This small show, which took place June 14 and 15, is put on by the New Milford Historical Society. It's situated on the green in downtown New Milford, a pretty, well-off, traditional New England town. It's in western CT, relatively close to Danbury. Lots of New Yorkers have second homes in New Milford. And they are lovely homes.
Set-up on the village green was easy. Because of where my tent was, I did have to dolly, but it was a dolly of about 10 yards. The lawn was fairly even and the grass was thick and rich. You're not allowed to use spikes of any kind to anchor your tent, because of an extensive sprinkler system.
I'm a painter who uses a palette knife to make contemporary, fairly realistic oil paintings and my sales were pretty good. Not great, but solid. Some people had clearly come to the show to buy art, and I was lucky to encounter some of them. The booth fee was cheap, and I had a free place to stay, so I count this as a successful event, though it wasn't among my top-earning shows so far.
The one difficult point for me was that my booth was beside a gazebo in the park. This would be a prime spot, were it not for the group of homeless and alcoholically inclined people who hang out at the gazebo. My heart went out to them, but as each day wore on, they became louder, and their language rough enough that it clearly scared potential buyers away. If I'd been in a different spot, this would not have been an issue.
Though this is a small show, it has a fairly long history, and it attracts people. This was the first year that crafters were allowed in, and the craft was of a pretty high quality. I'd encourage 2-D and 3-D artists and crafters to apply to this one, especially if you live in or happen to be in or near Connecticut.
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