how to choose a fair

Hi everyone.

This is my first post. I hope you can share your wisdom with me. I've read some face painters make really good $$ working at fairs and festivals. I've only done a couple and have had some bad experiences (like nobody showed up the whole day). Or ended up being in a really poor area (that was my own fault for not google it before signing up). And the best fair i had I only made $50 profit.

I would like to know what am i doing wrong?

Thank you in advance!!

You might be doing nothing wrong at all! Some of it is the luck of the draw (and then of course, if you go to one and it's not good for no real reason then you don't go to it again). When you are at fairs, make friends with people at other booths. They can often suggest good fairs to go to. Also, start to scan your local papers and see which fairs are well-promoted. Clip and save and start a notebook. Then you can be ready to try for them next time.

We've all had our share of days that went bust. Still and all, wear a smile and have fun. You never know what contacts you'll make. I booked a big party from a little fair that I knew, as soon as I drove up in the morning, was going to be a bust. Still, I decided to enjoy the day, and a family who came by for a painting happened to also run a day care center, and hired me for their end-of-year event.

Treat it all like a magical journey, and watch the fun stuff happen!

Good luck!

@PartyCouture, you have to take those non-money-makers in stride! If you love your work and don't treat it primarily as a solid source of income (which you really can't in most cases for facepainting) then the steady climb upwards will be easier. I mean, I had to volunteer for a couple years before I had enough interest to start charging!

You could be underpricing or overpricing, so maybe take a look at that too.

Over the past 3 years I have worked different festivals, a few were great, a few were terrible and a few I even went in the hole. I have since weeded through and only book the ones that were very profitable. Now when someone inquires about a festival I give them a flat day rate cost to have me there. It takes some trial and error to see what festivals work for you.