beautiful setting in a shady park
friendly, gentiel southern Georgia folks, Hi Oliver
Tifton is in the southern part of Georgia about an hour from the Florida line and as removed from the hustle and bustle of the big city as you can get. They have all the chain restaurants and big box stores you could want but they're on the outskirts of town. The downtown area has all the charm of small town america with locally owned stores and restaurants. This is my second year at this long running festival (31 years) and again I was not dissapointed with my sales, I even won a merit award in the 3D catagory (I'm a jeweler). Let me give you the nuts and bolts of the show. Friday setup and you can pull up to your booth and setup. Saturday morning breakfast, and I mean breakfast, bacon, eggs, biscuts, grits. Awards were in two catagories 2D and 3D with best in show of $1000 awarded in both catagories, 1st place 750, 2nd 500, and six merit awards of 100. They arrange discount rates with the Hilton, but I stayed at the Marriott for $50 a night. No jury fee and show fee of $125. A good mix of fine art and craft with no buy sell in sight. There is local entertainment on two stages, quite good, but not intrusive. Saturday was very well attended, but Sunday was not so much. Mary Ann the show co-ordinator and her staff of volunteers were very helpful, boothsitting when needed & offering to get me food so I didn't have to leave my booth. Beautiful spring weather, crisp and cool in the morning, warm in the afternoon.
This is not a big show so you won't get lost in the crowd and the be backs usually come back. I would recommend this show to just about everyone, you'll make a good paycheck. But if you're one of the artists that doesn't like to interact with people that come into your booth then maybe this show isn't for you as the people of Tifton are very friendly and sociable and they want to talk to the artists.
Comments
the pic was before opening on Sunday morning, I just wanted to show how tranquil the setting was. Saturday is the busy day, I'd guess the attendance was a few thousand. This isn't a big show but the people of Tifton look forward to this festival every year and they have money to spend.