Tarpon Springs fine art festival on the bayou~ A review
This is my experience and my own opinion of the Tarpon Springs fine art festival from April 8-9, 2017.
This fine art show has a reputation of large crowds; waiting to get in early upon opening the gate, and (mostly) a large buying crowd.
This year, the show did not live up to its reputation.
My booth was situated near one of the entrances to the show, near the arts building, but up on a side walk "ledge" where people would have to step up to get into the booths.
To one side I had a fabulous pottery and glass artist (museum quality); on the other side were wood workers who made handmade children's toys/puzzles, which were all hand cut, carved, painted-very detailed.
Saturday had a slow start (crowd wise). The folks (with the handmade toys) told me that there was such a drop in crowds; that people were usually waiting at the gate to get in and this was not the case this year. The clay/glass artist said that maybe this was "not his type of customer". Sales were extremely slow.
Sunday proved to be no better, and maybe even worse for me. It turned out to be the worst show that I had done in over 2 years. Note that this is a "fine art show" with over 200 exhibitors, and a reputation of a large buying crowd.
For one thing, there was no overwhelming attendance, and for me, very few sales. The folks who made the toys and puzzles agreed that this was a poor show this year. The have done this show for many years and said that this was really bad. The clay and glass artist did o.k. and also won a prize award.
Other clay artists had good weekends, from the few that I spoke with. I did not talk to other jewelry artists, although across from me a jeweler had lots of customers; buying customers- I do not know.
One thing to mention is that this show was oversaturated with jewelry artists. Other artists and customers mentioned this as well.
Two negative remarks that I have are these:
Parking is horrible at this show; not just for artists, but also for show goers. The show did offer shuttles from different locations to bring people over to the show.
Second is this: There was a $5.00 admission fee for people to visit this show. I heard many complain about this. I believe in past years the fee was lower, but I must mention that other outdoor art shows around here are free for customers to attend. This might have affected the turnout, but there were other competing things going on in the area as well.
Would I do this show again? I would like to think that I would try it again, but if it turns out bad again, I'll probably not go back. I would also request a different location in the park.
This fine art show has a reputation of large crowds; waiting to get in early upon opening the gate, and (mostly) a large buying crowd.
This year, the show did not live up to its reputation.
My booth was situated near one of the entrances to the show, near the arts building, but up on a side walk "ledge" where people would have to step up to get into the booths.
Saturday had a slow start (crowd wise). The folks (with the handmade toys) told me that there was such a drop in crowds; that people were usually waiting at the gate to get in and this was not the case this year. The clay/glass artist said that maybe this was "not his type of customer". Sales were extremely slow.
Sunday proved to be no better, and maybe even worse for me. It turned out to be the worst show that I had done in over 2 years. Note that this is a "fine art show" with over 200 exhibitors, and a reputation of a large buying crowd.
For one thing, there was no overwhelming attendance, and for me, very few sales. The folks who made the toys and puzzles agreed that this was a poor show this year. The have done this show for many years and said that this was really bad. The clay and glass artist did o.k. and also won a prize award.
Other clay artists had good weekends, from the few that I spoke with. I did not talk to other jewelry artists, although across from me a jeweler had lots of customers; buying customers- I do not know.
One thing to mention is that this show was oversaturated with jewelry artists. Other artists and customers mentioned this as well.
Two negative remarks that I have are these:
Parking is horrible at this show; not just for artists, but also for show goers. The show did offer shuttles from different locations to bring people over to the show.
Second is this: There was a $5.00 admission fee for people to visit this show. I heard many complain about this. I believe in past years the fee was lower, but I must mention that other outdoor art shows around here are free for customers to attend. This might have affected the turnout, but there were other competing things going on in the area as well.
Would I do this show again? I would like to think that I would try it again, but if it turns out bad again, I'll probably not go back. I would also request a different location in the park.
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