Monday 20 November 2017

Crafts in the Pen 2017

A short report on the event.
Crafts in the Pen is my main event of the year, so expectations were high as was pre-fair stress :)
In general it was good this year as well but with a twist. A few twists actually.
- it was really huge! 230 stalls and a quality of very high standards;
- the footfall was 4370 against 2590 last year;
- again a lot of people coming who had already bought some stuff from me, sometimes just to say hello and tell that my things are alive and doing well, which was really great. Thanks everyone even if you are not reading this!
 - the weather was really nice, I was well prepared and didn't got cold;
 - apart from overwhelming number of stalls, 1/3 of them were textile artists and 25 stalls doing just felt! Some customers comments that this year felt was everywhere.
 - with such massive number of stalls customers became bored, tired or just cold. They lost interest and forget to come back or just lost in the maze of streets.  Some stallholders complained about the scale of the show and low takings. I happened to be in a good position in the very centre with good light but other could struggle when it became darker.
I can't complain because I did OK but with somewhat mixed feeling :)
I posted some pictures below of neighbouring stalls and to give an idea of the size of the show:


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 




  



6 comments:

  1. A very impressive looking show Galina. I am glad you still sold well and was happy, especially up against so many other felters. How lovely of past customers to come along to say hello and verify their purchases were still going strong.

    Tracey

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    1. Thank you Tracey! It was somewhat a new experience teaching me to move on!

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  2. It looks this show has become a victim of its own success and that's a shame, I'm glad you did ok, it is soul destroying to pay out and spend days at a fair and not sell anything, do you have other shows lined up to take you through to the end of the year?

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    1. Nice to see you Teri! I will have two one-day local fairs - one with a local makers group and then ETSY Made Local event. In both it's just a table for smaller items, should be easy :)! I've read your post on your fair and glad that you liked how it went. Do you do ETSY Made Local in your area?

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  3. We'd love to have seen it all! Your area looked good. There must be a magic size that's just right for an event like this - too small is just as bad as too big.

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    1. The organisers need to keep some balance I believe! But the great footfall and large number of stalls is what they are after. Doing well from their point of view. I may be just become grumpy :) !

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