Show is held in downtown area of Gainesville, up and down approximately 7 city blocks, somewhere in the neighborhood of 225 artists ( I think), sponsored by Santa Fe College. The staff is always friendly, helpful, and provide breakfast on Sat and a nice dinner on Sat night. Quality is pretty good, and once was the top art event in G'ville. Notice I said 'once', more on that later.
Set up is Friday after 5:30PM, streets are fairly narrow, so one has to be patient if someone's in front of you and you need to get there, have that hand truck ready, especially for tear down. Lots of parking on side streets and lots, so your vehicle is usually fairly close. Weather this weekend was perfect. Bright, sunny skies, comfortable, not muggy or hot, a rarity this spring.
On to sales, I am local, and I barely broke even. I spoke with several artists, and their experiences covered the whole gamut of zero sales, to good show, many said it was 'slow'. Take what you will from that. I have done this show for many years, and there once was a time that there was a solid wall of people marching down the streets from about noon to 3PM. Those crowds have not been around for a while now. I can't tell you why, but it's a fact. Yes, there was the Gator spring football game on Sat, but in years past, there was always something going on around this time, and the folks still came out in droves.
My 2 cents worth. Let's hear other's experiences.
Comments
I have nothing against promoter shows and will still do them at times. But when I can choose a show that has prior day setup, lower booth fee, and a nice artist dinner and do roughly the same sales that will be my choice even if the drive is a bit further.
Anyways Bert is right; I heard the gamut of sales... so your experience will vary. Artist treatment was good and the booth spaces roomy, so I personally plan on trying again next year.