This show should be better. Some people mentioned that they didn’t hear any radio advertising but there were huge banners across the main highway and good signs pointing to the event. If you got close to the show you couldn’t miss it. It is a nice location with perfect entertainment that encouraged people to listen but still walk around. The weather was a little warm but very close to perfect. The area is not super rich but good solid middle class. The quality of artists was very high. Yet I spoke to a lot of artists who sold either nothing or very little. I’ve done this show for three years and it has always been an “almost good” show. They have had trouble nailing down a date for this show. The first year they picked an empty weekend only to have Maitland move to the same weekend. So they moved it and ended up against the Mount Dora Craft show. They moved the date again this year and I don’t think anything major was going but the crowds just weren’t quite there. There was a fairly steady stream of people though and I did do better than the previous two years.
The treatment of the artists is great. Breakfast and lunch both days. I didn’t go to the artists’ dinner but I heard it was quite nice. Setup and breakdown are fairly simple for most spaces. Some spaces you can park right behind or close to your booth. The booth spaces are good sized and you can get a fake corner for $25 extra. They have patron dollars which made a difference in my bottom line.
It is obvious that the promoters have put some effort into planning this show and making it artist friendly. I don’t expect to be in Florida next year at this time but if I am I will give this show another try.
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