MAKEFIELD WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION (MWA) AUTUMN FEST

PO Box 163

Yardley, PA   19067

www.makefieldwomensassociation.org

president@makefieldwomensassociation.org

 

Fourth Saturday of September

10:00am-05:00pm

 

MWA’s Autumn Fest is an annual fine arts and crafts festival held on the open field (no shade) of Shady Brook Farm located at 931 Stony Hill Road in Yardley (Morrisville), PA.  There were over 100 unique and talented artists and crafters exhibiting their work.  In addition, there were food vendors, continuous family entertainment, music, a comedian, a story teller, community organizations and local businesses.   

 

This juried show is run by a group of volunteers and 100% of the festival proceeds go to worthy local organizations that serve those in need.   They do an excellent job at keeping out buy sell vendors and accepting only artists and crafters who hand make quality items.

 

The show was well run and organized.  We saw large banners advertising the show in all directions.  One of the exhibitors near us indicated she saw plenty of newspaper advertising as well.  Post cards and flyers were made available to exhibitors and vendors to advertise in their community.   There were plenty of volunteers available to answer questions and direct exhibitors and buyers.  High school students and Boy Scouts were on-hand to help with unloading and tent set up.  Arrival time for exhibitors was spaced out and eliminated unloading issues.  There was plenty of easy access parking for everyone, including those with cargo trailers.    Porta-Johns were accessible in various locations around the field.   

 

The booth spaces were 10’x10’ with about two feet in between each space.  Early registration (before July 1st) was $110.  If you registered after September 12th the fee was $130.  Exhibitors were asked to donate an item that would be raffled off to raise money for MWA.     

 

In 2013, attendance was reported at 15,000.  There was a steady stream of people coming in and out of our tent; however, at no time was it so crowded that people could not move around.  Since there was no admission charged, an exact number would be difficult to assess.    Those who were at the show last year filled us with hopes of a profitable and busy show.  One exhibitor told us she ran out of stock by 1:00pm in 2013.     

 

Two things the MWA could not control were the hot weather and a non-buying crowd.  The day was bright and sunny without a cloud in the sky - the temperature hit 80+.    Potential buyers seemed weary from the heat.  The weekend before this show, there was another large show in the same area.  Perhaps people already had their fill of art & craft shows.  All of this may have contributed to the crowd being “lookers” and not buyers.   

 

The attendees seem to be looking for the free shopping bags, tape measures, screwdrivers, pens, pads, key chains, balloons, apples, and cookies that the businesses were handing out and not fine arts and crafts.   Parents brought their children for the free entertainment and pumpkin painting.  People would stop at our booth, look around, tell us our things were beautiful and then keep walking.  One mom indicated she came with her children for the pumpkins and had no idea “all this” would be there.  A man looked around for 20 minutes and asked if our price was negotiable because his wife would not let him spend that kind of money ($40).   I explained how long it took to make the item and he walked away.   Many people wanted to know Bruce’s technique for making things.  One man told us he had many old tools he did not know what to do with.  After looking around for several minutes, he asked if Bruce had his tools with him.  Jokingly, Bruce asked if he needed something fixed.  In all seriousness, the man indicated that he wanted Bruce to teach him how to use the tools to make the same things we sell.

 

By 2:00pm the exhibitors around us were getting very restless and started complaining about the non-buying crowd.  One crafter shared with us that she did not sell anything.  Even the food vendor lines did not seem as long as they usually are at these events.  We sold nothing over $17.  In the end, between the lack of sales and item donation, this was a zero show.  Because of the number of people attending, Makefield Women’s Association Autumn Fest has potential and we will probably try again in 2015…hopefully, the weather will be at least 10 degrees cooler.        

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  • Thank you for sharing this review with us and I'm sorry it was such a letdown for you financially and otherwise which forces me to ask you why you plan to participate again next year?  I'm glad you're so optimistic but it sounds like the weather wasn't the only problem with this show...in any event, thanks for the information and better luck next time...

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