Edmonds Arts Festival Reviews..

Medium: 2D mixed media
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show:
2016
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $501-$2000
Price Range of your Work: $20-$500
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show:
1st time
Number of Years You have been doing Art Fairs overall: Forever...
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 3
Location: 4
Facilities: 4
Ease of Participating: 4
Sales: 3
Overall: 4
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Okay
Estimated Attendance: 501-10,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
Having just moved west last year, this was my first outdoor show in Washington. I thought the overall level of art was very good.

There was a lot of nice food and entertainment. All the other artists I met were delightful and welcoming.

It rained 2 of the 3 days which I think may have suppressed attendance. On the final day, Sunday, the sun was out and crowds were much much bigger.

Set up was well organized, volunteers actually come out to your car and mark the windshields. No one can sneak in line. I like that. Then, cars are called when there was room to park and unload. I could tell pack out was going to be trouble so I planned ahead and dollied out.

My location was on the infield of the baseball diamond and I was stressed thinking I would be in mud if it rained but they actually tarped the whole infield so when it did rain (a lot), I was better off than many who ended up with mud pits.

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
During the show it was sometimes difficult to get a booth sitter. There was a phone number to call and leave a message, but I think they may have been a bit short on booth sitters.

My sales were not great but considering it was my first time I felt good about it. Plus, I did get a large sales and a commission after the show.

Booth fee is higher than average.

Lots more yard art than I like to see, much of it very similar.

Booths are wall to wall and back to back. Would be nice if they could figure out a way to give us a bit more space.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
Booths are wall to wall and back to back which made my booth a lot messier than I like. Next time I would bring a big table with draping.

The URL of your profile on ArtFairInsiders.com. http://catsdogswords.com

Posted by: Sherry Scharschmidt | 07/14/2016 at 12:08 AM

Medium: Photography
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show:
2016
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $2001-$5000
Price Range of your Work: 30-995
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show:
2-3 times
Number of Years You have been doing Art Fairs overall: 5-10 years
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 4
Location: 5
Facilities: 3
Ease of Participating: 3
Sales: 4
Overall: 4
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Good
Estimated Attendance: 501-10,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
Location is baseball field next to community center, which is centrally located. Very good shuttle system for both artists and visitors.

Fairly affluent clientele. Sales consistently good in the two years I've done this show.

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
Absolutely no storage space between booths. Booths are packed tightly next to each other.

You have to drop off all your stuff, park your vehicle, then come back and setup. Tear down works the opposite way. You have to mostly tear down into a single pile, they give you a pass, go get your vehicle, come back and pack up. You have to wait in a vehicle queue before you can drive onto the field. You may have to wait in this queue for a while before they let you on.

Booth fee is fairly expensive.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
Devise a way to handle your backup stock. Unless you want to keep it inside your booth, there is no other way to store it. This is annoying for folks with 2d art like myself. This is the Pac NW in June, anticipate rain.

Patience is key for setup and tear down.

The URL of your profile on ArtFairInsiders.com. http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profile/JeffGracz

What prompted you to submit a review today?
Can't have enough fair information for other artists

Posted by: Jeff Gracz | 06/27/2016 at 11:59 PM

Medium: Photography
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show:
2015
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $2001-$5000
Price Range of your Work: $30 - $995
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show:
1st time
Number of Years You have been doing Art Fairs overall: 5-10 years
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 4
Location: 4
Facilities: 3
Ease of Participating: 3
Sales: 3
Overall: 3
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Okay
Estimated Attendance: 501-10,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
Location. Well organized. Well attended. Shuttle bus between venue and artist only parking very regular and easy to use.

People were very friendly. Good quality art - nicely juried. Booths were organized in such a way that artists with like kind mediums weren't next door to each other.

The weather was top notch. No rain, not too cold, not too hot.

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
No space between booths for backup inventory. Had to leave backup inventory with my vehicle, at the artist only lot several blocks away. Had to make two trips for folks looking for specific pieces.

Waited over an hour in line, just to get into the venue to load up my vehicle at the end of the show. Even though my booth was already completely torn down. Didn't finish up until after dark. Granted, I was operating solo for this show. They could have coordinated this a little better.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
It is somewhat expensive, but I think worth it. My sales were decent. The crowds were good. I'm glad I gave it a try and will try again next year.

