Halloween Fair? To do or not to do...

Hey fellow artists,

I got this email after a gig I did today and I'm both excited and cautious about it.. Here's what it said:

Hi Jessica,
We are in need of a childs face painter for our event. I like the faces you've done shown on your website and your website looks great

Last year we had three face painters, the one doing childrens faces, not selling anything or doing wounds was incredibly busy. She paid our vendor fee then charged $5 for a face and easily made over $1,000 over Sat and Sunday. She came on her own and took breaks using a "we we'll be back at" clock I gave her to use. The other two faces painters were also offering products for sale. Last year we had over 3,000 folks over the age of 5 and countless under.

I organize this event and would like to continue having face painters as vendors rather than 'employees' as it simplifies things for me but it is your call. Our event is open before our Halloween Costume Parade called the Monster March as well so folks come streaming in to get ready for it.

I hope you would gladly pay our fee and be the recipient of the income as folks obviously did not mind paying last year.
This year I have approved a spray paint make up artist who create scenes with body paint but the kids and parents still love the more whimsical faces.
Of the others who join last year one has moved to the west coast and the other did really well with her artistic creations floral arrangements and foam pumpkin carvings and will continue with her booth selling those. (she has MS and can no longer do the faces). If you are interested please see email me or see our vendor permit online. www.scarefair.ca.

(Event Organizer)

ThE ELoRa HaLLoWeeN ScARe FAiR
FEATURING THE TWILIGHT ZOO
HAUNTED HOUSE, FIGHT LIKE A PIRATE, FACE PAINTING and MUCH MORE
THRILLS, CHILLS, VENDORS, FOOD, FUN, GAMES & PERFORMERS
October 19 ceremony 6 -10 pm with special guest performer Tim Holland
October 20 - 21st | 12 noon - 10 pm | Elora Centre for the Arts, 75 Melville St.
PRE-PURCHASE TICKETS AVAILABLE

TIM MURTON'S TWILIGHT ZOO
Over 70 larger than life Lantern Sculptures made with Wire and Paper
Thanksgiving until Halloween
Elora Centre for the Arts

Also, get your float and costume ready to join in the
ELORA MONSTER MARCH PARADE
a non-motorized march down the main streets of Elora
JOIN US AT THE SCARE FAIR AFTERWARD FOR A HAUNTINGLY GOOD TIME
Parade on October 20th | 6:30 pm | MacDonald Square

I'm nervous of losing money which is why I haven't done any fairs/festivals yet but I'm officially off Maternity Leave and I'm kinda worrying about finances..

They are giving you the option of them hiring you (at your hourly rate I assume) OR doing PPF?

If it were me, I would take the hourly rate. But if it is as busy as she says you could make more doing PPF... But I never take an organizer's word for numbers and earnings. You need to get that from the actual vendors.

See that's what I would rather do, but I don't know if she was actually giving me both options (even though that's what it looks like). I would even lower my hourly rate if it meant guaranteed cash.

Has anyone done a fair like this?

Looks like she wants you to pay the vendor fee, but she doesn't mention how much it is. It also looks like she is hinting that you will be the exclusive face painter, with the exception of an airbrush artist. Depending on the vendor fee it might be a great opportunity. Maybe you can negotiate a percentage of your take instead of paying the vendor fee up front?

The vendor fee is $100 for the 3 days but she said she can do $80 for the Sat and Sun since I may or may not be able to make it the Friday.

I mentioned that she could hire me at a discounted rate and sell tickets to cover her costs. If the face painting is as popular as she says it is she should jump on my offer.

I would want to talk to last year's face painter just to make sure but it is POSSIBLE to make that much money if there is a constant line and you only do 3-5 minute designs. The vendor fee is really low for a contained event where they are doing advertising for you so that is good. It sounds like you are exclusive and that is good...but...

I did something similar with Painted Otter last year (we split the booth because it was so high) and found out they had let 4 painting booths in. It was dead also because patrons had paid to get in and weren't buying.

As far as getting your rate...that's 24 hours of paid gig (remember to write your breaks in) so if you are charging just $60 an hour you'll make much more than I think you could doing PPF; if you charge more, even better. I did a successful gig like that where she paid my rate and charged a small amount to OFFSET the cost...so it was cheaper than fair prices so the patrons won and she won. She was getting a professional at half cost and the patrons were paying 1/2 cost of what it usually would cost them.

