At almost every art and craft festival, an artist interested in trying to sell their art or craft, and will ask me the following questions:
- Do I make money at theses?
- Where did I get my tent?
- How did I find out about this festival?
- How much does it cost?
I see the look of dismay in their eyes when I tell them my answers regarding the cost of the tent and booth fees. It can be overwhelming when you first start doing festivals. I know, I've been there. The questions they ask are good, but that's there is so much more they should be thinking about.
When considering selling your art or craft at a festivals, you don't want to take the approach of throwing spaghetti at a wall and see what sticks. You'll most likely do shows that are not right for you, which will leave you discouraged. What you need to do is
- set yourself up as a business.
- think about insurance.
- do research.
- find shows where you ideal customer attends.
- purchase a tent, one that fits your needs and budget.
- be prepared for a show and work with customers.
- evaluate your sales at shows.
I can't answer all their questions in detail when I'm doing a show. I'm there to sell my art. I need to be working with potential customers. So, I've put together a class on Udemy anyone who's interested in doing festivals that covers a lot of the questions I'm asked. It's an hour long and it includes worksheets to help keep you organized. There is also a resource list of where to buy tents, display items, and links to sites where to apply to shows and where to do research.
You can get this class with a discount on Udemy here
Here's a quick overview of the class: