Brighton’s Fine Art & Acoustic Music Festival and Milford Memories... curious...
Has anyone have review information on either of these fairs? I am working on my art fair wish list for 2014. I've had two different shoppers ask me if I would be going Brighton and one asked about Milford, so I am curious. This is my first summer, but I have noticed that I do better at fairs that are less craft oriented.
Thanks!!
Comments
umm... the Chamber talking up their own town and event... maybe not so objective. I'm not so sure about their numbers, since they have no way of qualifying them. Still, it was an unusually good crowd for Brighton, with unusually good weather. The stars must have been aligned. :)
I just came across this article from the Livingston Press about this show that should fill in some more information from an objective source: http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20130807/NEWS01/308070005?od...
Thanks for your thorough review, Paula.
It is a bit of a conundrum trying to decide if a show is worth the gas/hotel/etc. Brighton sounds like it has potential, especially if it were organized better.
Good to hear it did work for you, Paula. I had several phone conversations with the new coordinator this winter. She wanted to reach out to new exhibitors but never bit the bullet. Sounds like they need to visit a few other local shows to get logistics together, but this is a very nice neighborhood that should support a more than decent show.
We did the show as well, and I guess I have a slightly different take. It was our first time at the event, and we have been doing shows for 10 years and live just outside of Brighton. We exhibit glass, and I think we were the only glass artists there excluding jewelry. The show used to be larger, quite crafty and with a fair amount of buy-sell in the mix. This year they advertised 125 artists but the map had booth numbers up to 82, and not all of those were artists. It was a small show, running down Main Street in a nice little downtown area.
What we saw was pleasant but not much in the way of "fine" art, and craft. I could count maybe 5 artists that I see at other fine art shows in Michigan and Ohio. I only saw 1-2 booths that I suspected for buy-sell.
It is run by the Chamber, and they have gone through some show coordinators over the years. They still use paper applications, their plan for load-in and load-out was basically no-plan. They had very nice volunteers but their appearance was sporadic.
They were missing some small but important things - a traffic plan for load-in/out, enough garbage receptacles, a website and/or brochure with an artist list, artist name tags, and a clean street to start with. The advertising I saw seemed to promote the music over the art.
They offered a generous booth space at 12' and they did have a nice crowd all weekend, and from my conversations they came from town and nearby areas. The crowd was pleasant and interested in the work.
They had 5-9pm Friday night hours and we sold one small item. It was a good crowd but I did not see any packages walking by. We sold a fair number of small items on Saturday ($50 or less) and much to my surprise sold a few large pieces on Sunday and overall our show was good. We would do it again. Neighbors on both sides reported reasonable sales, especially of smaller-ticket items.
The hours on Saturday went to 10pm. This was past dark - it was actually starting to get dark in the downtown area around 8pm. The show did not offer electric. The communication from the show was that it was mandatory to stay open all hours, but artists are smarter than that, and those that were sitting in the dark simply closed when they needed to.
The weather was about as perfect as it could be - cool to warm, breezy, no rain, all weekend.
Overall, based on talking with my neighbors and from my own observations, it looks like the show is trying, and I'm sorry, but I have to laugh at the word "prestigious". This is not a destination fine art fair. I would really love to see them call upon the services of one of the professional show coordinators in the area and see what could be done to work towards that "P" word. :)
Thanks, Carrie. I plan to add Brighton to my 2014 wishlist. I did read how Brighton advertised themselves, but it is sometimes more beneficial to hear an actual vendor's perspective.
I just did Brighton MI. It is a very good show. This is my second year. It is well run and artist oriented. In and out is easy. The crowds were plentiful and my sales were very good.
The Brighton Fine Art and Music Festival is being advertised as "One of the most prestigious juried art festivals in southeast Michigan. This event draws highly talented local artists as well as national award winners.
I have never attended the Milford event. It is run by the same people who run Plymouth (MI)'s Art in the Park. Many exhibitors, quality is all over the board. It is well attended, people love it, there is lots of buying, but I believe there is a lot of "craft" and not in the best sense of the word. I could be wrong ...
Thank you, Connie, for your reply.
I had wondered if Milford was more of a craft show or not. One of the many things I have learned this summer is that if there are booths with dried flowers, I won't have good sales. I do better in a fine art environment -- although the vendors and the customers have been wonderful everywhere.
ALSO, I will remember to add the state!
As best I know, Milford, which gets very nice crowds, is "juried by check."
I have no info about Brighton's event. Don't believe it is run by the same people.
Also, Jill, it is really helpful for you (and the other readers) if you identify where "Brighton" and "Milford" are -- please always include the state.
For anyone reading this -- they are in Michigan, in metro Detroit.