March 22-23
Casa de Fruta, Hollister, CA Nice weather...uh...nice
weather...uh nice weather...uh..nice weather This is a nice place to take the famiies, etc., on weekends. Great improvements here, especially for shows, etc.
However, crowds would be larger with more advertising, but nobody is spending
money. Recession. The store is expensive though.
April 5-6 Big Hat Days, Clovis, CA
Weather was great. Big
crowds, they came out for this one. Show is over-priced for vendors. A lot of
people did Manteca's Street Faire, but I would stay away from that one. They added
more booths (again) this year in Clovis. We were located all the way at the end of
Section J here in Clovis, but that wasn't too bad. We will not be
returning in September for Clovisfest, but the cost of doing show down here
is getting pretty high.
April 12 Street Fair, Los Banos, CA
Weather great...too hot?
90 degrees? vendors arrived early for this one in anticpation of early
lookie-loos. Crowds were much smaller than expected in mid-morning. Not great
for sales. Not too many vendors made much $$$. When I checked in, they did
not have me listed on their vendor list. Had to wait 10 minutes for them to get a
space for me. Three blocks of booths. Nice to have it end at 4:00.
People just out for a Saturday stroll. As for this show, take it or leave it...just
a fill in for me.
April 26-27 Cherry Blossom
Festival, Cupertino, CA Great weather. Fewer
attendee's than previous years. Entertainment was okay and came to hear/see them
play the large drums. Majority of the food booths was volunteers and served up
various Japanese foods.. However, there was a smoothie booth there and their drinks
were delicious. I had a pina colada and I wish I would have brought a small bottle of rum
with me. Very refreshing. There had to be at least 30 fewer vendors
this year, as there were NO vendors on the far side where food was located. Some
people had preferred to be on that side though and probably lost customers, but no big
deal. Seemingly, vendors that had to travel out of town were the one's
missing. Fellow vendors just are not traveling far to do shows anymore, as expenses
continue to mount to astronomical proportions and I had better take heed!!! One can
now expect virtually every event to be losing high percentages of vendors who have to cut
expenses and eliminate marginal shows. Perhaps, fees for some shows could be lowered
to attract vendors. We need a break!!! Poor shows like Pizza Festivals, Ripon
Almond Festival, need to be eliminated.
****
PROMOTER Festival Productions was in
charge of obtaining and providing vendors, etc for this event..Jeff and Jerry Cambra &
family (Festival) are perhaps the best of the promoters and do their utmost to provide us
with a successful event.
VENDOR ALERT I was given a phony $20 bill
at the street fair. BE AWARE!!!! INSPECT $20 BILLS CLOSELY and $100s,
$50s. USE THE MARKING PEN, IF POSSIBLE.
May 23-26
Millers Y Craft Show, South Lake Tahoe, CA
May 3-4
Street Fair, Ceres, CA
This is a small-town street fair that draws good-sized crowds from
surrounding towns. I really praise the promoters of this event. This is
a very smooth-running event which is always enjoyable to do. It was a
little warm over the weekend and somewhat breezy at times. However,
over the years, we have had temps up around 100 and super-hot; have had
rain and even a Sunday completely rained out a couple years ago.Decent crowds and they were buying
(on Saturday). Food booths run by non-profit organizations. Perhaps 100
vendors; quite a number of returnees.
This was our 13th year here...our longest running event!!!! Very well run; very organized. Other promoters should take
notes!!!! Smaller crowd on Sunday and they didn't bring their money. Probably
something to do with the position of the earth, moon, sun and Pluto, I guess. Back
to cheap ass Sundays. A good number of vendors still struggling.
I recommend that other promoters, Chambers of Commerce come here in 2009 and
take notes and learn how to run an event.
May 10-11 International Festival of the
Winds, Marina, CA
was completely blown away
by this one. Only two real vendors, the rest food and NP. A lady asked
me 'how come there aren't more vendors'. All the vendors (2 of us) will not be
returning next year. Not much of a choice of events this weekend for vendors. WATCH
OUT FOR FLYING CANOPIES. The canopy next to us blew completely over.
