This was a weekend for singing the blues, as 400 artists desperately looked up and down the aisles for three days wondering when the crowds would arrive.
Winterfair Columbus comes courtesy of the Ohio Designer Craftsmen guild. It's held in the Bricker building at the Ohio State Fairgrounds, a sizable facility with ample parking and several exits for load-in and load-out. But the area outside those exits is fairly cramped, so there's lots of jockeying for a parking space and multiple trips back and forth with your cart. The artists at this show seem to always be remarkably courteous though, and work together to get the job done.
Set-up is all day on Thursday from 11am until 8 pm. The three-day show has fairly grueling hours -- 10-8 on Friday, 10-8 on Saturday and 12-5 on Sunday. Booth sitters make it easier to make it through the day if you're on your own. The shopping crowd is usually pretty hefty, especially on Friday and Saturday, so the artists grumble a little less about the hours because a few more sales trickle in during the evening. But there's a traffic jam of artists who are leaving after the show and many don't make it back to their hotel or home until 10 pm or later. Therefore the show can be exhausting.
The quality of art is on the high side, with very few booths that make you wonder how they got into the show. So at that quality level, and with a booth fee of $480, artists expect a healthy ROI of a few thousand at the least. Some, of course, have solid collector followings that allow them to reach 5 figures regularly.
But this year it was not to be. Friday brought the killer snow/sleet/ice storm that, at an accumulation of only about 6", would have made any reasonable person in the northern states just laugh and move on. But apparently Winterfair shoppers are a meeker sort, because by mid-day artists were rolling bowling balls down the aisles and hitting no one. Thankfully, the light crowd who showed up were prepared to shop, so some lucky souls were able to cover their expenses on the first day.
Surely Saturday will be slammin', we thought. We'll have the usual Saturday packed house, plus all the scaredy-cats who wouldn't go out on Friday. But alas, we forgot about the undying love affair between Columbus residents and their Ohio Sate football team which was playing in a championship game late Saturday. Apparently it takes all day for the fans to prepare for their viewing parties, or get pre-lubricated or whatever, because Saturday was another slow, slow day. Now the artists are getting antsy and depressed, lethargic and annoyed. It was a bad day for most of the artists, and also for the OSU team, as it turned out. The shortened Sunday hours were another typical-Sunday light showing, so in the end the Columbus Winterfair never quite materialized this year.
In general -- that is, other than this year -- this is a pretty good show with both high and low points. Amenities include the aforementioned long set-up window and booth sitters, plus fairly savvy buyers, food that's better than festival junk, artist-only restrooms, ample behind-the-curtain storage area, and a McDonalds right next door to pick up your morning coffee.
Low points include: 1) the deteriorating condition of the building (especially in the restrooms where some of those faucets have been dripping for years); 2) the relatively low number of new artists each year, which seems to be getting on the nerves of the shoppers because they remark more and more about wanting to see something new; 3) the need for more promotional oomph to re-kindle the interest of the public for this long-running show; and 4) the huge number of artists who must be fed by the dollars of a too-small market. Even in good years, the total revenue pie just isn't big enough to slice into 400 pieces. The consensus heard in the artists-in-the-aisles conversations was that the number of booth spaces should be cut by at least a hundred to give the remaining 300 a fighting chance.
Most artists I talked to said they would probably apply again next year. Some were so disheartened or disgusted that they hoped they could find something else for their calendars.
Comments
I was in Kentucky at a much smaller show and the ice storm killed us.. I was able to eek out enough to cover expenses and that was it.. I just got my acceptance for both the Cincinnati and Columbus Winterfair events and plan to do both. I've attended the Cincinnati one as a customer and never dreamed I'd be "in" the event. So I'll cross my fingers for two really good events.
No, the Michigan vs Ohio State game is a rivalry that goes back to the late sixties. Due to additions to the Big Ten, the schedule itself has changed. It's the last game in the normal Big Ten season. The playoff game is early in December.
I agree, these ODC shows are at the mercy of the Big Ten football officials, the UM-OSU game and now these Big 10 playoff games, especially (although I hate to admit it) Ohio State seems to always be playing in that game and Buckeye fans are as fanatic as Wolverine fans. Way to go Sparty!
So, isn't it the playoff game that is a relatively new wrinkle in the college football season that is working against the show here, Jim?
The Big Ten moved the last game of the season back a week, so the traditional Ohio State vs University of Michigan game will always fall on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This is a VERY big game in college football, one of the long-standing rivalries. Don't think they are going to change the date any time soon. And Winterfair is the weekend after Thanskgiving, too, so there's gonna be a conflict. Football does have an impact on show attendance. Most shows that fall on Super Bowl weekend have the same lagging attendance on game day.
Connie, you're exactly right. The booth fee and number of artists are both too large for the attendance. This show continued to be fairly reliable even during the last few lean years, but this year was pretty scary. It's hard to predict the future for this one.
Very thorough, very good review, Karen.
This is not happy. ODC is a great artist organization and this show "used to be" one of the top rated events. When we were doing art fairs it would jockey for sales with Ann Arbor and the quality was over the top fine.
I attended last year and saw lots of solidly fine work and a good Saturday turnout, but we stopped doing it some years ago because along with your thoughts it just seemed too expensive and large for the attendance. We always enjoyed it -- being indoors with lots of friends nearby and good shopping opportunities was really nice. The hauling in and out was not pleasant either because back in earlier years you could drive to your booth space. That really helped.
It is too bad about the game coinciding, which will probably continue in the coming years especially if those pesky Buckeyes continue to be such a strong team, so they are eligible for the Big 10 playoffs. (Go Spartans!)
Love Columbus, love ODC, and there is a loyal clientele. Rejuvenating the shoppers seems like a good idea. How can they do that?
Thank you for the review