Additional Commentary on this Show:
I understand that this show used to run a commission, but has since gone to a flat booth fee. Given my sales, I spent less money with the flat booth fee, than I would have if there were a commission - but I recognize this could have easily cut the other way.

The URL of your profile on ArtFairInsiders.com. http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profile/JeffGracz

What prompted you to submit a review today?
Stormy rainy day at the coast. Bad conditions for photography. Might as well get some work done that could benefit others.

Posted by: Jeff Gracz | 03/11/2016 at 09:45 PM

Medium: Jewelry
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show: 2014
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $2001-$5000
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show: 3-5 times
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 3
Location: 4
Facilities: 4
Ease of Participating: 3
Sales: 3
Overall: 3
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Okay
Estimated Attendance: 501-10,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
This is usually a well attended art show, with a fairly high quality mix of artists. Well run, good communication and artist support.

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
2014 was definitely under attended, the best weather day was Thursday when we were setting up, rain started Thursday night and just never went away for long. It rained periodically all weekend.

Load in was a little better this year, we only had to wait 30 minutes instead of 2 hours.
Load out was tricky, they allowed trailers onto the field too early, one of them could not make a tight corner and it fouled up traffic flow for a considerable amount of time.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
This show is very weather dependent, 2013 was perfect weather and most artists had good sales. Lots of grumbling in 2014 due to weather, booth neighbor didn't even cover booth, ferry fees and commission expense so results can vary widely.

Additional Commentary on this Show:
For those with RVs or van camping, onsite overnight parking is available.

Posted by: Ruth Finkenbiner | 07/13/2014 at 03:58 PM

Show Name: Edmonds Arts Festival
City and State: Edmonds, WA
Your Medium: Painting
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show: 2013
Your Estimated Sales at this Show:$2001-$5000
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show: 1st time
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 4
Location: 5 (great)
Facilities: 5 (great)
Ease of Participating: 4
Sales: 4
Overall: 4
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Good
Estimated Attendance: 10,001-50,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair: Good location, frequent shuttle, good sales and engaged customers. This year the weather was great.

Bad Things about this Art Fair: Patience is required for load-in and out. I just took my time and didn't stress it, others dollied out. The 15% commission can make it an expensive show to do for the top sellers. Weather is iffy this early in the year. The show food was expensive and heavy on starch and grease.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show: I got a great rate on Hotwire in Lynnwood for lodging for this show.

Posted by: Lisa Foster | 07/28/2013 at 07:03 PM

Show Name: Edmonds Art Festival
City and State: Edmonds, WA
Your Medium: Jewelry
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show: 2012
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $2001-$5000
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show: 1st time
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 4
Location: 5 (great)
Facilities: 5 (great)
Ease of Participating: 4
Sales: 4
Overall: 4
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Good
Estimated Attendance: 10,001-50,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair: Well attended, good organization and communication before the show. Volunteers were great, overall sales were strong for most of the artists. Well balanced show, did not see any obvious buy sell.

Bad Things about this Art Fair: Long load out due to space constraints for getting vehicles on the field. 15% commission can make this a very expensive show to do.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show: Good show, hours are pretty long and June can be very "iffy" with weather. We lucked out in 2012 without much rain, however, it was very windy. Bring weights and be prepared.

Additional Commentary on this Show (or about this form): We were very happy to participate in this show and hope to return.

For more of my commentary on this show please click on my name below to visit my blog on ArtFairInsiders.com.

Posted by: Ruth Finkenbiner | 07/04/2012 at 01:36 PM

Show Name: Edmonds Arts Festival
City and State: Edmonds, WA
Your Medium: Jewelry
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show: 2012
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $5001-$10,000
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show: 3-5 times
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 4
Location: 5 (great)
Facilities: 5 (great)
Ease of Participating: 5 (great)
Sales: 4
Overall: 4
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Good
Estimated Attendance: 501-10,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair: Easy load-in, friendly staff, great artist, this years sales were stronger than the past three years for us.
Bad Things about this Art Fair: Sometimes the weather can be iffy. load out if you wait in line instead of dollying out can take a long time.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show: This years sales were way up for us. I heard other artist say they did great, good and bad. I think that’s the norm for most shows in this economy. Be prepared for any kind of weather! If you want electricity bring your own source. They only have one half row with electricity.

Posted by: Robbie Curnow | 07/04/2012 at 01:32 PM

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