8871844288?profile=original

Labor Day Wknd 2010: This was my first time at the Fourth Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts. This is a good, solid show and the weather was PERFECT both days. It was nice to do a show that made a good profit. The show is well managed and the community is involved! The committee running this show is invested in making it a positive for both artists and patrons. The Patrons....wow!... they support this show in numbers. The show claims 48K attendance, I'm not sure if it got to that number but there were hordes of people attending the show. The image above shows the attendance on Saturday around noon and it was much this way on Sunday.

The organizers have kept the show small, 120 artists. I think that's perfect. Booths are all in a line, up both sides of the tree shaded 4th Street, so no bad spots...patrons walk the entire show. Plenty of storage behind your tent and artists parking is near for easy access to inventory. Bring shims... you will need to level but not too much. This is a Zapplication show: jury fee was $25 and booth fee, $200.

 

Sales were strong for me on Saturday and if things had continued on Sunday, the show would have been outstanding. For many artists I spoke with, sales were down on Sunday though attendance was equally strong for both days. There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm for the art. A lot of folks come out to enjoy the creativity with a nice mix of young and old (no gate fee). Sales for me were mostly for small stuff, under $100, though I did sell a few pieces for $200 and one piece for $300.


This is a well juried show and deserves its top ranking. I would return if given the opportunity.


Cheers, Leo

 

P.S. Restaurants in Bloomington are FANTASTIC. I usually pass on the vendor food... but not here... fabulous.

P.S.S. Judy Goskey, good to meet you at dinner!

Votes: 0
E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of Art Fair Insiders to add comments!

Join Art Fair Insiders

Comments

  • *laughing* just incase you wonder if folks read what you blog - I'm thanking you for this review almost 4 years later!! I really appreciate the information you provided.

  • Leo: Nice to continue to hear about the small independent shows, and nicer to hear such good things about the setup, the people and the sales. Keep it up, it's appreciated.
  • I really like this show. It was our second year. We had two pretty good days. The committee did an outstanding job making sure everything was taken care of. I got to park right behind my booth. There was a lot of quality art. Big crowds both days. My kind of show. And Bloomington is a neat town. Lots of resturants with menus from around the world. I really like this show. Hats off to the committee. I wish every show was this well ran.
This reply was deleted.