Come on down and enjoy the festival, located on Shell Blvd., in Foster City. Our booth is located in space #257 (DandL CREATIONS) and we sell shoulder sling bags, wrap around skirts and much more. A number of years ago, we had done the July 4th event at the Community Center and it was quite enjoyable and we are pleased to return to Foster City and hopefully we shall be doing this event for years to come.

Friday setup.   Was quite surprised to see a good number of vendors setting up at 5:15PM.  Since we live close by, we decided to head over there.   It's always a lot easier to get things up the day before the event.  We were only there about an hour as we just set up the canopy, put up the grids and placed all our merchandise and put up the covers and left.  Just don't want to bother getting in and out on Saturday morning.

Saturday.  Arrived at 7:15.  Somewhat overcast and slightly breezy to start the day.  Had plenty of time to set up since the show didn't actually start until 11:00.  However, you know there'd be people walking around long before it opened and of course, we watched the other vendors maneuver their way amongst the booths and set up.

I would like to say hi to my friend, Bill, the guy who emailed me and said that I was too negative in my reviews.  Everybody say hi...one, two, three...Hi Bill.

There was a good number of people during the morning and it was pretty packed during the afternoon with white wine sippers and there were still a lot of people roaming the street when we closed up at 7:00PM.  Sales started off slow for us until around 2-2:30 and then it came in spurts.  However, a huge majority of the people were just there to walk around and socialize and a good many of them had drinks in their hands.  After all, this was a wine festival.  I was hoping that the alcohol would loosen them up and they would spend some money.  However, they were still sluggish to break out the wallets, etc.  We did better than we have done at a lot of events this year, but not really great.  Noticed a lot of vendors just sitting in their booths and not making very many sales. 

THE MUSIC.  Thankfully, we were away from the entertainment and did not have to listen to loud music, which makes it difficult to make sales and would often run people out of the area. They had several areas with entertainment and one popular venue was the amphitheater, which was located in the back of the community center.

FOOD.  Went to buy some Kettle Korn and they had a sign 'Nickel Bag  $6.00.'  I asked the lady why is a nickel bag selling for $6.00.  "Inflation," she said.  "Deflation for me," I responded.  Philly Cheesesteak going for eight bucks.  Don't know about that.  I can't pay that much two weeks in a row.  My wife makes Philly Cheeses at home and quite often they are better than some at these shows.  They just slop it all together in one big conglomerated mess...beef, cheese, onions and pepper and throw it on the roll.  At home, we pick up a box of 8 frozen steaks from Smart and Final, get some decent French rolls.  Provalone cheese along with peppers and onions.  Total cost per sandwich  $1.90.  PRICELESS!!!!  Ya can't beat that.  It doesn't taste as great as the one's back east, but they are satisfactory.   For more info please visit our Philly Cheesesteak pages.

They were selling crepes there for $4, $6, etc.  I was tempted.  I love crepes, but I just can't fork over that $6.00 for one.  They are good, but have to watch my spending.  The Paris Buffett in Vegas has really great crepes and you get a good variety.  You can stuff your face with those....along with the other delicious food there.  My 3rd favorite buffett there.  The best?  Bellagio, that's for sure.  These things ain't cheap either.

CARNIVAL.  They had a pretty decent carnival/ride area for the kids and I guess that attracted a good number of children.   On the whole, I don't like doing shows with carnivals.

Sunday, May 31.  Even though the show started at 11:00AM, there were quite a number of vendors open when we arrived around 9:30 and there were some people walking around.  Sales were slow and people arrived later in the morning.  Seemed like two entirely different shows as sales were down about 40 percent for us on Sunday and a lot of other vendors were down also.

PROMOTERS.  Jerry & Co., did a great job as usual with this event and their expertise is highly appreciated by many vendors. 

FOOD.  Today I decided to try out the Bratwurst and Tri-tip sandwiches at one of the local non-profit organizations.  Actually, I had some thoughts about asking for a sandwich made with half a Brat on one side and half tri-tip on the other.  Maybe another money-making million dollar idea? Too wild...the world is not ready for that yet.  Anyhow, the Brat was $5.00  and sorry to tell you that it was sickly situated in the bun.  I looked at it and it looked back at me with a big frown.  It really tasted...well, I'm trying to be nice.  It was bad.  Sorry.  I even had some cold sauerkraut on it, but no hope.  We also had the tri-tip and it was kind of dry and had to be a sub-par member of the roast beef family.  Their sandwiches were lacking in personality.  Compare to Lockeford Sausage's Bratwurst.  Now, that is a sausage and it only costs $5.00.  Most of us vendors have had one.  That's a big-ass juicy delicious bratwurst on a large bun with loads of onions and kraut.  Now, THAT IS A BRATWURST.

TRI-TIP SANDWICHES.  You know, I think I missed out on a really wonderful tasting tri-tip sandwich in Tucson.  We've done a number of 4th Avenue Street Fairs there (The Parking Lot) and I guess that located on 5th St (I think) is a business that specializes in Tri-tips.  Man oh man, they had these big gigantic grills and they constantly had lines of 30-40 people throughout the day. Smoke all over the place and that's why the glaciers are melting. Our booth was located half a block from there and everytime I wanted to get one, the line was super long.  This is one of the better food businesses that I have ever seen.  You can also buy huge chunks of Tri-tip already cooked and bring it home.

WEATHER.  A bit cloudy in the morning with occasional sunshine.  During the PM, mostly sunny or partly cloudy, however you want to call it.  Temps in the low 70s at most and pretty darn windy at times.  Of course, you can't escape taxes, death and the winds in Foster City.

CUSTOMER OF THE DAY.  A lady came into my booth with an empty gigantic baby carriage, but with nobody inside and looked at our things.  After browsing around, she backs up and knocks over our bucket which contained some wooden swords.  Her daughter had a small dog in her arms and reached over and picked them up.  Still wondering where the baby was? Me too.  I kept looking inside the carriage and no baby there.  She took the carriage out of the booth and the daughter placed the dog inside and bundled it up.  Now, this daughter was of 'child bearing age' and I would have thought that....well, you know.....maybe put her own baby in there?  But no, they rode off into the sunset with their dog inside the coach.  My wife asked me 'who was that?'  I told her "That was the Lone Ranger.'

THEREFORE,  That is one of the reasons I have renamed this festival the Foster City Barks and Whines Festival.  Is half the population dogs?   All over the place.... little dogs, big muts...all kinds of dogs.  Actually, I don't recall anybody selling dog products and i am sure that they would have done just fine.

SHIRTLESS. There were these two guys in their 20's that came into my booth bare-chested with their shirts tied around their waists.  Were they trying to show off something?  Absolutely no physique and one of them had protruding breasts that resembled a young teenager in her budding years.  With no hair on his chest, you really couldn't tell that it was a guy.  Fools.  And I don't think that they were drinking either.

$$$$ IDEA.  I'll tell you something.  I have seen vendors selling doggie candies, treats, sweaters, accessories, etc., and there aren't really that many out there.  Get a bunch of doggie carriages along with a bunch of other things and you'll make a lot of money.  If you make a million dollars, don't forget my 20 percent commission.  Maybe you see a number of dog item vendors at dog shows, I don't know.  But if you hit the street fairs, you will do good.

THE CROWD.  Not really a buying crowd today. 

OVERALL the show was pretty decent and it was well attended by the locals.  Little bit of something for everybody.  Let's give this a vendor value of $200.  If they say they get 30,000 for this, they probably do.  My guess is 26,382.