Archive for the ‘Craft Show’ Category
The Lenoir City Show
I couldn’t ask for a nicer venue than the Lenoir City Festival. I was literally steps from the lake and the view was beautiful. The weather this weekend was slightly overcast to sunny. Saturday was humid, but there was a slight breeze coming across the peninsula that made it bearable. It didn’t start raining until around 4:30 on Sunday when we were breaking down. It poured buckets. And even with my full rain suite, I was still soaked when I got home. Load in and out was very easy and the staff was wonderful to work with. This is a really nice show to do.
I was amazed at the number of Georgia artists. I met at least five from Georgia and one lady, a couple booths down from me, had been next to me at the Smyrna festival a couple of years ago. There was a lot of nice people and a lot of good conversation all weekend.
Looking down the path
My space with the lake in the background
The view from the back of my space
Going North
I’m getting excited because in a couple more days, I will be heading to Tennessee for another show! This is the big Lenoir City Festival that is set up on the banks of Ft Loudon Lake. This show was recommended to me by quite a few artists at other Tennessee shows, so I decided to finally try it. The best part is that it’s close enough to my parent’s home so I can stay and visit with them this weekend.
My shop is full of new inventory, still drying, that replaces what I sold at the Buckhead show a couple of weeks ago. It should be ready to pack up by Thursday morning so I can get on the road that afternoon. I have a Friday morning set up, so I want to get up there Thursday afternoon and relax before the work starts. The weather looks promising for the weekend, so I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes well.
This Weekend at Chastain Park
This weekend’s show was my first one this year that was dry both days. Saturday was overcast in the morning, but sunny all afternoon. Sunday was beautiful all day. Chastain Park is a great setting for a show. The show was set up along a tree-lined street in the middle of the park and seemed to stretch forever. There were 190 artists and the show was full of top quality work. The promoter did a great job in getting a good mix of categories.
Customer attendance to this first year spring show was a little disappointing. It may need a little time to mature and the promoters need to work on their strategy to get more customers in. However, customers were buying which made it a decent weekend. I had quite a few residents tell me how much they appreciate us being there and were excited that an event such as this had been brought to their area. There will also be a November show that I plan to attend.
Having all the trees behind everyone’s tent made for a nice setting.
Almost a Great Show
This weekend was my first experience at the Inman Park show, and I have decided that this one is a keeper. Saturday was pretty much a washout. The show opened at 11 AM and around noon, the sky decided to open also. There was quite a large early turnout, but it kept getting darker and darker, and by noon it was so dark that the street lights came on. It wasn’t long before the thunder and lightning started, followed by a heavy downpour that lasted the rest of the afternoon. Many artists shut down and left for the day, but some of us waited around until about 4 PM. There were people out walking in the rain and I still made some sales by staying a little longer. I was so soaked by the time I got home that I even had to put my shoes in the dryer. We had a 6:30 AM setup time and I had been up since 4 AM, so I was ready to crash.
Sunday was sunny and mid 70s all day. The crowd was so thick that I lost sight of the street quite a few times. This was an excellent show for me even though I only got one dry day. Sunday sales made up for Saturday, though I can only imagine how well I would have done with two dry days.
This is a big show covering many different streets. I was amazed at the number of artists. I went on a little “walk about” Saturday morning and it seemed to stretch forever. Every time I thought I had come to the end of the booths, I would turn a corner and find even more.
The tree-lined streets are very beautiful, with a mix of Victorian and bungalow style homes. I was fortunate to be across the street from a large Victorian with some of the largest azalea bushes I have ever seen.
Looking down the street from my booth before the crowds arrived.
Inman Park This Weekend!
This is my first time at this show and I have high expectations. I drove down there this afternoon to sort through the route according to their map. I don’t like pulling my trailer into an area, especially in Atlanta, without seeing it first. A missed turn in an unknown neighborhood can be a challenge when you are 30 feet long. Fortunately, it is real easy to get to and with a Saturday 6:30 AM setup time, the streets should be empty.
As luck would have it, the local news has predicted thunderstorms this weekend. I was relieved that tonight’s forecast now has the rain coming in Saturday evening. This may give us a dry full day on Saturday. Of course, they forecast severe thunderstorms at the Conyers show last month, and all we got was sunshine all day. I’m starting to think that they are running their forecast models on an I-Phone.
I’m looking forward to seeing some friends this weekend at the show. John and Paula at T&G Woodworking are woodworkers that I met a couple of years ago and we always run across each other at the Avondale show. John makes beautiful boxes and I look forward to seeing his latest creations. Kimberly Dean is a mixed media Artists and I haven’t seen her since 1996. We worked together back in the 90s’ and lost track until we became Facebook friends last year.
