Vendor Review of Webster Waterfront Arts Festival 2019

The Webster Waterfront Arts Festival officially starts the beginning of events I will be participating this year. This was meant to be my first show of the year.

Since I sell mainly fall/winter items, I like to participate in fall/winter shows instead of summer shows. Though, after I got talked into the Fingerlakes Celtic Festival in May I thought I’d do ok at a summer show and that’s why I gave the Keuka Arts Festival a go in June.

You can find my review of the Keuka Arts Festival here.

And my review of the Fingerlakes Celtic Festival here.

My product definitely does better in later months than the middle of summer. But the Webster Waterfront Arts Festival is a kind of perfect show to start my festival season with because it’s at the end of July right when stores start promoting going back to school which means fall.

My overall opinion of this show is it’s nice, I thought it’d be bigger with a lot more traffic, but the traffic was steady and most people were shopping. Will I do it again next year? I’m not sure yet. I may because, like I said, this is the perfect time to start my festival season.

Just a heads up, some of my links are associated with an affiliate program, which means if you click the link and purchase the item I can get a small commission at no cost to you!. Feel free to read all the boring details here.

Stats

Festival: Webster Waterfront Arts Festival

Location: North Ponds Park, Webster, NY

Dates: Saturday, July 27 – Sunday, July 28

Time: Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 10am-5pm

Admission: $3

Vendor Types: Handmade only

Booth: 10×10 or 10×20 spots available. *However this show is great in that the booths have plenty of space in-between each other giving you a little extra space to spread out if you desire. I went with the 10×10 space. When I arrived there was a tree next to me which gave me plenty of space to set up a loom to weave on. And when the festival began both the booth next to me and across from me never showed. If I wanted, I could have spread out into another space, but I did not. **Note to self, purchase another 10×10 tent soon**

Booth Fee: $135 plus a $25 application fee.

Application Due Date: May 15

Set up: Friday afternoon and Saturday Morning.

Parking: Some Vendors were able to park right next to their tents, as long as their vehicle was behind the tents and did not take away from the festival. Other vendors parked in the field where the public parks. Not too far away. *There are two entrances to the the festival, so you can enter closer to your booth.

Friday Night Set-Up

This is another show where I’d highly recommend setting up the night before if you can. The festival surrounds a pond, which is beautiful, but the only way in or out with your vehicle is the walking path in-between vendors.

This show was the first show where when I arrived I was lost! There was NO HEADQUARTERS tent! Here I’ve always had to check in with someone when I arrived at a festival. Not this one. Instead there are file buckets on chairs on either side of the pond where you can find your packet which only contains your name tag for the event. All the other information was emailed to each vendor after they are accepted.

It was so strange. I ended up having to ask some vendors that were setting up if they knew what to do. After they explained it to me, Bret and I were able to figure out where to go without driving into the pond. Because the tents are literally on the waters edge. It’s intense, but makes for a great backdrop.

We found my spot and were able to leave the car next to us as we set up as our neighbor hadn’t appeared yet. We got everything set up and ended up having to wait for another vendor to unload before they moved their vehicle out of the aisle for us to get around. A little frustrating, but not bad.

I can’t imagine arriving to this festival Saturday morning expecting to get your vehicle down the aisle to your location and then getting your vehicle back out again! It’d be a nightmare! But hey, if you’re brave go right ahead.

Saturday

I arrived Saturday morning hopeful, but not expecting $1000s in sales. I parked my car up on the ridge and walked down to my space. This is when I discovered there was a second entrance/exit we could have driven through the night before. Whoops, oh well.

There is no ‘vendor’ parking. Everyone parks in the same area, vendors and festival goers. Which explains why we didn’t get a vendor parking pass.

As I walked down to my space I lost my stand peg! I went into full panic mood. Of course I’d loose it right in the morning so I wouldn’t be able to set up my loom to weave all day! I scoured the ground all the way to the car and back and….. I FOUND IT! Pretty sure I made a few vendors believe I was crazy. Ha.

Finished setting up and walked around for a few minutes. I was surprised to find out a lot of the vendors were first time at this show like me. That brought some of my hopes down from what I was expecting. There were a few returning vendors who say their sales are always good at this festival and when I checked with them at the end they said their sales were normal so maybe having a lot of new vendors was fine?

This is a pay to get in show, so customers were not allowed in until approximately 9:50 a.m.. At first it was slow and after I texted my sister who lives a few streets over from the festival, I found that not many people know about this festival which explains why traffic was slow but steady. I was never mobbed at any point.

I made a few sales between 11am- 2pm and then it petered out. I did not make the vendor fee back. That is the worst feeling! I don’t like shows where I don’t make the vendor fee back until the second day. It makes me nervous Saturday night and worried I’ll take a loss at this show. It also breaks my enthusiasm. I just don’t really want to go back Sunday to be disappointed, but I always go back because you never know.

Sunday

I was super worried about Sunday because every weather app, report, channel was predicting scattered thunderstorms all day! Luckily, there was zero, no thunderstorms or rain! They got it wrong! YAY!

