Markets and Festivals

Hi Guys

I am beginning to notice a pattern here (finally!) that most of you are really finding the business and making bigger bucks at festivals and markets, rather than birthday parties... am I right?
If thats the case, how do you manage to find out about them before they actually happen!
I would love to be more involved in that type of thing but I always seem to be driving around and then notice that a bloody huge happening is happening without me!!!!

what do I do??

Thank you guys!!!!!

With festivals, I usually hear about them from word of mouth. Only catch. You have to sign up to be a vendor sometimes a whole year in advance. If you pass a festival and it looks worth your while, stop and find out who is in charge and how to be involved next year, also what the vendor fee is or even what the average foot traffic is. This is my first year doing anything, (been painting a few months) and I googled all the major events I know about and look for vendor forms.

Good luck!

Check your local newspaper for community events. You can also check online for advanced notices in your paper.

Maybe you can find someone who already has a table/spot and see if you can come along Make a deal or pay half of the fee.

There are guides and associations that list all festivals in specific areas, or nationally too... I'm not sure exactly where they are (as I don't do them) but I know they exist... try tourism resources in your region as they will have a list for their area of all events and attractions.

google markets or festivals & your local city. This is how I've found them.

Er, no... I make a lot more on birthday parties than festivals!

I wrote to a couple of local township offices, to their event planning coordinator - found on the 'town of' website (mine and a neighbouring town) and told them I was available and gave them the link to my website.

I also googled 'festivals and events in ontario" and made note of those which were within my set distance boundaries.

BarbieSmith wrote:Er, no... I make a lot more on birthday parties than festivals!

How many birthday parties are you booking on average per month?

You will make more PER HOUR worked at a party, but you can often make more in a weekend doing festivals. If you can book yourself for 4 or 5 parties in a weekend, you'll do better with that, but many of us don't have that many parties falling into our laps per weekend.

I can easily get 2 or 3 parties in a weekend, but that's still $300-$400 -ish ... a GOOD festival can get you $600-$1000 or more, but you'll be putting in a lot more hours. Less driving around though.

wow. I was excited to get my $100 for an event! Way to go all! keep it rolling!

To answer your question - it varies so much! May and June I was doing probably 12-18 b-day parties a month - I was swamped (in my mind). I did one festival with Debi. This month (July) I only had 5 - slow month.

I prefer NOT to do festivals, though, so i don't go looking for them. I want to have some weekend time with my daughters

Google your city name with "fairs and festivals" and you should get some idea of what is in your area. You may have to open up your search to include a name for the surrounding area, for me, it was "central ohio." Once you get to a site for a festival, there is usually a "vendor" button, and you can download an application. Booth fees for the festivals in my area are all over the place, from 40 dollars for 3 days, to 600 for 2.

I would rather do parties, since at parties I do not have to pay to make money and I know what the outcome will be...usually.

If you do a few, you may find that others come to find you...I was at one last weekend, and someone come up to my husband and gave him a vendor application for a different festival, and they said that they would love to have me; since the price was right, so I signed up for that one too. You also might try the festivals that are coming up quickly, sometimes theu still have space, even if the date has passed, and you can get on the cancelation list too. I just lucked into a great festival in a couple of weekends was half the booth price!

The thing I have liked about festivals is the exposure. I picked up a party from realator who was having a big open house in October, they were next to me in a buisness tent, and my cards were going with a lot of the kids we painted and tattooed. I take one of my daughters, and she tattoos while I paint, and that really helps the bottom line. I pay her well, but it still turns out to be a money maker. I have the tattoo, glitter, and paint care and removal instructions on the back of my cards. My husband is the cashier, and he gives one out when he takes the money or runs their card. I notice a huge increase in the hits on my website after a festival.

You just have to spend some time looking, I am thinking that it is part of the job, until my name is out there and more of it comes to me.

A festival is a lot of work, but so far it has been worth it for me, and now that my kids are older, it is a way for us to spend time together (though they only get to come if they are working, or we would all go broke!) I started taking Perry's advice too, and we pack a cooler of food and drinks because the food is always expensive. It is nice too, to have watermelon and a nice sandwich instead of fried junk.

You might also look into farmers markets and flea markets. Booth rent is a lot less.

Good luck to you! It is working for me
Martha

I worked my first festival a few weeks ago and it will probably be my last. I am getting too old to 8 hours of non-stop face painting and it took my back and legs a good couple of days to recover. I was SO unbelievably sore when I finallly sat down in my car at the end of the festival! Plus I don't like being away from my family all day on the weekend. That's something I don't like about being a fp'er - the work is on family time. I do love the excitement of festivals and being part of the behind-the-scenes during set-up, hearing live music and the general festivity in the air, though.

I think a farmer's market is a great way to introduce yourself to the community and get your work and name out there, both for parties and for bigger events!

We did several festivals last year, and honestly did only OK. It's soooooo much time and work, you are totally dependent on the weather, and bottom line is- you can only paint so many faces in a given amount of time. So it would be like 6-8 hrs for the same amount of money of a 2 hr party. But if I can get say, 4 new bookings, it does make it worth it.

If I do another festival, I prefer one day events. If party bookings slow down, I will def do more festivals.