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Monday, May 20, 2013
2013 Summer Festival News
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Manchester Fall Festival News
After we were forced to leave the hallowed grounds of Hildene
in 2012, we had a difficult time at the Field at Riley Rink. It has been well
documented that the renovated field did not drain and last fall’s muddy
experience did not make for a happy experience for exhibitors and public alike.
Despite the ongoing valiant efforts of our friends at Riley Rink, we have
determined that their field is still not ready.
Luckily, there is a huge golf driving range at the entrance
to Riley Rink. It is an immaculate huge, flat, green, grassy field. This
field, known as the Practice Tee, will host the 2013 Manchester Art and Craft
Festival. We also have use of the adjoining gravel yard for public
parking.
The Practice Tee is located on Route 7A and is right on that
highway. Our tents will be fully visible on the town’s busiest road. Our dates
are always the weekend before Columbus Day. As Columbus Day is later this year,
we are back in October when the leaves begin to turn. In 2012, due to the
calendar, we were forced to be on the last (fourth)weekend of September when the
town is not crowded. That is when the nearby Peru Festival draws thousands away
from Manchester. This year, luckily, we will not have to compete with that
festival or the Wood and Furniture Festival in Woodstock, both the weekend
before us.
So, other than Hildene, this is the most viable venue for a
craft show in Manchester. We hope you give this one a chance. For decades it has
been successful and supported legions of artists and artisans. Craftproducers is
very motivated to making a triumphant restoration of this show, the “original”
Hildene Art and Craft Show. We will make every effort to communicate this to our
large and loyal audience of craft buyers on our customer list of 30,000.
If you have not already applied, we urge you to do so. We
still have spaces, including a few in jewelry. To apply, please click here. To avoid disappointment, don’t delay applying.
We are extremely fortunate to offer this lovely site for the
2013 show. We urge you to take advantage of this stroke of good fortune.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Southern Vermont Festival Update
We all know that the last five years have been challenging
for everyone. Many shows have disappeared or contracted. For a while
Craftproducers seemingly led a charmed life. We had two successful shows in
Manchester at the perfect location, Hildene Meadows; we had two great shows in
Stowe, especially the Columbus Day Weekend show at the peak of foliage.
Then the roof fell in, so to speak. Hildene no longer wants events
on its property. To its credit, it gave our new location two years to establish
itself as the new Manchester Events Field. Riley Rink spent $175,000 to create
a level, well drained field. Well, we all know what happened. Last October it
rained and the field did not drain and our future in Manchester was in put jeopardy.
Since we were unable to feel confident in the new location
at Riley Rink, we decided to move the summer show, the Southern Vermont Art and
Craft Festival, to Bennington. Since we announced the move, momentum is
building with each passing week. We have met with numerous Bennington arts
organizations, chamber of commerce personnel, civic leaders, the influential Bennington
Museum, and local galleries. With the support of the local daily newspaper, the
Bennington Banner, the Town will stage its inaugural Bennington Arts Weekend.
We will be the anchor event for the weekend.
Two of our exhibitors at this year’s show attended a recent
meeting in Bennington. Here is what Sara Gay and Alan Klebanoff said about it,
“The meeting we just attended was positive, powerful and brimming with
wonderful ideas. I loved the idea of Bennington’s art, commerce and government
getting together to try and promote the fair as part of a full blown weekend of
events. The inclusion of the art community promoting the arts, the
transportation jitney idea of moving people from town to site, the business
community welcoming vendors as consumers to restaurants, camping sites and
travel inns......all leads to making a successful change of site from the
Manchester community. It appears from the point of a vendor we have
nothing to lose and all to gain. Also Bennington Museum wanting to host a
preview evening, a multiple pass to include other events in town, and the easy
access of having families come out because you will host potentially with the
Art Exchange opportunities for young artists can only makes this event more
attractive to all. Thank you for the opportunity to have a voice and be a
representative of the vendors’ community. I only hope that we can accomplish
these ideas.”
So, we are on the right track. All we need is you. We
passionately believe this show deserves a shot. Sign up. Don’t abandon the
Craft Movement. Together we can weather this storm and emerge prepared for a
sustainable crafts future with new markets; this is one. The venue is a lot
closer to Albany and the Berkshire where 75% of the Manchester audience came
from. In the middle of summer, they are more likely to come here. They will
enjoy the site too. There is even a large area with shade trees, providing a
lovely spot to enjoy lunch.
We have the enthusiastic support of the whole town and a
great venue. Booth fees start at just $400. Nothing in life is a sure thing but
this event demands that you put down a bet and join us.
To sign up click here.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Vermont Balloon and Craft Festival
In 2012 we moved our summer
Vermont show back to the Shelburne Museum after a nine year hiatus. While it was
not a great success, it demonstrated that the potential is awesome. Shelburne
Museum is a prestigious venue in Vermont’s most populous county. There is a very
strong tourism base here in the summer. In 2013 we are taking several steps to
improve the show:
a. We have
linked with the Balloon Festival at Shelburne Museum. Our attendance will grow
significantly especially in the afternoons.
b. The hours
will be during the heart of the days: Fri 10-5, Sat 10-7, Sun 10-5.
c. Layout of
tents will be improved, especially for Specialty Food Tent. There will be no
separate Spirits Tent.
d. We have
already secured major media sponsorships: WCAX-TV, STAR 92.9 Radio, and the
Burlington Free Press.
e. We will
better limit the number of exhibitors to allow you improved sales.
f. There
will be more craft demos and an increased participation by the Shelburne Craft
School.
g. There
will be more entertainment and kids activities.
If you are looking for a Summer show in Vermont you should give this serious consideration.
To apply click here. Also remember one lucky exhibitor will win
a Balloon Ride, a $275 value!
