Tulip Time Artisan Market Reviews..

Medium: Photography
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show: 2018
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: < $500
Price Range of your Work: $20 - $450
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show:
1st time
Number of Years You have been doing Art Fairs overall: 3-5 years
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 4
Location: 5
Facilities: 4
Ease of Participating: 3
Sales: 1
Overall: 1
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Poor
Estimated Attendance: 501 - 10,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
Pros: Pre-show communication was good. Great location. Great foot traffic. Good coffee. Muffins were tasty.

What could this Art Fair have done better?:
Made it more clear that this was an 'artisan' show and not an 'art' fair.

Volunteers for booth relief were very hit and miss. (I waited over 2 hours and finally gave up and left my booth unattended.)

They could have spread us out more. There was 6 photogs there and three of us were within spitting distance and two were directly across from each other.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
This is a craft show. The crowd is not looking for art. It is strictly cash and carry. If you offer items in the $20 - $30 range - and it's crafty - you'll be fine. But the crowd was not buying art.

Posted by: Fletcher Dean | 05/20/2018 at 03:22 PM

2015 Show
Attendance- 4
Location- 4
Facilities- 4
Sales- 4
Overall- 4

Positives-
Beautiful Weather, good attendance.
Booth fee to sales ratio was good for me.
Great location.
Great advertising, plenty of publicity.
Other artists were very friendly and helped this newbie navigate the weekend.
Great volunteers helping all weekend long.

Negatives-
Our booth was on the outer edge of the park on a hilly spot so it was very uneven. I shimmed my displays, but they were still at an angle.
Even with the weighted tent, the wind became dangerous with my particular displays because of the sloped hill. I ended up having to take them down for safety, making my booth more of a trunk show look for the final 2 hours. (I will be bringing a different display option next time!)
I was right on River, which they do not close for load out. Be prepared to hand-cart things up to 3 blocks away just in case. My normal 30 minute load out took me 1.5 hrs.

Overall it was a great show for me. I heard from some artists that they didn't do as well as other years, possibly based on their new location. I would definitely do the show again.

Posted by: Jenn Millspaugh | 05/05/2015 at 09:51 AM

Show Name: Tulip Time Art & Craft Fair
City and State: Holland, Michigan
Your Medium: Jewelry
Year you most recently exhibited at this Show: 2014
Your Estimated Sales at this Show: $501-$2000
Number of Years You have Exhibited in this Show: 2-3 times
Attendance: (1 is poor, 5 is great) 4
Location: 4
Facilities: 4
Ease of Participating: 4
Sales: 3
Overall: 4
Booth Fee vs. Your Sales Ratio: Good
Estimated Attendance: 10,001-50,000 people

Good Things about this Art Fair:
This show has a long tradition and actually opens the annual weeklong Tulip Time festival in Holland, MI.

Tulip Time is known around the world and so there are literally thousands of tourists from around both the USA and the world, and it is also well-attended by western Michigan residents. While not all visitors are there to buy, but to see the tulips and other festivities, there is great interest in the fair and many exhibitors do well.

Bad Things about this Art Fair:
The fair takes place over the first weekend of May in Michigan, so weather can negatively impact attendance, and hence, sales. It can be wet and chilly, just like 2014: wet one day, and sunny but very cold the next.

Advice to Other Artists Considering this Show:
Bring both cold and warm weather gear. Holland is sited on the southeastern end of Lake Macatawa which empties into Lake Michigan, less than 5 miles to the west. So in May, even a light western wind can drop temperatures considerably.

In addition, late Saturday night and early Sunday morning this year (2014), strong winds overturned about a dozen tents, so also bring sufficient tent weights (stakes aren't really allowed) and lower your tent's height overnight. We use 35 lbs. per leg, and didn't have a problem. Security is good, so we didn't really have any concerns about leaving our inventory there overnight.

Additional Commentary on this Show (or about this:
This really is a good show and lots of people attend (30K - 50K) over two days. The organizers are friendly and the town and townspeople are very supportive. While our sales were OK, they thought we might have done better if it hadn't been for the cold weather this year. Winter hung on a long time this year in Michigan.

Posted by: Srey Tiep | 05/12/2014 at 09:08 PM

Festival organizers refer to "registration fee," rather than jury application fee, and it is non-refundable. All items must be the original work of the artist; imported or buy-sell items prohibited. Exhibitors must collect and pay Michigan State sales tax. The Art & Craft Fair is located on grass in Centennial Park during the opening weekend of the annual week long Tulip Time festival in Holland, MI.

Posted by: Srey Tiep | 05/05/2014 at 12:55 PM

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