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Hi Everyone! I've been lurking for a long time so I thought it was about time to earn my keep around here. Sorry there won't be any pictures. I was actually too busy all three days to take any!

Ok, here's the meat-

Artscape is a 3 days arts festival in Baltimore, MD. This year it fell July 15, 16, & 17. It is the largest outdoor free festival in the country. The organizers claim that 300,000 people attend over the 3 days and I wouldn't argue because I think I spoke to all of them. It's mobbed from 12pm-10pm Fri & Sat, 12-8pm on Sunday and seriously, I mean MOBBED.

Booths start at $500 and for that you get a 10x10 space under large festival tents + electricity. Some tents are 10x20, some 16x56 so you need to bring a frame to define your space. You can set up as early as Thursday afternoon and this definitely makes it easier. They change the layout of the festival every year but usually about 50 of the artists booths are lined up Mt Royal Ave. This street is divided by a large island and with the tents in the road you can't always pull up right in front of your space to unload, but I've never had to park more than 100' away. It's easy to dolly over. I think the other half of the booths have room to pull right up front but I could be wrong.

I got there on Thursday, checked in, got my welcome bag (1 warm bottle of water & a magazine about Baltimore), took my time setting up the display, then came back early on Friday to put out the jewelry. Traditionally this weekend is very hot, usually mid 90s with very high humidity, but this year we were spared! 80s with low humidity, hotter on Sunday but not by much. I was comfortable in my tent with a single fan. Friday and Saturday you have to pay for garage parking which will run $10-$20 depending on where you park. Sunday you can park for free about 5 blocks away.

Officially the show opens at 12 on Friday but my first sale was around 11am. Friday is a little slower than the weekend with the most people showing up after work. The crowd is extremely diverse. If you enjoy people watching this is the show for you. Baltimore is a crazy town and the crazies do come out. What I saw-- old women in bikinis & daisy dukes, old men dressed as gladiators (leather strappy things & bare chests!), lots of girls wearing very short butt-hanging-out rompers & wedge heels, 2 guys who would let you staple (yes, staple!) $1 to their bodies, a woman wearing a bird cage on here back with a parakeet inside, many tripping teenagers/20 somethings, piercings galore, tattoos of course, etc . But there are plenty of people who are shopping. I would say the funkier your work the better it will do at this show unless you already have a large customer base in the area. The majority of the jewelry I sell is under $60 but at this show I sell a lot. In the past people would buy 3-4 pieces, this year about 90% of my sales were single pieces. I sold less jewelry to more people so it made it seem like I was busier than I really was. Does that make sense?

Because of the crowds and the area theft is often a problem. If you do this show you have to have at least one other person helping you. There are no booth sitters and no one will really ever check on you so be sure to bring everything you need. There is a large police presence but you will be hard pressed to find an Artscape person to help you. The best help you will get will be from your neighbors. They usually put us veterans in tents with the newbies. The most annoying thing about that this year is the artists in the 16x56' tents are supposed to pull back to the curb leaving 6' in front of their display so people can walk down the aisle under the tent. I made sure my neighbor did this, then EVERY OTHER ARTIST in every other big tent pulled out to the front and no one made them move back, so I seemed like a jerk. I've done the show for 4 years and we've never been allowed to pull out but this year no one took charge. Oh well.

Back to the details-

as well as 100 10x10 artists booths there are also 50 (I think) 5x10' DIY booths, and 3 stages of music. Depending on where your booth is it can be very loud. The first year I was midway between the "urban" stage and "dj" stage. I thought I was going to die from the bass. It was also the year I made the most $. Go figure. There are also art installations, art cars, 2 kids areas, one sponsored by Target, one by lunchables. There are a lot of corporate sponsors, some are near artist's tents and can be very annoying. We had balloon bouquets at the end of our tent and it wouldn't have been an issue if there were very loud POPS every 15mins or so. There is a ton of food, but there is also a ton of beer and liquor. I don't remember hard alcohol being sold in the past but this year there were margaritas, lemonade w/vodka & some drink being served in a coconut carved to look like a head. Be prepared to have something spilled in your booth/on your display at least 1 time during the show.

Load out is a free for all and can be difficult to get your car in. They don't do a good job of clearing out the crowd so you also have to be very careful not to leave anything unattended.

Artscape is the most difficult show I do but it is also the one that is the most lucrative. And I think it's the only one where people ask to have their picture taken with you. I always feel like a rockstar here. It is a 3 day outdoor party that just happens to also have artists. And plenty of BS that somehow gets past the jury. I don't know if I would ever recommend it to anyone. I got back today and I'm sore, exhausted, hoarse from talking, and happy to have survived another year. And while I swear every year I will never do this show again, when it comes time to apply I send my best picture and keep my fingers crossed.

I must be crazy.