Time for a recap!

This past weekend was a whirlwind (as were the weeks leading up to it!)

Each year I try to choose a couple events to do, and in addition to Comic Con earlier this year, I wanted to try out the Festive Market at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens (by Teagreen Events).

Since I was able to focus on my fine art (instead of illustrations or fantasy art), I had a lot of fun prepping my display. I had an idea to make a “mini gallery” - so that even if I didn’t sell anything I would have the benefit of sharing my work with the public.

So how about we go through my supplies that helped create the display and then some pros/cons of the event.

My Setup

I ordered these 4 foot grid walls, which ended up being the perfect height on top of the table.

Having the art at eye-level really helped draw people in, especially the larger pieces.

All the exhibitor tables were located along the perimeter of this large circular room, so as people were walking along they could see my art from a distance.

Closer view:

on the table, I was able to display an array of products. I chose a variety of smaller originals, prints, cards, postcards, and calendars. Most of the items on the table were under £10 and they were the biggest sellers.

However almost everyone who visited my table took time to look at the art on the “walls.”

From the back, you can see how I had to tie each frame to the grid because I didn’t have hooks. Hooks would have been so much easier!

Also, I really should have used T-legs, because the frames made the grids front-heavy. I had to put my backpack on the legs of the grid in the back so that it wouldn’t tip over!

On the table, Baskets held the smaller loose items such as prints, mini originals and coloring books.

The tiered card holder in the center of the table was something I bought a couple years ago for a very tiny local art fair. I used two of them here. Unfortunately these ones are made for smaller items, so I couldn’t fill it up (otherwise the cards would overlap and cover each other too much).

Needless to say, I did not use that layout! Ha!

It’s something to keep in mind when choosing your display stands. Also, the one in the back is sitting on top of a cardboard box that I covered in fabric.

I also made these little signs using tape and brushes:

They received lots of compliments!

Overall, it was a pretty simple setup and I’m happy with how it went!

Overall I made a profit, but there were some cons to this event as well. Let’s talk about that next!

Pros and Cons

Let’s start with the cons:

The event was located inside the Glasgow Botanic Gardens, which is free to walk through, and this is a glorious thing unless the weather is nasty. And boy oh boy was the weather nasty this weekend. It poured almost the entire two-day event. Traffic was very low. Like I said, I still made a profit, but it was not the greatest.
The event was inside the Kibble Palace, a glass building housing mostly tropical plants. Guess what that means! WATER
On Saturday morning when we arrived at 8am to setup, it was extremely humid, to the point where all of my glass frames were fogged over. Luckily, this stopped by 10am otherwise I would have been constantly wiping the glass!
The condensation inside the building was intense. You can see from a lot of my photos that the floor was permanently wet. Not only that but there were tons of water drips everywhere. We had to keep empty cups on the table to catch the drips (some people had tons of cups on their table!)
We were warned about this before we arrived but it was still a hassle.
There is no overhead lighting inside Kibble Palace, so our light came from the sun. This means in winter, when daylight is limited, our displays suddenly become very dark without the sun! Some people (mostly jewelers) had table lighting, but this is definitely something I didn’t think about until I was there. Between 3-4pm (the last hour it was open both days), it was extremely hard to see anything on the tables in detail, which felt like we lost an hour of sales.
Most people who visited didn’t seem to know the event was happening at the gardens prior to arriving. This didn’t stop them from buying, but it meant overall it was a bit of a surprise, and this lack of advertising plus the bad weather meant lower traffic overall.

Pros:

It was a beautiful venue, despite the problems and the bad weather, people seem to enjoy walking the gardens which meant there was still foot traffic and people were in a good mood.
The event staff were extremely friendly and helpful, and did their best to accommodate everyone’s requests and keep things going smoothly. They even provided free tea/coffee/treats for the vendors all weekend (thank you!)
I was able to try out my new display in a somewhat calm environment.
Holiday season = holiday shoppers buying gifts for people and not just for themselves.
I was humbled by many compliments and even met some fellow artists! I love that aspect of these live events. Talking to passionate people makes me happy.
I heard from other vendors that this location is wonderful during the summer, with much higher foot traffic and better lighting. I think I might give it a try next year!

It was really nice to have Wolfy help me out, because manning a table by yourself for a whole day can be rough. Being able to take breaks, walk around, get food, etc. is such a blessing!

The more I do these live events, the more I enjoy them. I want to keep trying new ones, preferably closer to home! The drive to/from Glasgow was awful in the rain and especially ruined the end of the event for me. But despite that, I had a good experience overall.

So I guess that wraps up this event. I learned so much, and I already have ideas to improve my setup. I got inspired by the variety of creativity and the gardens itself. Time to paint!