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November 14 - 17, 2024
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Women's Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Pennsylvania Convention Center
Thursday 4pm-9pm, Friday 11am-7pm, Saturday 10am-6pm, & Sunday 10am-5pm
195 Artists
Deadline: April 1, 2024

Application fee: $50/Booth fee starts at $1350

The 48th annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show will showcase work by 195 of the finest contemporary craft artists from across the United States plus Guest Artists from Italy. All work is for sale. Artists receive 100% of their sale proceeds. The Show will take place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, conveniently located to restaurants, Chinatown, shopping, parking garages and public transportation.

This dynamic and premier Show has always been in the forefront of craft education by presenting symposia, on-site artist demonstrations, collection and studio tours, room settings of craft furniture and accessories, and student exhibitions.

More info: https://www.pmacraftshow.org/

Contact: Nancy O'Meara nancy.omeara@philamuseum.org

November 14 - 17, 2024
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Women's Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Pennsylvania Convention Center
Thursday 4pm-9pm, Friday 11am-7pm, Saturday 10am-6pm, & Sunday 10am-5pm
195 Artists
Deadline: April 1, 2024

Application fee: $50/Booth fee starts at $1350

The 48th annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show will showcase work by 195 of the finest contemporary craft artists from across the United States plus Guest Artists from Italy. All work is for sale. Artists receive 100% of their sale proceeds. The Show will take place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, conveniently located to restaurants, Chinatown, shopping, parking garages and public transportation.

This dynamic and premier Show has always been in the forefront of craft education by presenting symposia, on-site artist demonstrations, collection and studio tours, room settings of craft furniture and accessories, and student exhibitions.

More info: https://www.pmacraftshow.org/

Contact: Nancy O'Meara nancy.omeara@philamuseum.org

September 28 & 29, 2024
Oaks, Pennsylvania
Greater Philadelphia Expo Center
Saturday 10am-6pm & Sunday 10am-5pm
90 Artists
Deadline: March 3, 2024

Application fee: $30/Booth fee starts at $270

The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center is a new venue for the PA Guild, and we are excited to spend the weekend in this comfortable, climate-controlled space offering many amenities for our artists and patrons, including convenient free parking and easy load in/out. 

Known locally as the “Oaks Expo,” this convention and exhibition center in Oaks, PA, is located in the center of suburban Philadelphia, attracting locals from Montgomery County and Chester County, PA, as well as New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.

PGC’s Fall Fine Craft Fair features full & half booth spaces for up to 90 artists, many of whom do not exhibit at outdoor venues. The variety of quality fine art & craft mediums will entice shoppers who are looking for cutting edge, contemporary and upscale home furnishings, jewelry and accoutrements.

We create opportunities for traditional and contemporary artisans, craft enthusiasts,
and collectors.

For more info: https://pacrafts.org/
Contact: Aviva Foster shows.pacrafts@gmail.com

June 22 & 23, 2024
Lititz, Pennsylvania
Foundry 48
Saturday 10am-6pm & Sunday 10am-5pm
70 Artists
Deadline: February 4, 2024

Application fee $30/Booth fee $250-$700

For our Summer Fine Craft Fair, we move into the beautiful, climate-controlled, easy-to-access Foundry 48 Event Center in Lititz, PA. Located in beautiful Lancaster County and situated just off PA Rt. 501 N, this event will draw customers from Lancaster, Lititz, Reading, Chester, and regional cities such as Philadelphia & Baltimore. 

Foundry 48 is a new venue for the PA Guild, and we are excited to spend the weekend in this comfortable, climate controlled space offering many amenities for our artists and patrons, including convenient free parking and easy load in/out. 

Foundry 48 is 2 miles south of the center of Lititz, PA - America's Coolest Small Town - and nine miles north of downtown Lancaster, PA. The Fine Craft Fair is open to artists from across the country.  

PGC’s Summer Fine Craft Fair features full & half booth spaces for up to 75 artists. The variety of quality fine art & craft mediums will entice shoppers who are looking for cutting edge, contemporary and upscale home furnishings, jewelry and accoutrements. Fair hours are 10-6 Saturday and 10-5 Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults, with early discount tickets ($8.00) available online at www.pacrafts.org.

