My first fair was in May and was aimed at babies and children. Having scoured the internet for crafts people I managed to get together 18 stalls all selling beautiful hand made products for babies and children. All in all it went well. We had plenty of visitors and the children were happy having their faces painted while their mummies shopped.
The local paper attended and we got our first article in the Gloucestershire Echo!
Photo featured in the Echo
After the May fair we did 2 more small community fairs. Having worked really hard in the run up with advertising etc, it was disappointing when the turn out was pretty dire! After paying for hire, printing and other running costs I was earning around £10 for the privilege of organising each fair. Hardly the successful new business I'd hoped for!
TIME TO AIM HIGHER
Something had to change if I was going to make a business out of my hobby. Bigger, more popular and accessible venues were needed.
At the beginning of August I contacted The Brewery in Cheltenham about the possibility of holding a fair and thankfully, they were interested. In fact they wanted to hold a fair in 4 weeks time on August bank holiday.
After a mad rush to find stall holders I held my first 'proper' outdoor craft fair. We had activities for the kids from Paint it Yourself Pottery in Cheltenham and a great range of stalls. Most importantly there were loads of customers and the sun stayed out!
So the small village halls were ditched in favour of town centre venues.
CHRISTMAS
At Christmas 2010 I held a 3 day Market at the Brewery complete with tented stalls and carols playing on the Ipod! Somehow we managed to choose the one weekend in December that Cheltenham wasn't under snow and sub zero temperatures. With the Brewery attracting 30,000 visitors over the weekend a great time was had by all.
So now it's time for 2011.
A NEW YEAR
A NEW BUSINESS NAME
NEW VENUES
A NEW BABY
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