Craft Fair

[cdrover(Clyde)]

Hi folks, I am looking for some advice. I have been to several craft fairs and they are all the same, 20 % crafts and 80 % resale and flea market items. I am thinking about hosting a Crafter's Fair. I have access to our church hall and can set up about 30 tables. I want to create a situation where other craft persons, (wood workers, quilters, knitters, jewellery makers,etc) can exhibit their wares and maybe provide a few demonstrations throughout the day. Have any of you done this? If so what kinds of problems can I expect to encounter. Your advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Dan26]

Good luck Clyde. I haven't done anything like that so I don't have any advice. I guess I'd check with the church to see how to handle any liability issues that could come up (like if someone falls and hurts themself). I think homemade goods like jelly, bread and candy would be good to include too.

As an afterthought, the resale items make your crafts that much more meaningful to many shoppers.

[GrayBeard]

In my area the Craft Shows have reached the point where they ban the 'resale' and 'manufactured' goods completely. I know of one show where they allowed Avon, Pampered Chef, etc. but put them in the far rear corner so the customers had to pass most of the other boots first to get to them.

Watch out for the TAX Man! If your area has a sales tax it will have to be collected and accounted for.

Check with the insurance carrier of the Church to make sure they are covered for such an event. You may have to take out a special 'umbrella' policy just for the event.

~~~GB~~~

Addendum...No edible goods allowed to be sold is a common thing so that the Church can serve snacks and make a few bucks themselves.

[tux_linux]

I've organized some events on sports.
My experience is that you'll have to take care of all what needs to be organized  or at least have several regular meetings in which you repeated(!) demand for each point.
You're in charge when something is missing or not working out - so the work is pretty much yours:

Tax	most exhibitors will be professionals, so the aspect should be covered. check if you need to take further action.
Insurance	yepp, but the church should have that covered - verify.
Music	I don't know your american rules, but in Germany you'll have to pay some fee when music is played in a event. Inspectors are aware of this - so should you.
Helpers	you'll need some help throughout the event and in planning. so get some folks that help you.
Additional costs	verify what needs to be payed to the church or other organisations around your event (e.g. for electric power). Make sure you've got enough money in the budget.
Drinking & Eating	needs to be covered too for visitors and exhibitors(!) & crew(!). May be the church members will help you on that (earning some money for their projects due to the sale?)
Competition	Think if you want to make up some competition for the exhibitors. Ask the companies for gifts - they have plenty of them (might be good to have a shop owner with good contacts to manufacturers).

It's a lot of work - but mostly worth the effort.
I could see that the planning was good when I had nothing to do on the event. All was working, all fine. Otherwise I'd have to run and take actions. Happened only once to me (electric power went off - had to get a generator, refill it with gas repeatedly, due to that no time for other things ).

[jimbo]

I don't think I would like to organize a craft fair, there is more to it than meets the eye, first off you have to get the rite crafters then organize tables advertising and the list goes on, but once you have the first one under your belt it should become easier
Best of luck
Jimbo