brain coral

Belly dancing

 

Good start

We didn't sell a single photo before 2:00 Friday or Saturday. Today we sold 5. The crowds are smaller, but people seem much more interested in art part of Artscape than they were the previous two days. If we can increase the sales volume proportionately during the heaviest sales hours between 5 and 8, we might end up in decent shape.

Saturday recap

We sold what I had hoped would be our baseline average on Saturday, but then again, that was supposed to be our biggest day, and if that turns out to be the case, then I'm going to be disappointed in the results.

We have already made enough to cover our booth fee and materials cost, but we made a decent investment in display apparatus which we were hoping to recoup, and a huge investment in time. Even if we do as well today as we did yesterday, I'm not sure I would see the value in doing this particular festival again.

Day 2 so far

Sales are picking up a little (we've already sold more than we did yesterday), but we're still not where I had hoped we would be. A couple of good hours where we sell 4-5 per hour would get us back on track, but I'm starting to have my doubts about us making a profit this weekend. At this point, I'd be happy if we were able to break even.

Girl walking on broken glass

 

Her feet were actually bleeding.

More art cars

Art car parade

Jango the performing monkey

 

Yes, her name really is Jango.

First day

Yesterday was not a great day for sales - four prints and a few cards (by comparison, we sold eight prints the first day of Spring Fair this year). We need to do significantly better today and tomorrow to have this be a successful venture.

The good news is that it seemed to me a slow day for everyone - even the lemonade vendors were complaining, and it was 96 degrees yesterday. Plus, lots of people liked our merchandise, and a couple of seasoned shoppers told us our prices were very reasonable (we also looked at our competitors prices for similar sized matted photos, and we were at the low end of average.

So even though yesterday was the best day for us, we're still hopeful that we could have big sales today and Sunday.

Artscape at night

Weirdos "dancing"

 

More goodness from the street performance area.

Knife juggler

 

There's a small perfomance area near us -musicians, magicians, and assorted other street performers. This guy was juggling three very large knives while balancing on two stacked skateboards which were in turn balanced on a tube. He only did it for about five seconds, but it still counts.

Still slow...

But the crowds have definitely picked up as we've gotten closer to 5. People who have been here before tell us that things will pick up and the crowds will be unbelievably large, so we're hopeful this afternoon has just been the calm before the storm. And Joan Jett is playing tonight on the stage closest to us, so that should bring a few folks down our way.

The first couple of hours

We've sold one photo so far, which is decent. Since most people are at work, the crowds are pretty contained, and it won't be until the evening that things will pick up. I would't have been surprised if we hadn't sold anything until after 5, and we still might not sell anything else, but it's always nice to get that first sale out of the way.

Setting up...