the prize was $19 because it was the 19th anniversary of this show.  That is always a hit with the crowd.
This show goes til 4 pm.  I saw at least one artists had completely sold out by about 1:30 and he was packed up and gone.  Yeah, it was the yard sculpture guy and everybody seemed to be walking around with a piece of his stuff. 

But, by 2 pm you could really tell that the shopping frenzy was settling down.  By 2 pm there were also some artists that were offering a little bit better deal to entice those final sales before it was time to pack up and leave. 

There were some AFI artists there, too.  Barry Bernstein was there but he was too busy to talk to.  I saw Vinnie Sutherland walk by.  Vinnie has been to this show before.  Gayle Weiss finally got in this year after being wait listed.  She had some gorgeous jewelry that she rarely marks down so shoppers were getting a deal.

Connie also found Steven Huyser-Honig at the show. 
Sometimes I lost track of Connie because she
was always busy checking in with artists. She still managed to score some great deals as she made her way through the booths.

If you keep your eyes open you can find a few things you would never expect to see at an Art Fair.  This year's crazy find was a microwave someone was trying to get rid of.

The best deal for me for the day was I finally got to meet Photographer Jim Parker.  I have read his posts through the years and it was nice to meet him in person and his lovely wife.  Jim gave Connie and I each a photo!  Connie got a gallery wrap of Jim's famous "Dune Girl" and I got a framed "Dune Girl."  Jim has great work and I enjoyed looking at his display as did many other customers who kept Jim busy all day. 

This is a great show to clean out your old stock.  The shoppers are hungry and they were making multiple purchases.  This would be a great show to kick off the start of a new show season to make room for new stock.   Bonnie Blanford and Michael Kifer did a great job with this event as they have also done in past years. 

(Disclaimer) These photos seemed a lot sharper on my phone.

Has anyone done Stuart Craft fair in October?  I have hear from some people that Howard Alan craft fairs are essentially the same as the fine art fairs but I've heard from others to stay as far away from anything "craft" as possible.  I'd love to hear some feedback from anyone who has done this show.
THanks

Last weekend, I participated in my first outdoor art fair (I have, before, only participated in the inside, small art fair at my church in Madison, WI, First Unitarian Society, called Art in the Wright Place). It was an experience. Before hand, I had purchased a brand new Trimline canopy with mesh walls, French door--the whole shooting match. It arrived a couple of weeks ago with a shipping note indicating altogether it weighed around 200 pounds. My wife and practiced assembling it by watching a video they supplied. We would watch one step, turn off the video, go outside and complete that step. Then we returned for the next step until we had the whole thing up.

Also, before, the fair, I printed many new pictures (I am a photographer--www.photographybyjohnwoods.com). I got them matted, purchased frames and glass, and did that as well. I also purchased some new canvas prints of my work. I also created sets of note cards of my pictures. My work, by the way, is somewhat eclectic, with a lot of pictures from Europe as well as Wisconsin and other places we have traveled to. The night before the fair, which was last Saturday, August 10, 2013, we set up our booth. Though my vehicle for doing is a Prius, I got it all the back of the car, with the backseats down. The venue for the fair is a small town south of Madison on the Sugar River, and there is a park along with river, and that is where the fair took place. It is an attractive and tranquil place. It took us about 2-3 hours to do this as it was our first time and we were trying to figure out everything. We set our prices quite reasonably.

The next morning we arrived early, put up our pictures, organized the booth, and waited for customers, who started arriving a little after 9 AM. Paoli is in the midst of many farms with vast fields of corn. To make a long story short, we did not sell one framed piece nor any of the canvas pictures. We did sell most of our cards ($16 for 8) and we did sell some 11x14 ($30) and 16x20 double-matted prints ($60). At the end of the day, we had sold about $430 worth of stuff. I guess you could say I was disappointed. I thought we could do at least $1,000. However, this is a small fair, and the amount of people who came, while steady throughout the day, was probably around 1,500. In seeking to understand what was going on, we have attributed the small sales to both the number of people attending and the demographic, which I am not sure is taken with nice European prints.

Tomorrow we will participate in the Agora Art Fair in Fitchburg. We will take to heart the lessons we learned last week. We have even more cards. We have more matted but unframed prints. We will also have a good selection of framed works and some very nice canvas prints, including one 30x40 print of a restaurant on a bridge in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Provence. This fair is much better attended, and is situated in a town with many high-income residents. So I think the demographic will be more favorable to what we have. This fair has been well reviewed here in the past. I am hoping for better results, and I will continue to learn from this experience. I will give a report on my continuing adventures after the dust settles on this one.

I hate that my the first review I do for the Art Fair Insiders is a poor one, but I need to get the word out about this stinker of a show!

