Utah Arts Festival 2019 Edition

This was the second time I had done the show, the first was about 12 years ago with a different body of work.

This four day show, which starts on a Thurs, with longish hours (12 noon to 11 PM) is not as bad as it sounds as the late start each day is not as tiring as the usual 9 or 10 AM start time.

Work was variable good quality although there were some rubber swords and funny walking animals near the kids area.

Relatively easy load-in with staggered times and good logistics control. Load out either after 11PM on Sunday or come back Monday morning early for an even easier time. Partner hotel rates were as good as the nearest cheap hotel (Super 8) and within walking distance of the show.

Thursday saw intermittent rain and cool temps with low crowd numbers, things picked up considerably on Fri into Sunday with perfect weather (not always the case!) Best sales for me were on Saturday, others reported better sales on Sunday. Overall slow sales meant a low average selling show.

This is a well established show so people know about it, I'm not sure how much goes into advertising.

Some booths had storage, others not. Booth sitters were readily available snacks were only available the day of load in with water jugs to fill your own bottle available all times. There is parking nearby at various price points. Judges for awards were very engaging. Security is there throughout the show and even into Monday morning.

People that came into booths were engaging, not the usual walking dead, and asked questions of the artists but buying energy overall was low.

One artist comment that I read from earlier years suggested that this was not a fine arts fair but catered more to the music and beer component. There were many new artists to the show this year according to their advertising, it seemed like a lot of beginners/amateurs and not well seasoned artists and craftsmanship.

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  • Attendance was good

    Live about 9 hours from SLC

    Applied for the show every year since the first time, only just got in again this year!

    Maybe go back next year if invited

    Overall quality was medium there were certainly some gems and as stated above some head scratchers (plastic bow and arrows, rubber pirate swords and fuzzy characters?)

  • Thank you, Brian. Its great to get a review from you again. I know this is a very popular event and well-loved by the local community. Good attendance?

    How far do you live from Salt Lake City? What made you give it another try? What do you think about going back next year? Quality -- low, medium, high?

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