Never take promoter at their word. I've learned that the hard way.

D.

I'm also in agreement. Don't take the orgs word for it. These things can also rain out. I would ask how many other types of body art will be offered? Explain that what you sell is limited by the number you can paint & if there are a lot of other face painters/body artists (airbrush included) then you may be very slow on one of your potentially busiest weekends. Is it $100/day for 3 days or $100 for all 3 days? That's a pretty good fee in my opinion. Also ask about location. If they tuck you in a back corner on an off street, etc, people will pass right by you.

This was her reply..

Hi Jessica,

Thank you too.

I understand where you are coming from. At this moment I have already booked my two paid performers.
Last year patrons did not mind whatsoever paying for the face painter and it suits our vendors area really well since we are a Halloween event.
Patrons prepare for the Halloween Parade when they come before the Sat evening by paying to get their faces painted.
I appreciate your discounted rate. I will keep this in mind if nothing works out in the way of a vendor.

Thanks again Jessica!


So, is she telling me in a really nice way to take it or leave it?

I'm going to see if I can look up pics from last year, as well as the painter. I would love to do it, it sounds so fun, but the only place I like to gamble is at the casino (and that's only once my second beer is down lol!)

sounds like she will move on to the next painter if you decline. Between the lines it looks like "I don't have the budget to pay your hourly rate, but I will if we can't get another face painter" $100 IMO, is a great deal for a 2 day event. I usually pay that for a one day gig. If you can get exclusivity and a good location, weather permitting you will probobly bank a pretty chunk of change. I would imagine you'll have more adults getting painted because its Halloween, plus you know the kids will too.

Did you ask if she would be willing to negotiate a portion of the take at the end of the weekend instead of a vendor fee up front? That way you are protected in case of inclement weather.

That's a good thought, what would be an appropriate percentage? I'll be taking my brother along to do line managing so I'll have to pay him also...

The other painter emailed back saying it was very profitable last year. She's contracted to another event this year and that's why she can't do it, otherwise she would have returned.

That's a good thought, what would be an appropriate percentage? I'll be taking my brother along to do line managing so I'll have to pay him also...

The other painter emailed back saying it was very profitable last year. She's contracted to another event this year and that's why she can't do it, otherwise she would have returned.

I'm not sure what you charge per face, but here's some number crunching

If you average 12 kids per hour (3-5 minute designs) and charge an average of $5 per face, after 20 hours of painting you will earn 1,200. 10% would be $120.

At $8, you will make $1900, so 10% would be $190. Keep in mind, this estimate is in the busy end, not accounting breaks and assuming a steady line.

A more realistic estimate would be 10 fph, for 16 hours total (2 hrs of break time total each day). If you avg $5 /face, you will end up paying $80 (10%), ~$130 if you avg $8 per face.

I would suggest 10% for ease of cash out at the end I the day. It will work out in your favor if you are slow, however, if you are crazy busy, you'll be paying more than you would have up front. I would caution you to include "___% of proceeds LESS TIPS" so your tips do not count toward the total. Your tip jar may even cover the percentage you pay out. Assuming you go with 10%, you would only need to receive $5-$8 in tips per hour to break even. That's less than $1 tip per kid.

I hope this makes sense! Good luck!

I have been offering 10% for events charging a booth fee, and so far none have turned me down. Up to the booth fee is what I offer.
It's a win-win, because the event is getting their professional face painter which can be a huge draw, and the artist is not risking as much money.
In cases where the weather turns bad, or the crowds just aren't there, you really don't want to lose that booth fee.

Well when I asked about a percentage she came back with $1 out of every $5 I make which is 20% No thanks

I replied saying I would do Saturday and Sunday for $80 and she said sorry in talking to 3 other artists but I can give you Friday night for $50.

Are you kidding? I said I didn't want Friday and you want me to pay half the booth fee for 4 hours?

Moving on...

Ouch. 20% is way too much.
And there is no way I'd pay that much for four hours.
Doesn't sound like the organizer thought that one through before she shot that back to you.
Good on you for moving on.

I think she realized she could get more by having a different artist each day and charge them a "reduced" fee for the single day.

Whatever, I was really wanting to do it but now I'm not interested. Maybe I'll show up with my daughter and have a good time as a patron if I've got nothing else going on lol.