For more information: https://pacrafts.org/fine-craft-fairs/
Contact: Aviva Foster shows.pacrafts@gmail.com

June 22 & 23, 2024
Lititz, Pennsylvania
Foundry 48
Saturday 10am-6pm & Sunday 10am-5pm
70 Artists
Deadline: February 4, 2024

Application fee $30/Booth fee $250-$700

For our Summer Fine Craft Fair, we move into the beautiful, climate-controlled, easy-to-access Foundry 48 Event Center in Lititz, PA. Located in beautiful Lancaster County and situated just off PA Rt. 501 N, this event will draw customers from Lancaster, Lititz, Reading, Chester, and regional cities such as Philadelphia & Baltimore. 

Foundry 48 is a new venue for the PA Guild, and we are excited to spend the weekend in this comfortable, climate controlled space offering many amenities for our artists and patrons, including convenient free parking and easy load in/out. 

Foundry 48 is 2 miles south of the center of Lititz, PA - America's Coolest Small Town - and nine miles north of downtown Lancaster, PA. The Fine Craft Fair is open to artists from across the country.  

PGC’s Summer Fine Craft Fair features full & half booth spaces for up to 75 artists. The variety of quality fine art & craft mediums will entice shoppers who are looking for cutting edge, contemporary and upscale home furnishings, jewelry and accoutrements. Fair hours are 10-6 Saturday and 10-5 Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults, with early discount tickets ($8.00) available online at www.pacrafts.org.

For more information: https://pacrafts.org/fine-craft-fairs/
Contact: Aviva Foster shows.pacrafts@gmail.com

July 11 - 14, 2024
Centre Hall, Pennsylvania
Grange Park, 149 Homan Lane
Thursday-Saturday 10am-8pm & Sunday 12Noon-5pm
190 Artists
Deadline: December 1, 2023

Application fee: $35/Booth fee starts at $475

The People's Choice Festival was founded in 1993 and is a 4-day arts and crafts festival located in Centre Hall, PA (formerly in Boalsburg, PA). This show was created by PA artists for PA artists. This event includes 190 artisan booths, food court, specialty food vendors, wineries, children's activities, free music and live entertainment.

Amenities Include:

• Full set up day in advance of the festival with lunch provided
• Frequently Cleaned Restrooms and onsite facilities
• Overnight Security
• Booth Sitters (pending availability)
• Parking Located near booth space with 1 free parking pass
• Additional parking passes can be purchased (parking for guests is $7/day and there is no admission fee)
• RV camping Availably (arranged through Grange Park)
• Courtesy shuttle around the festival grounds

Apply now:

People's Choice Festival of Fine Art & Crafts

 For more information: http://peopleschoicefestival.com

Contact: Amy Madison aemadison@gmail.com

September 9, 10, & 11
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mellon Park
Friday 1pm-7pm, Saturday 10am-7pm, & Sunday 10am-5pm
85 Artists
Deadline: March 31

Application fee: $25     Booth fee: $450

A Fair in the Park is held in the lush surroundings of Pittsburgh’s Mellon Park. An estimated 20,000 dedicated visitors enjoy the opportunity to interact with over 85 regional and national artists working in a variety of mediums including clay, fiber, wood, jewelry, glass, leather, metal, mixed media, and two-dimensional art. Each year includes a variety of food trucks and additional activities.

All members of The Craftsmen’s Guild of Pittsburgh are eligible to participate in AFIP. Each year approximately 60% of the artists at the Fair are members of The Craftsmen’s Guild of Pittsburgh. The remainder of the artists are selected by a jury from a large pool of national and international applicants.

This public event is free of charge, held rain or shine.

Apply: https://craftsmensguild.org/a-fair-in-the-park/

More info: https://craftsmensguild.org/a-fair-in-the-park/
Contact: Carrie Nardini fairdirector@craftsmensguild.org

I know this is a little late, but the information within is designed to be bipartisan; understanding of the investment from the artist and understanding of the logistics from the promoter.