Got to secure those canopies, people. Half-mile from the ocean and you knew it. Quite a
bit of sun though, but a bit cool and windy at times. On Sunday, it was cold...very
cold and extremely windy ALL DAY LONG. Not many people; hardly any buying. A
fellow vendor was told that the attendence for the event yesterday was 13,000. Only
saw maybe 600-700, so that means that we ARE MISSING OVER 12,000 people. Has anybody
seen them? Did they drown? Did they get blown away with the kites? Hell,
I never saw them.Truly, one of the worst shows I have ever done Thank
gosh I didn't have to 'motel-it' for this one.
May 11 (2007) Windsor
Mother's Day Event, Windsor, CA
(no longer doing this
one)
Always on the lookout for a good show over the Mother's Day weekend.
Maybe should just stay home with the family and enjoy the Day.
We've done a show up in Windsor the past few years, but it just doesn't
work out. Ever do a show with three feet of space between the
front of booths? Very hard to load-in and load out. Can be
excruciating hot at times there.
Cold. Heard that this is
normally a great event. But not with snow, wind, rain and 38 degree
temperatures. All of the vendors I spoke too tell me how good this is.
You can never count on Mother Nature to cooperate up in the Sierra's.
I'd love to do this event again under the right weather conditions and
with a better economy. Very high overhead for us..gas, motel, etc.
A great show for the local vendors and so many of them do every event
here. Also, the shows at the Tahoe Middle School are exceptional.
.
May 31-June 1
Apricot Fiesta, Patterson, CA
Very nice weather this time with temps in the low 80's
and a very pleasant breeze. Decent crowds on Saturday; substantially lower on
Sunday. Many vendors did pretty decent on Saturday and darn lousy on Sunday; just
like Ceres when we were there last month. The Chamber of Commerce needs to listen to
the vendors. They moved a huge number of vendors to an adjacent street and sales
were down for all of them and it was difficult for our returning customers. Funky
hours!! On Saturday, the event ran until 8:00, forcing vendors to sit there for
extremely unnecessary long hours AND with very, very few sales after 5:00. On
Sunday....get this... they had us open up at 9:00. Now, seriously in all the shows
that all of us vendors have done, how many people come out on Sunday morning between 9:00
and 11:00. Had garlic fries on Sunday; "where's the garlic".
Lockeford sausages are still great. Had a Philly Cheesteak and it was
bland...absolutely no taste to it.
June 7-8
Cultural Festival, Hercules, CA
Appreciated the great
weather over the weekend. Crowds were down the entire weekend from
what other vendors told me. Not a good show...some sales. People
that came mostly watched the entertainment and strolled in around the
booths. Would never travel more than 30 miles for this one. No
lines at the food vendors. Only line was for the shaved ice.
Kids were very naughty and abusive.
June 14-15 Arts and
Crafts Show, Cambria, CA
Held at the Veteran's
Memorial parking lot on Main St. Very slow weekend and no influx of
tourists. Mike had a full complement of vendors...about 40 booths.
Many with exceptional art work. People just not spending nor are they
coming by. Cloudy and a bit cool on Saturday; On Sunday, the clouds
disappeared around 11:00 am. a bit warmer, but windy, as usual.
June 21 Chabot College Flea
Market, Hayward, CA
Local flea market for us.
Just needed something for a day. Held in parking lot along Depot Road
while parking lot construction goes on in theold lot. People lost,
disoriented. It was kind of spread out with vast emptiness between
rows of booths discouraged much walking. I think a number of vendors
were not located by 'regular' customers. They will have the Flea
Market on this lot for 2 more months..at least. To me, I don't care.
Sales weren't that great....but flea markets just don't scratch the surface
for me!!!! Heck...rate this 2 fleas.