I live in Asheville, NC and was wondering if there are any quality or decent art festivals in Charleston, SC. (Or if anyone knows of a good website other than Zapplication, Jured Art Services and Craft Master News to explore festivals). The only one I can find is the
Piccolo Spoleto craft show and I'm a painter, besides it's a seventeen day event.
Anyways, It's an easy four hour drive for me. I do a ton of festivals in Atlanta such as the Dogwood festival, Inman Park, Grant Park summer shade, Virginia Highlands Summer fest... I'm looking for a festival in Charleston comparable to those to explore that market.
Any info would be helpful.
Cheers,
Erik
Comments
Thanks Amanda. Yea, 17 days is too much for me. Someone needs to start a good two day festival in both of these great cities; Charleston and Asheville. Speaking of Asheville, for having a thriving arts community here there are not many good festivals here outside of locally driven one day indie festivals such as; the Big Crafty, Big Love, Art in the Park and LAAFF (which didn't happen this year because they didn't have the money). I recently heard about the Biltmore Village show but haven't done it and I hear the guy who runs it can be difficult to deal with. There was Belle Chere, which was a huge three day festival that ran for over 30 yrs and drew 300,000 people, but the city put an end to it last year because basically it was hurting too many local businesses during peek tourism season. It made sense and it attracted a lot of "drinkers". So, now I do what you do, I travel to other cities and it's been going fantastic, BUT.. it sure would be nice to not have to travel so far (i.e, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Fort Lauderdale etc...) when there is a great opportunity to have great shows in my proverbial backyard. Oh well, life can't be that easy can it! Thanks for the info! Good luck!
Good for you, "maybe we can start one." Wish you well for this great city.
Yes, how come we never hear about things in Asheville? We know that city is full of galleries and fine craft.
Hi Leif, Good question- I live in Charleston and I did Piccolo Spoleto this year- the art exhibit not the craft one. There is a juried art show that is 17 days in Marion Square- very high quality art and many of the artists have been doing it for 20 yrs+. I had an excellent show. However, it is a huge commitment 10-6 every day for 17 days- even when you are local- I had to call in all kinds of favors to keep my "other life" happening..The craft show in the Wragg Square by the church is the two weekend deal. Some of my friends do well there- but it is tough- they charge admission and the dirt as others have said, is an issue. I have started to travel to VA Beach and up and down the coast because there really are no other big shows here in Charleston- I will mention this to folks I know in that realm and see if maybe we can start one…:) What are the good shows in the Asheville area?
I subscribe to Carolina Arts News. It is a newsletter about art happenings in the Carolinas, and they send an email when something new comes up. They also publish a monthly newsletter. I have found it helpful for leads on shows to check out, but the newsletter is not specifically for shows. You might find it useful, too.
I'm with you and I am disappointed about this.
Robert, That was very helpful. Thank you!
So it sounds like there aren't many art festivals in Charleston period... which seems strange to me considering the climate (9 months of the yr at least, like Florida and there are more festivals in Florida than any place I know) population and medium income. I live in Asheville and there are quite a few here, but for various reasons I don't do well here, outside Asheville I'm doing quite well so I've kind of given up on my home town. Anyways you think Charleston would have more.
The Piccolo Spoleto show, the art fair portion, is a different animal than the 17 day show. It runs two different weekends with options for either one or both. In a nut shell, don't do it unless you live in town and then think twice about it. Sales are low, and you'll spend hours cleaning that gosh awful black talcum like powder that blows off the grounds of the church where the show is and collects on everything. It took about 30 minutes for a ring of grime to form around objects sitting on a table. You have to wash off your face and arms every couple of hours or so. After doing the show once, I swore it would be a cold day in hell before doing it again. Do a search on here to find reports on the show.
That's unfortunate. I appreciate the warning.
I can tell you what NOT to do. I made the mistake of signing up for the Gilmore Holiday Market that was held at the Trade Center in North Charleston, SC. First, let me tell you I was a newbie to the Gilmore Group shows. I did OK at their Columbia show, which is one of their Craftsman's Classics. I've since learned from other more seasoned Gilmore artists (that truly are artists) and now from real experience that if it says "Holiday Market" run away as fast as you can without looking back. It was truly a flea market full of 99 percent buys sells. They had pre-packaged boomerangs, Chinese scarves identical to what Dollywood sells in Dolly's Closet, packaged foods, canned soups, miracle healing creams, beach balls, just to name a few. One buy/sell was distraught because she found out the Gilmores sold three booths to people selling the exact same product from the same factory (lockets with charms). The lady across from me who was selling Christmas decorations was honest to tell me she buys and re-sells. Not all were that honest. One customer came into my booth to tell me how unhappy she is with the Gilmore Holiday Market--how it used to have only handmade goods by the actual artists and not all the buy sell crap. This particular person owns her own beauty shop and wanted to only buy things made by artists in America (hoo-ray for her) and when she saw a table overflowing with decorative barrettes, she asked the vendor if she did indeed make them and she boldly said 'Yes." So, the customer joyfully started gathering some barrettes for purchase and found where the some of the labels that said "Made in South Africa" had not been peeled off. So, this was not only a buy seller, but a liar as well. As another true artist there told me, that made us all look bad by association. I'm not saying I won't do another Gilmore show--they do have a good reputation--even though their prices are high for what you get (smaller than normal booth spaces is one) I just will never do one of theirs that says "Holiday Market." Hope this saves you from the frustration and disappointment I sadly experienced. And now that I think about it, I think the Gilmores should have warned me and others that really make what they sell about this junk.
Not as much a craft show list as those listed above and more selective, we also run callsforartists.com. It includes all kinds of shows, not just Zapp and JAS but independent ones through entrythingy.com and show's sites.
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