Cape May Promenade Craft Show Reviews

Show Name: Cape May Promenade Craft Show
City and State: Cape May, NJ
Your Medium: Jewelry
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show: 2013
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $501-$2000
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show: 1st time
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 5 (great)
Location: 5 (great)
Facilities: 4
Ease of Participating: 5 (great)
Sales: 4
Overall: 5 (great)
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Great
Estimated Attendance: 501-10,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
Even though this fair is at the beach, there are many people that come here for other reasons. There is also a very large number of year-round residents. I also think when you are in a vacation spot, that folks are more likely to spend. And you surely couldn`t beat the view...looking out at the beach and ocean, and smelling the wonderful fresh sea air!

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
Parking could be terrible if you aren`t there way earlier than the start. If you find a parking spot near your numbered spot, you still have a sea wall in between that you have to lift your stuff over. There are other accesses that can be used if you have a cart, but they were not near my booth area.
If you are not local enough to go home at night, you will not be staying too close because of the rates for accommodations - unless you can share a space or get someone to put you up. We stayed about a 1/2 hour away, and it worked out fine. We could have stayed closer had I booked earlier, but you would still be 15 min. away - still not a big deal.
If the winds are bad, you will have to break down at night. We were lucky with the winds being quite calm, so that wasn`t necessary.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
We met up with someone that had done this show multiple times on Fri. night, and she gave us great tips. The paperwork for this show said - check in is at 8:30, and that the show runs from 10 - 5, but you can stay longer. She told us about the parking nightmare, and that if you aren`t there by 6:30 or so, you probably won`t be parking near your space. We followed her advice, and were glad we did. She also told us that the promenade is quite busy even that early in the AM with runners, walkers, etc. Boy was it! I had my 1st sale by 8 o`clock Sat. morning! she gave us very valuable advice!
They also have a show in the same location over labor Day weekend that I understand has even better crowds.

Additional Commentary on this Show:
To be honest, I didn`t get a chance to see all of the other booths - there were about 150 - 200 in all. There was some buy/sell, and some lower end crafts, but there was something for everyone. It was not a juried show, and I had no idea what to expect. I have a line of lower price point jewelry, and that sold very well, but so did my mid range pieces. I sold 1 higher end piece, but they got some interest, so I was glad i had brought them too. It was a huge cross section of people as well. My customers ranged from 20 - 70 years old.
It is run by the city of Cape May, and they do a fine job. The facilities are clean, and the folks in charge were helpful. I would definitely do it again!

Posted by: Susan Bishop | 08/15/2013 at 05:42 PM

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