So I came off the fist week of Chriskindlmarkt hoping that I would be able to squeeze in a day off, but there was no such luck.
Monday through Thursday Dad was mostly over at Christmas City Village trying to get the floors in and the shelves on and the hut decorated and loaded in. It really sucked for him. The huts were supposed to be up weeks before and all this work was supposed to be completed at a leisurely pace in warmer weather. But instead he had to rush around and then do extra work we didn't expect like reinforce to roofs so they didn't leak. He did this for ours and for a few of our friends he had been in contact with during the year, but I hate to say this will probably be the last time he does it for anyone else but us. It was just too much and it really started out his show on a sour note and started him out much more tired than he should have been. When you have two people starting a long stretch of shows exhausted, it doesn't always make for the best family moments at home.
So while he worked I made sure I cooked every night so there was decent food for him when he got home and I worked hard in the shop to get out orders, make up gift baskets, and generally catch up on the paperwork, the emails, and the laundry.
Thursday was Thanksgiving and we had a simple day with just the three of us. I made both turkey and ham and three sides (mashed potatoes, corn casserole, and cauliflower casserole) so that there would be plenty of leftovers for the weekend to come.
As for the shows. Christmas City Village opened to a disappointing weekend. Maybe it was the cold, maybe it was all the black Friday sales, maybe it was the fact that the show was looking more like a refugee camp than a craft show, but the sales were just not there. The spirit of the show wasn't being followed and the bulk of the vendors had dragged out tables and bins to sell outside rather than from the huts. They couldn't even cover the tables and look respectable, it was a flea market look, and that brings flea market buyers and flea market prices. The overwhelming dumbing down of today's arts and craft shows is killing an industry by slowly strangling out the places a handcrafted artisan can sell and compete.
This brings me to Chriskindlmarkt. Slowly transforming itself from an arts and craft show to a marketplace is killing us there too. There are artisans not being present at the festival, UPC codes on cottage industry products being sold along side hand crafted works, food samples strewn throughout the event leaving little cups everywhere (often still full of samples, destroying products and displays of other people when they spill). . This dilutes the brand, muddies the marketplace, and confuses the customer. Why should they pay to come into a show that in their mind offers the same thing as a shopping mall does for free?
That all being said, THANK YOU to everyone who has come the first two weekends, and to everyone who plan on coming the next four. My sales have been amazing so far this year and I cannot explain my joy when you like my products enough to give them as gifts and to share them with your family and friends. Thank you for coming every year, thank you for supporting me and my passion, thank you for being there.
Hope to see you all soon!
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