This year's West Shore Art Fair in Ludington, Michigan was a pleasant surprise. I did not know how the crowds would be since it was the Fourth of July weekend but a good number of people passed through my booth. I would credit this show to my second best ever (although my art fair participation is just halfway though my second year). I recorded sales of $457.50 on Saturday and another $457.50 on Sunday giving me a grand total of $915.
The booth fee was just $125 - so my sales were seven times the booth fee. But the show hours were short. Just 10AM - 5PM on Saturday and 10AM - 4PM on Sunday. I was fortunate to get a booth at the corner of Ludington and Gaylord which made setup and teardown easy. For artists more inside the park, they would have to cart their art, tent, walls and displays to their booth location.
But because of the early closing each day I was able to take this shot of the Ludington North Breakwater Lighthouse...
I did overhear one of the volunteers saying that this year it was primarily focused on fine arts and some fine crafts too; but they want to bring this fair back to it's original form as a fine art fair. And the local restaurant House of Flavors sent servers to your booth if you wanted to order lunch. The volunteers were pleasant and helpful. The weather was beautiful and such a nice weekend to be in west Michigan!
If you too were at West Shore, tell us how you did at the fair. We would like to know!
Comments
West Shore was a fantastic art show for me, my sales were off the charts. It was the best sales I've had since before the economy tanked. I made 2600.00 the first day and 1100.00 the second. People were definitely shopping! The volunteers ran a great show, I was there by myself and could easily get a booth sitter for a bathroom break, they brought water around and had a nice little breakfast for us in the morning. I hope I can do this show again next year, and I would encourage others to apply, the organizers really mean to turn this into a great fine arts/crafts show.
Thanks for the review Scott and gorgeous shot!!!
Glad to hear that the new directors really did what they promised. I did the show last year and it had a lot of low end crafts and B/S, and I was afraid to trust that it would really be improved. So I went back to my old favorite, Pentwater MI, 10 miles south and one weekend later. Pentwater is only one day, too which is a big plus for me. I'll let you know how Pentwater went next week.
Thanks for the critique and BEAUTIFUL shot of the lighthouse!!!
BTW, I think that shot of the Ludington light will be popular next year at West Shore...