I spent the weekend at the Lincoln Park Art and Music Festival, in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Chicago. As a first timer to this show, I didn't know what to expect, but I was excited about this one. I usually do well in urban areas. 

The second we checked in for set-up, I knew we were in for trouble. We were handed name badges and a booth number, nothing more. No info about booth sitters, sales tax, restrooms, parking, or where to grab lunch. Nothing. Bad sign #1. And when I tried to find someone to inquire about these things, there was not a member of the fair staff to be found. 

Set up was fairly easy and convenient. There was space right on the street to park and unload and the weather was cool and comfortable. The fair grounds were right on a street on the lovely DePaul campus, so the surroundings were nice. Unfortunately, this is where the the nice and good about this event ended.

The show opened on a perfectly lovely Chicago afternoon to a trickle of patrons. From experience, I that the first hour or so of any show can sometimes be slow, so I patiently waited for the buyers to emerge. I passed the time talking to my fellow artists and soon realized that this was the first time that any of my booth neighbors had done this show. Bad sign #2. If this was a good show, you'd expect to meet some returning artists, right?

An hour passed, then another, and then another, still just a trickle of people walked past my booth. After 6 hours, I sold just one $20 print and one $18 set of cards, so we decided to pack up early for the night. (The fair hours were 12 noon - 10, but artists were allowed to close at "dusk".) The non-existent event staff didn't seem to care that we closed up 2 hours early. Bad sign #3.

We came back Sunday, trying to be optimistic. Again, the weather was perfect...Buyers should be piling in, right? Not so much. By 5:30 pm on the second day, I was nowhere close to making enough to cover my booth fees, so we decided to pack it in. Most of the other vendors were doing the same. We weren't allowed to bring our cars onto the street, but luckily we scored a parking space right around the corner. As we walked past the entry gate with our things, the event staff just looked at us and continued to charge their admission fees even though most of the vendors were dismantling. They even joked that they were tired of seeing walk past. Ha.

In summation, the Lincoln Park Art and Music festival was a complete waste of time. There was obviously no promotion. (An event in this neighborhood on a beautiful summer weekend should be teeming with buyers!) The art fair website was a joke....Just listed event times and the bands playing. The event staff provided absolutely no amenities or support for the artists. They just saw us as a paycheck and didn't care if the artists were happy or not. Out of the 55 artists there were just a handful of good quality vendors and quite a few buy and sell booths. Boo! Artists beware! Avoid the Lincoln Park Art and Music Festival at all costs! 

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa.  Did you notice my absence?  We were vacationing.  And it was great.  Even the add on.  Now that part has you curious, right?  That "add on" bit?  But first we need to highlight a word from the title of this post.  Promotion.

Promotion - yes, you could erroneously assume that I am going to give you a sales pitch on some paintings today.

Promotion - yes, and you could also erroneously assume that my job status has been elevated.  That I am now CEO of karencooperpaintings.com.  Oh, wait, I already am.  (Heheheh.)

But what I really want to do here is tie "promotion" in with that "add on" bit.

On our way back from way up north, the map lead us through Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.  Population:  more than Jefferson, but not 15,000 either.  We knew that Leinenkugel Brewing Company was in Chippewa Falls, and we thought, well, that 'd be something to do on our way through.  We were getting tired of driving, you know.  So we cruised around town, and accidentally found "Leinie Lodge", which turned out to be their "meet and greet the world" facility.  We walked up to their information desk to ask about tours.

Terry was the guy who greeted us.  Yes, they were getting ready to close for the day, in ten minutes, give or take a few.  But Terry was still hustling.  No lean on the counter and whine about the long day with this guy.

So, tours were done for the day, we had already pretty much assumed they would be.  We were planning on staying in town for the night, we just wanted to check time schedule for tours the next day.  Terry let us know that tour reservations were a really good idea, their time slots were already getting full.  He added our name to an open spot.  And could have left it at that, right?

But he continued.  What else do you need to know about Chippewa Falls?  We've got great places to stay, all kinds of restaurants, a stellar park.  Terry filled us in on all the local places.  And yes, he did mention the chain hotels and restaurants out on the interstate.  But he definitely highlighted the locals.  He pointed us toward an old-school style inn, just up the road from Leinie Lodge. called the Glen Loch Inn.  Probably a 50's era place, but almost impossibly meticulously well cared for.  Continental breakfast was simple but served on white table cloths.  The inn keeper was just absolutely gracious and friendly.  Does her own gardening, and it's as meticulous as everything else on the property.  The patio was perfect for the continental breakfast.

