Review of Fairport Canal Days 2019

Apparently more and more of you in the Rochester, NY area are enjoying my in-depth reviews of festivals and art shows in the area. As such, I want to start adding reviews of shows I have attended as a patron, NOT as a vendor. But I will still put my review in the perspective of a vendor.

For example, I can’t just simply go to festivals anymore and just have fun. I go and look at the people, are they carrying bags? Are they buying? I talk to the vendors I know, and some I just met, and get their opinions on how they’re doing. I want to know, is this show a good fit for me? Will I do well as this particular festival if I attend as a vendor? Or will it be a bust?

For two years now I have done this with the Fairport Canal Days in Fairport, NY. I want to share my findings with you so that you can make the right decision for you.

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. Feel free to read all the boring details here.

Stats

Festival: Fairport Canal Days 2018-19 (Click for more up to date information)

Location: Fairport, NY – Main Street

Dates: May 31st, June 1-2nd *Typically first weekend in June

Times: Friday: concerts, not vendors, Saturday: 10-6pm, Sunday 10-5pm *I’m guessing, the webpage doesn’t have this information currently.*

Admission: Free to Public

Vendor Types: Handmade, Direct Sales, Commercial

Booth: 10×10, 10×20. Here’s another show where there is some extra space outside of your booth if you want to stick out a little. Depends on what you’re selling to determine which size is the best fit.

Booth Fee: ? $200+

Application Due Date: ?

Set up: Only vendors NOT on Main Street can set up before Saturday morning. Saturday morning they close down the road for the festival and allow vendors to set-up. However, in the evening, when the festival is over for the day, they DO open Main Street up again to let traffic through. (Booths are located in parking spaces along the sides of the road) There is security for the concerts, but I’m not sure how much for the vendors. I would be nervous leaving merchandise over night, personally.

Parking: Not sure where vendors are allowed to park. I think they can park in a few different small parking lots located in the festival areas with a vendor permit. Not sure though as I have never vended at this event.

Saturday

After work for the last two years on Saturday of the Fairport Canal Days Festival, we travel over to Fairport to scope it out. I am ALWAYS impressed by the traffic. There are easily tens of thousands of people walking around having a good time.

With that said, this is a free to the public event. There are a lot of activities including great concerts everywhere all weekend, the duck durby race on the canal, and other fun things to do. In my honest opinion, most people are there for the activities, not the vendors.

*Update! Turns out, there are a lot of FREE activities and handouts for kids and adults alike. Vendors at this events have pointed out this may cause a decline in sales.

Food vendors make a killing at this event! Everyone is there for the festival food and entertainment. Vendors that sell lower end items ($1-$25 items) were doing well. Especially kid items! Parents were buying things for their kids left and right to make the weekend memorable, or to just let them have something to entertain themselves with while Mom and Dad looked around or listened to the music.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure higher end items were being sold too. Just not in the quantities I think we’d like. Bret and I walked away with a butcher block cutting board that we absolutely love and we weren’t the only ones in that booth buying.

The cutting board vendor had the same trouble we had at PPLF in 2019. They had spotty wifi connection meaning credit cards were a bust. Bret and I ended up going to the ATM and paying in cash because I really wanted that board and I know cash is always better than credit anyway. (No extra fees for the vendor)

Another observation I made, there were a lot of commercial booths, aka hot tubs, bathtubs, gutters, cable, spectrum, etc. in and among all the crafters. In my opinion, that sucks! Nobody wants to look at a craft booth if a salesperson is right there hounding you to come check out their product and sign up for a free consultation today! We all race past them never looking at the poor soul stuck near them. The only time you’d stop, is if the salesperson has someone suckered in and are not pestering anyone else at that moment.

I personally hate doing shows with commercial vendors unless the festival committee creates a special area for all of them and puts all the crafters far away from them (Palmyra Canal Town Days did this and I loved it!). It just creates a better atmosphere for the craft vendors this way. And I think it relieves the customers too into hanging out longer in booths.

Overall Opinion

Personally, I will never vend at this event. Why? First off it’s in June… I’m selling wool gloves. Let’s get real, no one wants to buy gloves in June, just saying. Forget trying to sell shawls at this kind of event! I get a lot of “Where is the rest of it?” at free to public events…. They think my shawls are ponchos…. If they were, I’d have to double the price silly! *Ponchos are on my eventual list of items to make one day*

Second, since all my items are hand done and take hours to make one, my prices are higher than what the customers at this event are willing to pay. I am not willing to lower my prices just to accommodate a particular event.

For example, I have a $100 shawl. Takes me approximately 10-12 hours to make one, and my materials cost anywhere from $15-$60 to make one. When people scoff at the $100 I explain this to them knowing they’re obviously not going to buy it anyway. DON’T LOWER YOUR PRICES FOR A RUDE CUSTOMER! Just saying… It’s always a slap in the face when a customer tells me they’ll pay $50 for it, no more because it’s not worth that much…. That doesn’t even cover the yarn used in it, let alone my time.

Third, the booth fee is a little high in my opinion for an event like this. Yes they do a lot of advertising and this is a well established and well attended event, but I still don’t think it’s worth what they have it priced at. (if I’m remembering correctly, somewhere north of $200 if you’re wondering). I’ve attended shows with just as much advertisement, just as many vendors or less who charge south of $200 and get as much traffic with a better clientele than this event. So no thanks.

This doesn’t mean you can’t vend at this show and make a killing! Here we go again with Soap and Jewelry vendors. Seriously, you all choose the right crafts to be making. Soap and Jewelry people are always in the right price range and people always expect to see them and buy from them at events. I’m betting all the Soap and Jewelry vendors make out like bandits at this event.

Dog/animal accessories, kids accessories, and other trinket vendors do well at this event. Again, I think it’s because you’re in the right price range, they expect to see you there, and they’re trying to get their kids to behave.

Vendors who sell artwork, pottery, glass, more high end/pricey items I would caution you. Some were doing okay, others said it was a complete bust. No one wanted to pay their prices and unless you’re willing to lower your prices you’re not going to sell much.

You pottery and glass people make me nervous at events like this. There is a lot of ALCOHOL and KIDS. I’d be so afraid of kids or drunks bumping into your booth and there goes all your work! I’m stressing for you! And it doesn’t help when someone else across the way is selling something similar to your product, not handmade by them, at a much lower price then yours. Just be aware that’s what you may be walking into.

Lawn ornament people, I saw many lawn decoration items walk by at this event. Summer events really appeal to lawn ornaments, wind chimes, and other outdoor items. As long as it’s not too heavy to carry back to their car. Parking is hard at this event, and many have a long way to walk back to their vehicles.

Did I cover everyone? Sorry if I missed your particular craft. My rule of thumb for this event is if you have lower prices ($1-$30) you’ll most likely do well. If you’re items are more pricey, you’re more likely to get a lot of rolled eyes, haggling, and just plain rude comments along side compliments on your work but few sales if any.

**Update! A Fairport Canal Days vendor said she made goods sales in the $30-60 range! This means it is possible, if you have the right product, to make higher priced sales.

I hope this helps you make a good decision. And if you’re the Fairport Canal Days Staff, I really do enjoy this show. I just know I would never be able to sell enough to make back the booth fee.

~Ashli

P.S. Next year, 2020, the bridge on Main Street will be closed. If you’ve never been to this event, the festival is on both sides of the draw bridge. This could effect next years festival. Just a word of caution.

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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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