The Art in the Orchard Festival at Way Fruit Farm in Stormstown was a 3-day event last week. I’d like to share how it went for me and two friends.
On Wednesday evening before the Festival (July 8) we were allowed to set up our tent. Most folks set up the morning the Festival started…on Thursday, July 9. I was glad we could do ours ahead of time. The vendor tents made a circle around a huge grassy field.
We were in space #15.
Bert and I were able to set up the tent and get everything ‘nailed’ down so it wouldn’t blow away overnight. I was able to set up my tables and the gridwall so it would be ready for me in the morning.
We zipped up the back wall and put a 2×4 along the bottom edge to keep the wind from lifting the tent.
The tent looked pretty lonesome all by itself, but another tent was going up nearby so we knew things would fill in eventually.
Here’s the neighboring tent going up:
Day 1 involved 2-3 hours in the morning setting up our stuff in the booth. The festival was from Noon to 8 p.m. We knew it would be a hot day and shade was important. Bert had figured out how to rig up a tarp and fasten it between the car and the tent. It worked for a while, but by afternoon we had lost any shade as the sun moved overhead.
I thought this was an interesting picture, but you can see the angle of the sun kind of ruined any hope of shade.
My side was pretty easy to set up. The black grid wall was effective in enticing folks to check it out, but most people did not linger. I hardly had a chance to explain anything before they moved on.
Toni’s artwork did attract people, so she had a chance to explain how she made things with polymer clay.
Sue’s bags on two display racks attracted attention because we could move the racks outside our tent where people could touch them as they walked by. She sold a lot of bags.
We started Day 2 smiling!
Day 2 started out fine, but a pop-up thunderstorm hit after lunch. We discovered the tent was not waterproof! Water dripped on all our stuff…and into my bins. Some ink on tags was starting to smudge. By 4 p.m. it had stopped raining and we were supposed to be there until 8 p.m. At that point, I gave up…packed up my stuff and shut down our booth. Really stupid of me…my two friends could have stayed and finished the day, although Sue wanted to get her bags dried out too. I guess folks continued to wander around the field, but I was a mess. Turns out I was hatching a real tummy ache and made it home just in time…maybe it was something I ate…you know all that good smelling ‘food truck’ food!
When I got home that day, my daughter and granddaughter were visiting so I put them to work. They dumped out all my bracelets, one bin at a time, on to towels on the dining room table. They dried off all the plastic bags and the bins. An hour and a half later, everything was back in bins ready for Day 3. Whew!
Day 3 weather called for sunny and hot but no rain. Haha! We made it until about 2:30 and a gusty thunderstorm moved through again. Luckily, I managed to put the lids on my bins just in time. Only the bracelets hanging on the grid wall got wet. So, we sat around inside the tent to stay dry and by the time the rain stopped it was 4 p.m. The festival was over at 5 p.m. so we all started packing up. A few folks were still wandering around but really no buyers. Bert showed up to help us break down the tent and we put everything away wet. Yesterday, we got all the pieces of tent hung up to dry before we put them away.
What did I learn?
First of all, I’m just not cut out to stand around outside for three days! I’m basically allergic to the sun, so I had to wear my long-sleeved sun shirt so I wouldn’t burn. Made it even hotter!
Second, my bracelets…with most packaged in plastic bags…did not attract attention. The few that I did hang on a small rack attracted attention, but the tags that are essential to describe each bracelet got tangled with the wind (and rain). An indoor venue might have been easier to display things. My bracelets really needed an explanation and that was very difficult in the outdoor setting.
Third, success with selling anything at an outdoor even depends on traffic…people wandering by. Attendance seemed to be down this year because the People’s Choice festival moved back to Boalsburg. Apparently, they were very crowded this year.
Plan for the Future
I have decided I will find local craft shows that are indoors and 1 or 2 days long. I will need to redesign my display to suit the indoor setting. I may even consider offering a workshop where folks could choose their own beads (from my extensive pile) and make their own bracelets. The teacher in me would find that satisfying!
I did end up making about $250 at this festival, but I did not find it an enjoyable experience. Live and Learn! I admire all the folks I met who go to multiple festivals during the year. They are competent at setting up tents by themselves and seem to know how to go with the flow when the weather changes. I don’t seem to have those skills! If you attend outdoor festivals, please appreciate the work involved for the vendors!
If you have comments or questions, please email me directly at maryjkisner@gmail.com.