craft show

[malcy]

I organised a local arts and crafts show this last weekend for all types of amateur local artists and crafts people. Attached is a picture of my woodturnings displayed in the show. There was a lot of interest in how these were made and many questions about woodturning generally. I hope I managed to further the public's knowledge and appreciation of wood turning crafts. Malcolm.

[malcy]

Sorry. Forgot to add the picture. Malcolm

[Les Symonds]

Hi Malcolm.....I must have wandered into scores of small, local art and craft shows throughout the UK and am almost always a bit disappointed at the quality of work on display. Just occasionally one spots a single stall of good quality stuff amongst a very mediocre backdrop of rather less well made items displayed by its neighbours. However, your photo seems to show an very interesting array of work, both in two and three dimensions - it makes me think that I wish I'd been there,
Keep up the good work! Work of this quality deserves to be brought to the public's attention.

Les

[Graham]

Wow Les, you were up early/late this morning 

looks like a good show Malcolm.

[bodrighywood]

Must admit I don;t do many craft fairs any more as the expectations of people coming to them is of cheaper things they can buy with the loose change in their pocket. That is a generalisation mind as there are good ones out there. Also I have found that the bigger shows, if theme oriented are often a waste of time as well as people go for the events not to buy. If you do decide to have a go0 at craft fairs make sure that you have plenty of of sub £20 items for sale as those are more likely to sell that more expensive things.

Pete

[Graham]

Has anyone actually tried organising a high end craft show ? Would anyone turn up ?

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Malcy well done, not just on the works on display on your stand which look to be of a very high quality indeed but also on having the initiative to grasp the nettle and organise your own craft fair.


Putting on my SW rep's hat now, if anyone ever wants leaflets to advertise/publicise the AWGB at an event either get in touch with your local rep or Sam Webber the Secretary, we can't send you 100's of leaflets but a few to display and show what we are about and maybe pass on to those that are interested.

[bodrighywood]

Depends what you mean by 'high end' Graham. There are a few biggies and also specialised ones like the Oak Fair in August which is all wood. The organisation involved is horrendous though so it is usually organisations that do it rather than individuals. The ones that Les described and I avoid are usually for the smaller hobby crafters and are populated by card makers, small end jewellery makers and general fabric crafts. and quite often are the ones with loads of people selling imported work as well. There is nothing wrong with them per se but if you want to sell more expensive higher end work you need to look either to the galleries or the larger multi day shows.

Pete

[Graham]

I suppose they would end up being self defeating, to expensive for the stalls as well as the customers.

[bodrighywood]

For the higher end shows you are looking at three figures but are more likely to get higher end customers in actually prepared to spend not just browse. I suppose it depends whether you are trying to earn a living or just cover the costs of your hobby.

Pete

[David Buskell]

Organising a high-end (or any craft fair) is a nightmare. Far  better to let companies like Oakleigh, ICHF and others do it.

Expect to pay around £120 - 150 per stall per day to include, table, chairs and electrics.

A good fair will have a web presence and also have littered the local area with fliers.

This doesn't always mean you will get customers through the door and indeed those that will pay good prices, but at least the organisers will have tried!

David

[TWiG]

                                                                                                                  Malcom  without seeing your work close up , it appears to be segmented work , of which I have no experience of , but understand that the degree of skill  and time that goes in to making them must result in what should be a pretty expensive item and would consider a local craft fair to be an unsuitable venue for such work ( just my opinion ) I am curious as to if  you sold  any, and were you happy with what you received ? If so then all is good !  

[malcy]

Hi guys. Thanks for the comments. This show was not a craft fair per se. It was an arts and crafts exhibition of work carried out within my community for anyone to display what they made. Nothing was for sale, only to display the array of talents in the area. Having said that some people sold some things after the event as we sold a catalogue of contributors with their contact details. I sold a pair of open segmented candle holders in this way and the money went to charity, Action For Children. I agree with the comments about crafts fairs, generally and especially with my open segmented work - people will not pay a couple of hundred pounds for these at these events. That is why I don't do them and only sell by word of mouth or on the internet, although I am currently pursuing some quality gallery outlets. Any money I get for these goes to this charity, but people have to pay the prices for the time and work involved. Hope this clarifies this for you all. Malcolm.

[Les Symonds]

Thanks for explaining that, Malcolm, and well done for being so altruistic. Given that you are donating the proceeds to charity, there is less pressure to charge a realistic price that provides the maker with  a living, which could undervalue your excellent work. So it's good that you've sold them in this way and kept the value up at a realistic level.

Les

[TWiG]

I completely agree with what Gwyntog says and well done and thank you !