6.01.2011

Mayfair 2011

Well the results are in, and attendance was down... way down.. almost 30% down. Was it the weather? A bad music line up? Other things to do? Or is the show just dying a slow death?? I'm not sure.

Last year was good. I really thought that this show was on the upswing. I was telling people about it, telling them that I was doing good, making pretty decent sales, and that I saw potential for it to return to its former greatness.

But this year took all of that away. I could have done worse, much worse. Sales were down 15% and if you consider the attendance difference between last year and this year, I could have been down 15% more, easily.

My best nights were Friday and Saturday. I am glad that once again I chose to do all the five days of the festival, if I had chosen to do just the weekend, I would have been way, way, way down in sales. Sunday and Monday were half of what I expected them both to be and Saturday was right on the money, nothing special there, but at least it was what I had projected.

And the usual rain storms hit. Thursday's was pretty bad, with a few tents (not mine) damaged in the winds and a huge tree falling in the park, not too far from a tent. (Hearsay says there were people in it too, but I don't know for sure). I had packed up and left, knowing my tent was safe through just about anything, she was all tied down, weighted, and staked. I had been through a Mayfair monsoon before and I wasn't about to be worried about going through one again. The next day a few displays had been knocked over by the tent sides billowing in the wind, but nothing we couldn't handle or fix quick.

Another storm blew through Sunday early morning, a few more tents damaged again, and a few people had gotten sick of the low sales and bad storms so they left and went home.

So what does this armchair quarterback think can save the show? I'm not sure, but I have to say

1) lower the price of exhibiting, and get more crafters
2) stop jurying the show like it was in the past, treat it more like a craft show than an art show, and get people to bring in more things the attendees like and can afford
3) stop breaking us into sections or groups, having the "organics market" doesn't mean anything to anyone attending, it just crams people with similar products together and makes it harder for us all to make money because the competition it steeper.

Yes people come for the food, yes people come for the music, but yes people come for the crafts, and getting in more crafters will bring more people in the long run, and if this show wants to be around for the long run, they have to see how all three things work together and build all three things, not just the music.

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