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Shelburne Art and Craft Festival-Wow! What news!
2012 was our first year back in Shelburne, VT and were not
entirely please with the outcome. The 4000 people who attended were a good
start, but not good enough. We have moved aggressively to improve the show and
want to share some details with you.
In 2013 we have formed a partnership with Americade, a
company that produces a Hot Air Balloon event.
Their event in Shelburne drew about 4000 people its first year. With these two
events combined, we have the potential to draw
much larger crowds. Working together will also allow us
to increase ads, entertainment and other activities. The 2013 Festival will be
renamed The Vermont Balloon and Craft Festival.
For the first year, a
ticket will be only $8.00 and will allow you into the
Festival, which includes both crafts and balloons. There will be balloon
launches Saturday and Sunday. These will
attract additional people who will have a good reason to visit the art and
craft section. In addition to balloon launches, on Saturday evening there will
be a balloon “glow” inside the Museum. To enjoy any of these balloon
activities, which are in the same area as the Craft Tents, a ticket to the
Craft show is required.
Festival hours will be 10 to 5 on Friday, 10 to 7 on
Saturday and 10 to 5 on Sunday. These new hours will take advantage of the
additional traffic from the balloons. The balloon
launches will do a lot in increase attendance Saturday
and Sunday afternoons.
There will be strong media campaign to advertise the
show. The local media have already
embraced the Festival with promises of intense coverage. WCAX, the
preeminent local television station and WEZF, the local powerhouse radio
station, will be media sponsors of the Festival.
We truly expect this Festival to be “the” signature summer
event in the entire Burlington area. Once again, the Shelburne Craft School
will join us offering many craft demos over the three days. They will also
organize the Taste of Shelburne on Sunday afternoon.
There are too many things to explain fully. But, you can bet
this will be a much improved show. As a bonus, you get free admission to the
Shelburne Museum. You are invited inside the Museum grounds for the
“glow” on Saturday evening. It is rather a magical experience. There will be an
exhibitor party after the show Saturday evening before the glow. One lucky
exhibitor will win a balloon ride, high, high into the sky, overlooking Lake
Champlain, the Adirondacks and Green Mountains.
If you have not already signed up for this show, please consider doing so.click here to go to our
online app.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
2013 Summer Show Update
We have been diligently working on our two summer shows and
now have some exciting updates on them.
SHELBURNE:
We moved this show back to Shelburne in 2012. The first
year went OK, not great. We had about 4000
people and knew we had some work to do to grow the show. In 2013 we are
partnering with an upscale Balloon Festival that was held there a few years
ago. They had a good first year show but, for internal reasons, chose not to do
it again. The Museum is thrilled to be hosting this joint venture.
The potential for the two shows together is huge. With
two companies united to promote the Shelburne Craft and Balloon Festival, we
can increase ads, entertainment, etc. The balloons will help draw additional people
that will benefit you. We think the combined attendance will nearly double to
about 8,000 this year. We truly expect that this show will become one of the
biggest shows in Vermont within a few years.
We will change the hours a little to accommodate the
balloon crowds, but will not burden you with excessively long hours. We will
keep them reasonable; more on that soon. We are also keeping the admission at
$8.00 for the joint show, a great value to get people in the first year.
This is a truly unique opportunity, and we hope you get
in on the ground floor.
SOUTHERN VERMONT:
As you know by now, we have moved the Southern Vermont
show to Bennington. We feel it will be a smart move. It is closer to the large
base of customers we serve in Albany, NY and western Mass.
Listening to you, our exhibitors, we hear complaints
about high booth fees. We would like to lower fees but it is almost impossible
to rent tents, wire them, and have nice toilets without spending a pile of
money. While we offer outdoor booths at most of our shows, these are limited
due to site layouts.
The new site in Bennington is much more conducive to
outdoor booths. We are drastically lowering the price of them to encourage you
to bring your own tent and to go outside. Prices are as follows: 10X10 - $400,
10X15 - $450, 10X20 - $500. Limited corners are $100. Limited power is $50.00.
Tented spaces remain the same as listed in the application, $550 for a
10x10. Specialty Food booths also remain
the same here, $375.
We will still put up a big tent, but we hope people will
take advantage of the lower price and do outdoor booths. Please consider applying
to this show at the new, lower price.
Overall our 2013 signups are going well for all shows. We
hope this news will encourage you to sign up for our summer shows. If you are
not already in either of these shows, click here to apply. If you
already in the Bennington show and wish to change your location, contact us by
phone (802) 425-3399 or email info@craftproducers.com.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
2013 Specialty Food Pricing
After a few of
you made suggestions about the prices of booths at our 2013 shows, we listened
and have acted.
Here are the
Specialty Food booth fees for 2013:
Shelburne
$375
Southern
Vermont Art and Craft Festival $375
Manchester
Fall $450
Stowe Foliage
$450
Syracuse
$375
Each
additional five feet will cost $150. For example, a 15x10 at Shelburne will be
$525; a 20x10 will cost $675.
Corners are
$100.
We have
studied the number of popular products: dips, jams, wines, and spirits. We will
make an effort to keep the number in any category sustainable, not saturating
the category. This means if you apply late and a category is full you will not
be able to get into the show. So, please apply now to be certain of getting in.
Corners are limited as well; that’s another reason to apply, to secure a corner
if you want one.
Historically,
Craftproducers Specialty Food area does really well. We are expecting a strong
2013 and invite you to join us if you have not already signed up. If you are
already signed up these prices should be reflected in your invoice.. To apply
for 2013 shows click here
The prices on
the website will updated in the next couple days, please ignore them for
now.
We hope to see
you at the shows.
Tim
Cianciola
Charley
Dooley
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