Blog

HDG Seafood Fest is a great show in Maryland, just of I-95 at the mouth of the Susquehanna River where the Chesapeake bay begins.  Good 'shoes', a great mix of customers.  Friday is a "Let's get our costs covered day" at most 3 day shows and this is no exception.  We certainly did that.  Pretty well organized, fairly well juried with less buy/sell than average.  A few things I did notice - 

1.  The omnipresent "Crushable Hats" folks in the A/C portion of the show?  How do these people continue to thrive in our world?  There is a commercial portion in this show, and it's triple the cost.  That's where they belong.  These crappy hats are well sold, cost less than $4.00 landed from China, and they tie a ribbon on them and SELL them for $30 - $35.  Please, promoters, stop insulting your Jury Process by allowing them to compete for Arts and Crafts dollars.  Were it not for the plethora of people selling these things, there would be more quality handmade hats at the shows!

2.  The show starts at 3pm.  You can set up anytime after 10 AM on Thursday.  How do you arrive after 2:30 to set up your booth?  I would like to see the promoter turn severely late arrivals away.  Set up by 1 PM, and plan for traffic, etc.  If you truly have an emergency, the promoter should put 4-5 volunteers on the job to get the vehicle unloaded and the booth set up pronto.  If the 'story' isn't good enough to inconvenience the promoter, it's not good enough to inconvenience everyone else.

3.  Please, fellow artists - use common sense.  there are 2 electrical boxes in our area, 50 or so feet apart.  One box completely full, the other one unused.  Enough said.

4.  Whoever backed into my tent Thursday night and broke a leg, please at the least apologize?  I have already ordered a new one from King Canopy for $20 including shipping, so I don't care about the money.  I just hate that someone would do this and not fess up.  Shame on you.

I will report back on the overall show on Monday, but the weather looks great and I cannot imagine having less than a fabulous weekend!