Just survived and returned from Barrington Art Festival. Survive may not be an exaggeration! It was brutal. Temperatures were 93 during Friday set up, 97 on Saturday and 98 on Sunday. Thank goodness for Italian ice!
Barrington Art Festival was an Amdur Production. It was well organized for both set up and tear down. The Amdur people stopped by the booth several times during the show to check on our health and well being. Several times, Amdur staff brought bags of ice by the booth. It was much appreciated.
Attendance was much lower than anticipated because of the incredible temperatures. However, my sales were surprisingly good. I was left wondering how much better they might have been if the weather had been cooler.
My booth was near the food and music area and right across the street from a home improvement vendor and the Cutco knife salesman. They provide a lot of financial support for the event so I overlooked the fact that this was a juried art fair. Most booths were original art work although I did see one guy unpacking shipping crates with Chinese written on them and a jewelry booth a few tents down was obviously selling massed produced items. I was originally wait listed for this fair so I assume we were added on to help fill out the event. Don't get me wrong, I understand that this is first and foremost a business. If the promoters don't make a profit, then no one has an art fair. It was an insignificant situation at this fair.
So, in summary:
Pros:
1. Well organized.
2. Easy load in and load out.
3. Excellent community.
4. Good attendance considering the extreme heat.
5. Art savvy buyers.
Cons:
1. Heat, heat, heat!
Good show. We'll be back.
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