Goodmorning Art Fair Insiders, my name is Eric and I am new to outdoor art fairs. I am looking for information on 10x10 pop up tents. I need a tent that I can put up and take down by myself and I do not need the most expensive. I am looking for brand names so I can review.
I live in the Charlotte, North Carolina area and if any one within 125 miles or so has a used tent for sale let me know by email.
Thank You
Eric
Comments
I use ABCcanopy. It's really sturdy and only a couple hundred dollars. This will be its third year of use.
I also work by myself, so I have to set it up and take it down on my own. However, other artists are generally more than willing to offer a quick hand, which cuts the time down to nearly nothing.
A little explanation: If you notice, the tent to my left has moved 12 feet into the street. As it got blown by the wind, it hit the corner of my booth and the whole thing went over. The tent to my right, which looks OK, while we were standing there, blew away down the street. Luckily our van was in the middle of the street and stopped it from taking out a booth or two. It was moving at a high rate of speed.
LOL. That was always our last step when taking the tent down. "Now time to hug the tent."
Yes, the tent is our friend.
Artists must hug their tents, regularly :-)
Yup, I use the same technique. I hug mine.
I wonder how many other artist see me doing it and wonder :-)
Also look at the "hard piece" they have in the bottom of the bag. The tent base tends to get caught on those plates and keeps it from fitting properly.
Thanks Larry. I agree about squeezing the tent into the bag. I try to hug it up and down before I begin to zip.
Kathleen,
That Undercover is easy to put in and out of the bag.
Here is the way I do it (and I have a terrible back)...
Roll the tentbag to the center of your booth spot. Stand it up on it's base.
Remove the sidewalls from their pocket.
Unzip the main section it all the way down, on both sides. (like peeling a banana).
Lift the tent out or tilt and shimmy it out.
Expand one corner to stabilize tent (so it wont fall over).
Pull bag out of the way.
Reverse for putting it away.
The biggest problem I found is when packing it away, people don't collapse it enough to easily fit the carry bag.
I don't lay mine down, at all, except in the vehicle.
I use an Undercover, which is a much sturdier type of pop-up with aluminum parts. If someone helps me get it out of and into the bag, I can set it up myself. I use water weights which I can fill at most art fairs, with some sand-filled smaller ones for back-up. The water weights are up to 45#'s each when filled, and we use a cart to transport to and from the water source and to wherever we need to dump them. Pretty satisfied with everything.
What you don't need is a $200 cheapo pop up. You won't be happy when that tent blows away into someone else's booth and you destroy their tent and their work. For under $600 you can buy a used Trimline or Craft Hut in good shape. Most people over charge, so, you may have to look a little. There is a place here where people post used tents. Or FB has a number of sites dedicated to people selling used art fair equipment.
In addition, get stabilizer bars and you need at least 45 pound weights for each corner. Unless, you are a Trumpy and don't believe there is climate change. If that is the case, then, at least buy insurance that will cover destroying your neighbors work and tent.
You may think I am being harsh. I had that happen to me a few years ago and it did not make happy that someone's tent destroyed mine.