Location: Annapolis, MD
Day of the Week: Sunday
Weather: Overcast in the morning, Sunny in the afternoon. Chilly in the shade.
Organization: Excellent. Lots of information before the event and fantastic volunteers to help during the event.
Crowd Size: Big crowd in the main area, smaller crowds in Whitmore Park and City Gate.
Crowd Make Up: Lots of families and Lots of dog owners. Some browsers, but mostly shoppers.
Booth Fee: $50 for 10′ x 10′ in City Gate.
What a relief to get to sleep in a bit! This was the latest fair I’ve done so far. Set-up didn’t even start until 10am! How luxurious! Annapolis is only a half hour from my house, so it really didn’t take long to get there and get set up.
I did have some trouble finding City Gate because there were so many little sections of the festival, but the volunteers were very helpful in finding my spot, setting up, and parking my truck. The volunteer in City Gate even helped me take down my tent.
It was pretty chilly in the shade at City Gate, but I’m sure once we get into the full swing of summer, it will feel wonderful. We didn’t have a huge crowd since we were off to the side, but it was steady enough. We basically got what we paid for. Our booth fees were about half of the booth fees in the main section and since soap has a pretty small profit margin, we have to be a pretty big operation to make those big booth fees worth it.
As always, I met lots of nice vendors and even saw a couple of repeat customers from the Flea Market series. Several customers even knew about Neem oil , which was a surprise. Since most soap makers avoid its horrible smell, I don’t think most people have heard of it. The folks I met who had were either of Indian descent or were in the skincare industry themselves.
The new Lemongrass Ginger lotion bars were a big hit. They were probably the most universally liked. I sold out of several products for the first time too! It was, all in all, a very exciting day.