And I feel like there were more people Sunday at the festival than Saturday. By noon I had my vending fee and then some. I made twice as many sales than on Saturday. Why is Sunday always my better day this year? Weird.

Checking with the other vendors, they all said they did well both days. I’m pretty sure most of them made back their vending fees the first day, but then they’re selling jewelry, honey, art work, etc. Whereas I am selling wool gloves and scarves in 80 degree weather.

As my aunt Theresa says, if you can sell a pair of wool gloves in 80 degree weather it is a WIN every time. If that’s the case, then I’m a winner because I sold more than one pair this weekend 🙂

At the end of the day, I made my vending fee and almost reached my goal! That was exciting. I’m sad I didn’t make my goal, but I did get close so that’s a win for me.

Bret brought his brother along for packing up, so my booth disappeared FAST! I couldn’t keep up, it was very overwhelming. Next time I’m going to make them slow down and I am going to pack up better. The cars are parked up on the ridge behind where I was set up, so we got our calf exercise for the day climbing the hill instead of driving the vehicle down the path like everyone else.

We managed and were able to leave immediately. The other side of the pond did not have the same option. I’m not sure how they fared, but if you don’t mind hanging out for awhile after the end of the show, it might not be bad. I was happy we were able to just climb the hill, load the car, and leave with no problems.

Lessons Learned

Doesn’t matter how many times I vend at an event. I ALWAYS learn something. Weather it be a better way to display my products, new shows I never knew about, or that I like fried Oreo’s, I learn something. What did Webster Waterfront Arts Festival Teach me?

1. TOO Many Helpers

Having 2 helpers to pack up creates a whirlwind of activity. On the plus side, I was packed and ready to leave in 10 mins flat (estimating here, but that’s what it felt like). On the bad side, I spent the next 2 days trying to locate my products to fold nice, organize my display and just plain figure out what happened?

2. Booth setup is HUGE on sales

As usual, after day one, I was bored of my display and we had a higher chance of rain so I thought I’d prepare in advance and rearrange my merchandise to make it super easy to move everything under my tent if it did in fact rain. *It didn’t rain at all*

In the process, I moved certain items towards the front of my booth and BAM! I nearly sold out of my shawlettes and my gloves started selling left and right too. It was all because I changed my booth set up for day two. Makes me wonder if I’d had it set up like Sunday on Saturday if my sales would have been much better? Something to think about for the next event.

3. Purchase a second tent

It’s come to my attention that show committees do NOT like empty spaces. If your neighbor doesn’t show up, a lot of the time, if you ask, the committee will agree to you spreading out into a second space. And sometimes they will not even charge you for the second space! They just want the festival to look full and someone not showing up looks bad.

In my case, I was happy with my extra space next to the tree. If I had a second tent, a few more grid walls, and the foresight to ask to use the second space on the other side of my space where someone never showed, I probably would have. It would have been like having a 35 ft x 10 ft space! Crazy, right?

4. Don’t trust the weather people *sorry weather people!*

I checked the weather over and over again and every time it said rain pretty much all day Sunday. I worried, of course and went into a frenzy figuring out what I could change and move to make it easier to save my merchandise if it did indeed rain.

It never rained.

Not a single drop. Instead I worried for nothing. But it is always a good idea to be prepared, no matter what. So in the end, it was probably a good thing I worried and planned ahead of time.

5. Ratchet straps and spiral stakes are the way to go.

I have been looking for a better way to weigh down my tent. I have 10lbs sand weights on each leg of my tent and I strap the heavy gridwalls to my tent too. I am ALWAYS worried it’s not enough and the wind will catch my tent just right.

I discovered ratchet straps and spiral stakes at the last show I went to as a patron and immediately ordered a set when I got home. Webster was my first show using them and I cannot tell you how amazing they were! My tent didn’t move an inch! The wind was flapping, other vendors were holding onto their tents because of how much the wind was shaking them.

Then there’s me. I’m just chilling, keeping an eye on my tent but it’s just not moving! That sucker was solid. Not going anywhere. I am so impressed! I am definitely going to be using them at every outdoor event I do!

Recommendations

This show, once again, is geared more towards seasonal items such as bird feeders, lawn ornaments, and the typical food, and jewelry.

Not hating on jewelry people, but dang! You were smart to make jewelry, you seem to do well at any event, any season, and all your product fits into a nice neat box so you have more room in your car for display stuff. Why didn’t I like to make jewelry again?

I did almost sell out of my shawlettes which range from $60-$75 a piece and several pairs or gloves at $30 a pair. I honestly sold maybe 3-5 smaller items in the below $10 range which surprised me. I always feel like cheaper items will sell first and more expensive will have to wait for the right person. But not at this show.

That means there’s a good probability you can sell higher priced items at this event without a problem. My recommendation is for $25-$100 price range.

I wish you luck! Until my next show in a few weeks, Sunshine & Sunflowers at Stokoe Farms, Scottsville, NY.

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Were you a part of this festival? Please tell me about your experience below in the comments 🙂 Remember, any thought can help a fellow vendor decide if this show is right for them. We are a community, let’s share and help each other!

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