Virginia Highland Summerfest Reviews`

Show Name: Virginia Highland Summerfest
City and State: Atlanta, GA
Your Medium: Pottery
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: 2-3 times
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 5 (great)
Location: 5 (great)
Facilities: 5 (great)
Ease of Participating: 5 (great)
Sales: 5 (great)
Overall: 5 (great)
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Good
Estimated Attendance: 10,001-50,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair: 2012 was the 27th year for this show. It is in an affluent and very popular part of the city. Access is easy from I-75. There are lots of ways to access this area if you are coming from another direction (MapQuest will show you the way!) Piedmont Park (Atlanta's big in-town park) is at one end of the festival and the other end terminates in the Virginia Highland business district which is comprised of very cool bars, shops, and restaurants. Lots of old nicely renovated homes with big shady trees line the street between one end and the other. The organizers run the show through Zapplication which makes applying easy. They give you the option of setting up on either Friday or Saturday morning. I am just over an hour away so Saturday morning works great for me. The people / volunteers are very helpful. Lunch is provided on Saturday and that is a nice treat. The crowds become so large that, at times, the road in front is wall to wall people. You could say that some people may not notice you but I think the large numbers prove out in the end. This is a fairly diverse and young crowd which is great. They are in that building phase of life - building a home, building a family, building a life. They want to buy hand crafted art to replace mass produced. Some want to buy a little and some are ready to buy a lot. They enjoy spending money on something they like that in turn supports an artist - they support the arts!

Bad Things about this Art Fair: It is the beginning of June so it is hot and humid but that's the south. This is strictly a juried show so if you don't make the cut, there are no other options. (like a Market Place or non-juried artist section) No official parking other than surrounding neighborhoods. Impossible to browse the show at times because of bottlenecks near the food vendors.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:Apply early and put your best foot forward but that's standard advice for any show. I would make sure to have a good price range of products. This economy demands it. This crowd has an urban vibe and enjoys funky and high end art. I've seen both have success.

Posted by: Eddie Smith | 09/16/2012 at 08:31 PM

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