Show Report- Folk-fest St. Pete

Folk-fest St. Pete was, as you might imagine, a folk festival.  What does this mean?  Well, for us, it means we can take more art along with us, which is always a good thing.  It also means the crowd is older, and usually there's a good many art collectors.  This turned out to be one of our best shows.  It takes place in St. Petersburg, FL, which surprised us by having an awesome arts community.  The event was put on by Creative Clay Cultural Arts Center.

Specs:
Oct. 1-3
Cost of table: $150
Juried: yes
Tables/chairs provided: no
Indoor/outdoor: outdoor
Attendance: 25000
Profit: very high

Pros
-There were a lot of volunteers walking around to help us.
-Creative Clay provided breakfast in the morning, and water throughout the day.
-There was excellent community support.
-There were huge crowds all three days
-There was a nice variety among the vendors, not just the art vendors, but the food vendors too.  Much better than the average hamburger or hotdog choices we usually get.
-The festival included music all weekend, with such bands as the Indigo Girls, The Heavy Pets, and Dar Williams.  Awesome music all the time!
-The music definitely helped bring in a wider demographic. 
-There was great parking for the vendors.  We were practically right next to our car. 
-We knew a lot of the people there, so it was nice to see everyone again.

Cons
-If we were closer to the stage, the music may have interfered with chatting with our customers.
-Depending on your view of things, this could be a pro or con, but Creative Clay had a beer truck and encouraged the buying of beer to support the arts.  We thought it was a smart move, it was nice for vendors to have a drink or two during the day, but the only problem was by nighttime, we got several drunk customers.  They happened to be harmless, but I did worry that they would stumble into our display, knocking everything down.  So here's my public service announcement:  If you're drunk, don't try to handle expensive art.  It makes the artists nervous, and we can't understand what you're babbling on about.
-It is a folk festival, and we're lucky enough that our work blends into the folk aesthetic, but we had a friend who was very indie and trendy not do so well there.  So think about it before you try a folk show. 

Well, that's it.  A lot of pros, and almost no cons.  Overall, an excellently run show with wonderful people involved.  This is definitely one we're marking down for next year.