I was not sure what to expect from this event. Savannah is well known as a great party town, especially down by the riverfront. Oktoberfest would mean lots of beer and festival food. Savannah Riverstreet is a vacation destination and always has conferences taking place. We did well at the Riverfront during the Tall Ship Challenge in May. Oktoberfest was recommended by some of our friends. Our daughter lives there so no hotel charges. So we decided to give it a try. Thank goodness we decided to check out our space the day before. We found Scott, Riverfront employee, to get our parking pass for the next day and he said there was a slight problem. Uh Oh. :-0 There was a meager six-foot space between the front of our tent and the counter of the beer tent. Next-door was funnel cake and around this spot lots of picnic tables. Not a good picture. :-( Scott offered us another location – way down at the end of the row of booths, far from the music stage, food and beer tents. Hmmm. Close to the parking lot. Hmmm. Wide open spaces. Hmmm. :-) Throw us in that briar patch. It was a great decision. We still had lots of traffic without being in a highly congested area where beer, food and loud music would have been most interesting to the participants. There were lots and lots of jewelry and accessories booths. There were a few crafters. On our right they sold embellished aprons for women and men with verbiage on the front. To our left they sold folk art furniture and planks of wood with names or words made up from hardware. I saw one potter, two painters and three other photographers. The days were long running from 9am to 9pm Friday and Saturday. Sunday’s show ran 9am to 6pm. Sales Friday were moderate as typical for us. Saturday was pretty good with plenty of matted print sales and 3 large framed pieces sold. Sunday was a duplicate of Saturday. By the end of the show Oktoberfest turned out to be our 3rd best show ever. I will say the change in Savannah Riverfront personnel was a huge improvement. Scott and other staff checked on us several times throughout the show and were always positive and upbeat. Three days sitting on the Savannah River watching the ships and enjoying a “Wet Willie” (aka frozen beverages with a little kick so to speak) in the afternoon turned out to be a good weekend. This coming weekend we will be at Glynn Art in the Park on St. Simons Island, GA and we will finish the year with three (indoor YEAH!) Christmas Made in The South shows at Columbus, Macon and Savannah GA.
Love being on the riverfront.
Lots of happy shoppers.
Love your photography Winthrop Heirs! I saw your full booth had empty spaces by the end of the show. I hope you did well.
Comments
Congratulations on a great show Maryllis and thanks for the review. Love the photos, the show looks like it had a great feel.
What a good review. Thanks so much. Plus the photos -- if these folks don't invite you back next year they'd better think again ;), such good publicity. It is enough to make me want to be there also.
What do you sell, Maryllis? Photography? That had to be a heartstopping moment when you saw your original booth space. Just another reason to get there early, right? Waiting until set up time isn't always the best idea.