But Terry the tour guy also noted our bicycles strapped to the back of the Jetta, and mentioned if we enjoyed riding, that Chippewa Falls has a great park, with trails.  300 plus acres in the middle of town, beautiful trails, a band stand, a waterfall, even a small zoo.  We enjoyed.

And Terry also pointed us toward a great local restaurant on the lake at the edge of town, called (of course) The Edge.  Perfect.

So where's this all going you ask?  Promotion.  Terry's job was to promote Leninkugel.  And he did that very well, as a Leinenkugel host.  But he also promoted his peers, his neighbors, his fellow Chippewa Falls-ians.  Terry seemed to know that every bit of promotion he did for his neighbors, was going to come back around and be good for Leinenkugel.

Not all of us in the art world, especially the summer art fair world, understand that concept.  I see artists being protective, even secretive, about information that would benefit their peers.  It's not hard to find an artist based forum on the net, where artists are talking about who's copying who.  And "that was mine, and they copied it!"

Here's the thought to ponder:  everyone does better when the community is well.  Helping your neighbor is just another way of helping yourself.

So we're already planning an autumn trip back to Chippewa Falls...

Later, Cooper

And God said, I will smite your tent down with wind and rain and hail.
And Lo, the security guard will raise you from your slumber and lead you to your crushed and sagging tent. He will provide you with light and encouragement in your hour of need.

But beware the False-prophet who will stop and with forked tongue declare your type of tent is banned from many-a-fair, or at least Columbus. He will try to distract you from your work but he will offer no assistance.

And you will lose all hope as you attempt to rid the canopy of the gallons of water that have crushed it. You will void your tent of its water with a pocket knife by puncturing it 9 times. And you will have to break many supports to get underneath it.

 The bent and twisted tent will rest on top of your pedestals on your center table. As you raise it up you will discover  your ceramics knocked to the ground and jostled to the side, and you will be Sore Afraid. But you will discover that nary a piece is broken, cracked or chipped. And you will be amazed.  Other artists will not be so lucky and you will know you have been chosen.

  And you will take this as a sign. Your first born son, hearing your wailing and gnashing of teeth,  will declare: Father, should we give up, pack and go home? But you will not despair, only wail and gnash some more, then go out in very very early Sabbath morn , and I will provide for you. You will scavenge bricks  block, wood and Bar, and you will resurrect  your tent from the soggy ashes (and you will remember to  seek out the vendors who 'contributed' to your resurrection in the morning's light to explain your thefts).

You will then take inspiration offered from your offspring, remove all the artwork, rearrange your pedestals and tables so as to hide the destruction and the center pole. And you will be grateful that I sent your first born on this expedition to assist you as you cannot do this on your own.

And lo on Sunday morn, the sun will shine, the ravenous crowds will come forth in great hoardes, and they will wonder at your artwork. Any your son will rise at noon.

Man and woman alike will place money and credit cards on your table and you will make many sales, though not as many as the bearded Prophet with the Double wide Skylight  kitty-corner to you.

 You will be wise, take the money I have provided you in the face of disaster, and you will seek out a new, worthier canopy. You will turn a deaf ear to the vendor across the way who admonishes you for having an unworthy tent from Cosco  instead of the superior Walmart pop-up, and you will know it could have been any of the other 20 or more Ez-Ups that escaped my wrath THIS TIME. You will remember the other 4 destroyed Ez-Ups at the fair, and you will know that no foam-swimming-noodle could have altered my wrath. And  you will see the light.

You will have a vision of your Sta-Bar you used to support your demolished tent, and you will seek a tent made of that very same mettle and know that it is special, although a bit heavy.  And you will purchase a Flourish Trimline with Sta-Bar and you will not look back, lest you be turned to stone. You will know the added weight and  time for setup will lead to comfort in trying times and you will be glad you paid through the nose for this tent. You will give me thanks as you carry the Old One to the dumpster as even the zippers will work on your new canopy which always bothered you with the Pop-up. You will be joyful because the Trimline walls will even fit in their carry bag, which the Pop-up never did. You will consider it more than a long overdue investment for the future, it is a gift .

You will be thankful for the three years the Pop-up lasted and know you are meant  to upgrade. And Lo, from this day forward  light will shine brightly through your  own Double Wide Skylight on your artwork. Your Ceramics  will be much admired by the descending hoards and will find safe harbor from the fury of the summer storms to come.  

And you will  go forth and preach the good news to all Art Fair creation and make disciples of your new canopy and break the cycle of the Eternal Occurrence of the Same.

Amen

I have a show this weekend where the weather is "iffy" rain-wise.  I've seen mentions of using "swim noodles" in the roof of the tent but never having seen these used, I have no idea what you're supposed to do with them.  Flotation devices in case the water gets that high??

Cassandra