Rising Sun Art Festival (Indiana)? Anyone heard of it?

I did that one the first year it was ran. Saturday was terrible, hot as blazes, and very, very few patrons. Sunday started off hot, and we got reports of a major storm coming up the Ohio Valley from one the hurricanes in the Gulf. We got out with about 15 minutes to spare before 70+ mph sustained winds came through. Major areas lost power for about a week. There are no inexpensive motels in the area, and it's in the middle of nowhere. I lost about $600 doing that show. The second year I declined to go back and didn't regret it.

The organizers are nice, there are good amenities, and so on. But the cold hard facts are that it is in an economically depressed area, and the major industry is a casino about a mile away that does not provide any traffic whatsoever. The locals are blue collar working folks with little inclination to buy art. As someone said, "man, you could fire off a shotgun while spinning around and empty the clip without hitting anyone."

It's a pleasant show, booth fee is low, and the city is trying to promote itself as an artist destination hoping to become an artist colony. Their heart is in the right place, but lodging is high, the customer base is way too low, and the money is just not there. I sold a single $20 piece the one day the show was open. I think maybe 25-30 people came into the booth the entire time. Most of the traffic was the other artists checking each other out. No one did well at all and most said they would not be back.

If you're local, and have minimal expenses, go for it. If you have to drive far enough that you can't return home at night, don't do it. I checked and see that you live in Franklin, IN. I'm in Indy, so you're maybe a half hour closer but that's still a good hour and a half on combined interstate and 2 lane state roads. It's just not that easy to get to Madison, Indiana from anywhere :-) I didn't even realize they had cancelled last year.

Replies

Megan Martin July 21, 2010 at 5:31pm

Thanks for the input - I had already decided to decline my invitation as there are just too many other shows that same weekend closer to home and without the added cost of lodging, gas, etc. I'm happy with the choice I made as I've since spoken to another artist that was there the first year and had an experience very similar to yours.

Hope you have a great season - maybe we will bump into each other somewhere...

Megan
Robert Wallis July 21, 2010 at 4:26pm

I did that one the first year it was ran. Saturday was terrible, hot as blazes, and very, very few patrons. Sunday started off hot, and we got reports of a major storm coming up the Ohio Valley from one the hurricanes in the Gulf. We got out with about 15 minutes to spare before 70+ mph sustained winds came through. Major areas lost power for about a week. There are no inexpensive motels in the area, and it's in the middle of nowhere. I lost about $600 doing that show. The second year I declined to go back and didn't regret it.

The organizers are nice, there are good amenities, and so on. But the cold hard facts are that it is in an economically depressed area, and the major industry is a casino about a mile away that does not provide any traffic whatsoever. The locals are blue collar working folks with little inclination to buy art. As someone said, "man, you could fire off a shotgun while spinning around and empty the clip without hitting anyone."

It's a pleasant show, booth fee is low, and the city is trying to promote itself as an artist destination hoping to become an artist colony. Their heart is in the right place, but lodging is high, the customer base is way too low, and the money is just not there. I sold a single $20 piece the one day the show was open. I think maybe 25-30 people came into the booth the entire time. Most of the traffic was the other artists checking each other out. No one did well at all and most said they would not be back.

If you're local, and have minimal expenses, go for it. If you have to drive far enough that you can't return home at night, don't do it. I checked and see that you live in Franklin, IN. I'm in Indy, so you're maybe a half hour closer but that's still a good hour and a half on combined interstate and 2 lane state roads. It's just not that easy to get to Madison, Indiana from anywhere :-) I didn't even realize they had cancelled last year.

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