INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 35)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with, and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

Working the Show... (Part Five)

I've just completed telling you about some of our "set-up" experiences. Now let me switch to some of our more interesting "take down" adventures! If setting up was hard work, then taking down was maniacal!

9.      The End Is Near!
You can always tell when a show is nearing its end! The “animals” get restless! By “animals”, I mean fellow exhibitors. I am not saying that all are “animals”, but many are! They are the ones who start taking down the booth an hour before the closing of the event. This, even though the contract that these exhibitors signed, and agreed to, clearly state that they can’t. The most obvious ones don’t care who they annoy or block. We’ve had buying customers in our booth, while a neighbour vendor took down their booth. We have even lost sales because of these actions. And, if you say something to the offending vendor, they look at you as though you were saying something very offensive! Go figure!

10.  Boxes... Size Does Matter!
Once the show is over, it’s time to take down and pack up. Packing up is always a challenge, especially in the art business. You can’t just shove a framed piece into the first box you come across. First of all, the paintings are all different sizes, and secondly, they are delicate and can easily be damaged. When you consider that each framed piece is probably valued in excess of $300, the damage costs could add up quickly. So, even though we were tired, after a long show, we would always stop and take the time to first of all find the correct sized box, and then wrap each painting up carefully. One of the tricks that we discovered early in our exhibitor days, was to mark the boxes clearly with the name of the painting. We also learned that it was wise to store the boxes neatly as we were unpacking them. However, even the best plan can go astray, especially when the booth is very busy and you have a number of people wanting to purchase products. Sometimes the wrong box is given to a purchaser in the rush to assist everyone quickly. This, of course, plays havoc when taking down and packing up. Obviously, the main compensation for making this type of error is that we’ve sold a painting … one less to lug home!