I live in Philadelphia, so it's hard not to love Pittsburgh...we're distant, competing cousins of one another.  Last year was my first year at Shadyside and most artists would have considered my booth "stuck towards the end" (towards Bruegger's Bagels), and I still had a decent show: expenses plus some and some more for the bank.

Logistically I would say that the show is a) lucky to be there and b) a set-up/break-down headache; and I would follow that by saying that a set-up/break-down experience is only remembered through the lens of how much money you make.  Has anyone done Three Rivers?  I had to dolly two blocks and the entire length of the park to get to my booth, but the money I made quieted my critical claims.  The parking situation is cumbersome, but only if you don't read your information packet.  My husband was a marketing grunt in a law firm in Philly, so all emails are treated with immediate responses: I haven't received one email from a promoter that was not worth opening--information packets are worth the time to glance over...DVR your show, and read on.

So I'm done setting up, and I'm parked at the "school" parking lot and before 10am rolls around I have people poking around my booth asking how much things are and if I'm going to be around tomorrow; sure sign of a veteran art fair walker.  I made my first sale around 10:15 (thank you square) and it was enough to almost cover my booth, not a bad start.  The energy of the neighborhood is young, and it rewards people who are not afraid to take chances with their medium.  I met allot of doctors, engineers, and young professionals (teachers, nurses, business folks, and masters students) who were not only interested in my work, but the whole picture of who I am as an artist--and that's rare.  My sales for Saturday were stronger than Sunday, but after Saturday I could have easily gone home happy.  The thing I like most about Shadyside is the people; of course I won't lie and say I don't like their money, but I am just as excited to bring them new ideas and designs, as they are to receive them.

If I could offer criticism to the show it would file under the "knit-picking" range: flower pots that block the sidewalk, sewer ranges that smell, trash cans that overflow, cars passing by three out of seven main avenues...but again, living in Philly makes me offer this caveat: if you're concerned for you and your clients well-being in a city environment to the point where an abundance of patrons is a negative factor...then don't do city shows.  Having done Rittenhouse and Manayunk in Philly I can tell you that the abundance of stress for set-up/break-down are well worth it for the sheer number of people that descend on the location.  The same can be said for Shadyside, and many other Howard Alan shows.  Who among you wouldn't go through the same trouble for Alexandria or Delray?  I can't wait to wipe the sweat from my brow this coming Saturday--and I know it's going to be a humid mess--to parade my work to those people who will spend their day off and hard earned dollars, on my work...and I know I'm throwing my hat in for Shadyside next year.

Anyone been to the Chinese place on Walnut?  Their $2 won-ton soup is OUT OF CONTROL!!  All my best to the community of artists who don't believe in the word "recession".

I've been applying to the CPFA show for the past 5 years to no avail, but I have just recently been accepted.  I've heard wonderful things about this show, however I have heard being on the side street is not so advantageous.  I've been placed on Fraser street.  My work is very edgy and usually attracts a younger crowd and I seem to benefit from late hour shows that go into the evening.  I do VERY WELL at the Deep Ellum Arts Fest, 4th Avenue Street Fair, Utah Arts Fest and shows in Denver & Chicago.  I have average sales at Florida shows, mostly towards Miami area and I do average in Tampa area.  I don't do so well in older/conservative/fine art crowds.  I have lower priced originals for not-so rich young art buyers and I seem to do better in Fair-type party atmosphere shows than I do at Fine Art shows.  Though my work doesn't seem to be classified as fine art, I have won Best of Show awards at the 2011 Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, the 2011 South Miami Arts Festival, and 2011 Highland Fest.  Anyway, I've also been accepted the Wyandotte Street Fair, which I've heard good/bad things.  I'm torn between which show to do.  My worry with the Penn State show is that I'll be on the side street and that my work won't be as appreciated as it will be in the center of the action at the Wyandotte Street Fair.  I can only choose one as they fall on the same date.  Can anyone please provide any insight on Fraser street of the Central Penn show?  Other factors include, I live in Utah and the Michigan drive is obviously much closer than the Penn drive.  The Wyandotte show goes until 11pm and the Penn goes til 8pm.  Can anyone please provide any pros/cons of either show?  Thank you so much for your help. 

- Tai

www.weirdchief.com

My work for reference to your help: