I am a pastel artist and I wanted to share info about this show, which is a fairly new show I believe. It takes place in Piedmont Park in Atlanta, and have been told it is similar in layout to the Dogwood Festival in the spring. Piedmont Park is a beautiful setting, and with the rains in the summer, it has been reopened to festivals. The way the show is laid out, there seem to be no bad spots. The circular nature is very democratic. Load in is notoriously bad, because there is only room on the road for your booth, and a vehicle, but no room for any one to pass. The show directors had sent out specific times for the artists to set up, and it was important you be there on time. We caravanned in, and we had an hour and a half to unload. It was enough time to set up your tent, and get everything in, and then we caravanned out. I would like to have returned and continued setting up, but I could find no parking on the street, and the artists lot wasn't available until Saturday morning, as it was next to a school football stadium adjacent to the park. I was told by a returning artist that the lot usually used in the park was under renovation so we were stuck with this lot outside the park. It was way too far from the show, and as I needed to get larger drawings out of my van 'cause I had no storage space behind my tent. (I was one of the unlucky artists to be next to a construction fence. They are renovating the Riding Club building at the north end of the loop.) I really hope they have closer parking next year, and I hope the construction fence is gone.The crowds were okay. I kept hearing from other artists that the Dogwood show is much more crowded. I also heard patrons that the word had not gotten out about the show, some of them stumbling on it by accident. This said, I had a really good show. I have only been doing the art festival circuit for 3 years, so I missed the go-go days, but at over 6K, it was good for me. In my short experience, I have noticed the South, excluding Florida, has been less affected by the economic downturn. In Atlanta I found enthusiastic buyers, all whom had never seen my work before. Now I have to say not everyone shared a similar experience. My booth neighbors both didn't meet expenses, so you may need to take this review with a grain of salt.Load out was not that smooth. Getting in the park was not bad, but getting out was horrific. We broke down and put our stuff to the side, so there would be room to pass, but there is always someone who doesn't care , and blocks the whole road.I will try to get in again next year.
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