ESTES PARK ARTS AND CRAFTS SHOW
August 30 – September 1, 2014
Estes Park is the gateway to the east side of Rocky Mountain Park. There are many summer homes in the area and it is a destination for a broad spectrum of nationalities, income levels, and interests. I started doing this show in 2010 after, and I have done it every year since then. I also do the Memorial Day show in Estes park. Gross sales at the September Labor Day show since 2010 have been in the $3-$5K range, and I have considered it a good solid show. The show is produced by the Estes Valley Sunrise Rotary, Inc. and they do an all-around EXCELLENT job!!!! The town is packed for the weekend, and leading up to the show there was a lot of promotion on Facebook. The show is setup with 103 booths set up around the perimeter of Bond Park and in the parking lot for the town hall. Clean indoor restrooms are in the town hall.
SETUP AND TAKE DOWN. Set up officially begins at 9:00am on Friday but Rotarians are present to check you in as early as 8:00am. If you are early you can park at your site to unload. Street parking is available within a block of the show, but oversize vehicle and trailers have to park at the fairgrounds. Free shuttle service is available from there, and in town. Volunteers are available to assist with set up.
Takedown begins at 3:00pm on Monday and volunteers were there to help. The Rotarians who helped me with carrying merchandise tubs to my truck cut 15 minutes off standard knock down time. Like set up, traffic was controlled and vehicles were not allowed in until you were ready to load. After paying your sales tax, you get a yellow ticket. When your booth is knocked down and you are ready to load you get a blue pass to b ring your vehicle in. We loaded around 6:45pm and Rotarians were still there to help.
WEATHER. Temperatures were in the low 70s to mid-60’s. There were brief afternoon shows Friday and Saturday. Sunday morning was on the chilly side with rain showers off and on all morning. Fresh snow fell on Longs Peak down to about 12’000’. Four unweighted booths went over in a gust of wind Friday afternoon. There was a breeze most days with a few gusts. The fleece jacket felt good when the showers were over. The rain Sunday thinned out the crowds somewhat, but they were back when the sun came out.
THE SHOW. The town was packed with people and thousands went through the art show. There was seldom a time when people were not in my booth, and I had several repeat clients. Belts were my top seller, with holsters, suspenders, spur straps, and several custom orders thrown in. My sales were in the $4-5K range. There was a good balance of all art mediums including edibles like jellies and salsas. No buy/sell at this show. Nuts and bolts for the show are in www.artsdhowreviews.com.
ANALYSIS. I have come close to hitting the “home run” of $5K gross sales at this show a couple times. To make that happen, I will have to adjust my inventory to products people asked for which I currently don’t stock. This includes various little soft leather cases that can be made from “scrap” leather. Another are small handbags with internal holsters for gals carrying concealed handguns. My inventory of billfolds and wallets was pretty lean by this, the last shown of the season.
THE OTHER FUN STUFF. We were able to rent our favorite cabin that is just up the hill from Bond Park. It was built in 1898 but it is modern and cozy. The hot tub is great after a day on the street. Our son and his family came up for a cook out Saturday and we got to visit with our college and high school age grandsons. Tuesday after the show we headed for Brainard Lake on the advice of a wildlife photographer as a good place to spot moose. We didn’t see any moose and the parking lots at the trail heads for the alpine lakes were full. For plan B, we just took off on some trails thought the woods at 10,000 feet for some exercise. The trip home was in a longer roundabout way but we saw some new country, even though we have been living in Colorado for 33 years.
PHOTOS: Brainard Lake and 13,000’ peaks in Indian Peaks Wilderness area
Other show photos posted under "what are you doing this weekend" and " how scenic is your set up.
Comments
Addendum: The Estes Park show is very well-run, but be aware, it is NOT a good show for painters. Mr. Sherer's leather work is outstanding, and he deserved a successful show; I had a booth across the aisle from him, and LOVED his work. He is an exception to what I'll write below, because he offers specialty pieces at prices that a walk-through browser can afford. I'm a painter, so my pieces are admittedly costly.
If you are a fine oil painter, skip this one--this isn't the place for it. People--tourists, particularly--come through and aren't there to invest, but are more interested in the photography (there are a dozen nature photographers there), the scented candles, the wooden puzzles, the fairy wings and wands, the honey and homemade lollipops, etc., but original paintings just didn't move. That's not just my own experience; the feedback from the (few) others who showed original 2D fine arts was consistently similar. I even cut my prices 50% and couldn't move art; I went back home, doubled my prices and sent the same pieces out to galleries and sold them all. Still, I thoroughly LOVED my time there, so please don't read this as "sour grapes"--just be aware that this festival is more successful for certain mediums than for others.
They were there in mid-October. I just remembered that detail.
Does bigfoot s... in the woods? Dunno.
Oh, and one of our best customer couples who live in Florida stayed in that cabin you're talking about last summer. THEY LOVED IT!
Man, we're comin' there next year. Good grief. I'm only 7 hours away, about 400 miles. I don't know why we've not come there. We also have a customer who lives there and bought an original from us when visiting our studio here in Wyoming. I don't know. We've never done great in Colorado. But I sure wish I'd been there this weekend. I need some greenbacks to make this upcoming big ass tour we're doing later this month. Plus I could have used the outing in familiar country. We just don't get out enough when we come home from tours. Well, maybe we'll be seein' ya next time. WOOHOO!
Great review Richard, I wish everyone could have a show like that and write about it, equally well. Aloha, Nels.
Another Colorado tip for any day of the year: Bring an assortment of jackets, coats, parkas, dry socks, etc. Weather changes fast in the mountains. I've been fishing at Brainard Lake during a snowstorm on the 4th of July! The water is very cold, but I have seen hippies swimming there back in the 60's. I've also heard stories about bigfoot sightings. In a couple weeks the aspens turn color. The Peak to Peak Highway between Estes Park and Nederland is one of the top scenic drives during aspen season. I'll be there in two weeks to survey a building site for a log home I'm designing in Estes Park. I always bring the fly rod for emergency stops along the way.
Greg Little, make sure you have good all weather tires for November in Colorado. Roads are well maintained but it can get hairy during a storm. We usually get a good storm in late October or November, Then it is pretty nice until January.
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