21 Facts About Selling Art at a Street Fair

Teastain Collection in Street Fair booth

The rain event day

You awake at 3:00 AM and check the weather channel online. Hourly forecast 6 AM – 2 PM cloudy, precipitation 0%. Today is a go!
Arrive at fair 5:30 AM. Everyone is sitting in their vehicles, engines running because of the cold, waiting for the drizzle to stop. The drizzle becomes rain and more waiting. It is now 7 AM, the street fair is open, no one is setup and it is still raining.
The wind becomes the second factor and all vendors become weather forecasters. Fingers in air, wind directions calculated and still…no tents setup.
9 AM. All clear and everyone begins setting up. Gloves, sheepskin boots, long underwear, and we are in the desert, freezing and working outdoors. (It’s hard to remember those summer days when it is 110°-120°)
10 AM and dear friend, the rocket scientist who works on the weather satellite, shows up at the booth.
My greeting and question for the scientist, “If the weather channel says 0% precipitation, why was it raining for 2 hours this morning? “
His answer, “remember the data is approximately 6-7 hours behind real time.”

The wind event day

Mid-day, early November and 40 MPH gust blows through the street fair.
Grab the tent and begin to pray that it doesn’t go airborne, even though there are 440 pounds of metal grid attached to the canopy.
A canopy from someone’s booth lands in the street in front of our space.
Finally the wind is calm, and the canopy in the back of our space is missing.
Oh yes, that windblown canopy lying in the street was ours; it took to the air, flew over our main canopies, hit a visitor from Australia and landed on the ground.

Bottom line about a being a street fair artist:

It’s hard work but much fun
The community of vendors become family
The returning customers are wonderful
You have incredible stories to tell
It’s fantastic exposure for your art
You MUST disregard the weather channel
Rain and wind are disastrous for artwork, jewelry and clothing
Working outdoors is a huge gamble.
If you’re a gambler it will work for you!

Have you worked at an outdoor fair? I’d love to hear your story. If not, I’d really like to hear what you think of mine. Please share in the comment area.

Chris Appleton January 4, 2010: Hey,
That was terrific writing, fun to read and sounded just like YOU. I could hear your voice as I read it and even see your facial expressions and body language, your hands – they move a little like Howie Mandel’s hands do – ever seen him do stand up? Your hands always remind me of his when you are talking. Miss your face!!! It is SO cold here. 18 degrees here this morning. YIKES. WHY AM I HERE????
Chris
jackie January 4, 2010: Nancy: Thanks so much for your wonderful response. I will forever remember the “special kind of mental illness.” I’ve wondered what my uniqueness was. I now have a great phrase to describe it.

I actually took a class in how to set goals and have them work for me. My goal is to stop working at the street fair in 5 years, and be showing my art at other venues. As a bit of an aside, in 5 years I will be 78 years old. That should definitely be the correct time to stop.

I really love your jewelry. Since there are 43 vendors selling jewelry at the street fair I show at, I can honestly say your work is distinctive. There have to be other venues that will work for you.

Last but definitely not least. I lived in St. Louis for 7 years, birthed two of my children there, and absolutely love your city. Thanks for writing, and let’s keep in touch.
Nancy Koehler December 31, 2009: Hey Jackie, Loved your story about street fairs. I always say that being in this biz is a sure sign of a special kind of mental illness. I have been doing fairs for about 10 years and have been involved in some duzzies. I am getting older and am thinking I may want to figure out a way to make the same money without the Post Traumatic Stress. Oh well, I will probably do it again in 2010. If I figure out a way to make that extra $ I will let you know.