Results Are In For Florida Folk Festival

We worked our butts off getting ready for the Florida Folk Festival this year and we sweated the whole three days. From what I gathered from some of the other participants last year they got stormed out. With temperature in the low 100s all three days it did affect attendance of both volunteers, participants and visitors. We were located on the main walkway between the Paw-Paw stage and the main Amphitheater. Friday bright and early my youngest daughter and I hung out from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm. Sadly, we only made $16 that day and half of that was a texted in order that my daughter got from one of her friends. If we had stayed until almost dark we may have made more money as all the other vendors were closed except our immediate neighbor who said she made over $200 during those last 2 hours before she packed it in at 8:30 pm.

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Since, I told the coordinator my daughters and I were going to be making items during our stay she gave me extra tickets to cover my three helpers for FREE. If we apply again next year I have to remember to apply as a demonstrator to get free admission tickets for my daughters and granddaughter. I REALLY hope that I have my mobile shop made by then because sitting in a tent in that heat with no a/c or even decent fans (battery powered camping fans just don’t cut it in 100 degree weather) and using ice water washrags is not a fun way to keep cool. And the fact that we couldn’t hook up lights to be able to sell during the main events after dark was money on the table we lost out on.

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On Saturday we took our neighbors advice and stayed until about 8:00 pm. We did make the bulk of our money in the last hour from some hyper kids with indulgent parents and the fact that we were one of the last few vendors opened. We made over $100 all day long. I arrived at 8:30 and my extra helpers came a little later. It was very hot again and we employed our redneck a/c (Styrofoam cooler filled with ice with a hole cut into the lid and on the side, place a piece of plastic pipe in the side hole and put the battery operated fan into the top one) and ice water wash clothes to put around our necks, faces, wrists and even down the legs to help keep us cooler. There was a little bit more wind during the day. My daughter was crocheting coasters using a very colorful variegated crochet thread and I managed to make a pair of butterfly bead earrings, a beaded bracelet for my granddaughter, a beaded anklet for my daughter and two other beaded anklets that I have to find and add to our store.

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Sunday dawned bright and muggy and I told my helpers to come in later in the day because they needed to help me break down the site and get everything into our two cars. I decided to make metal charm earrings for the day. Simple and easy to make and ended up with 34 pairs to add to our inventory. Both of my helpers made a few as well. Again we only made one sale on Sunday and were really ready to go by 5:00 pm. The coordinators didn’t want anyone breaking down or bringing in their vehicles until the Paw-Paw stage shows had stopped but before the main Amphitheater concerts began. Of course, you had those that immediately began to break down as soon as the one set of shows ended at 4:30. We just took down some of the decorations and packed away some of the outer displays of merchandise but settled in to wait until the appointed time to check out with the registration people and pay our fees. Since, their fees were based on our sales we only ended up having to pay $25. We would have really rather have had to pay them much more but that’s the way it goes guys.

Below are some pictures we took during the three day event and a breakdown of costs and revenues. Now, this by no means is a set example of what you can expect should you get accepted for this event. It really depends on what you make, how you present it in your booth and how the people feel during the event. If the weather was just a little cooler I think we would have made a bit more money.

Expenses: $32 – Wash Clothes, Batteries for Fans, (I bought a portable AC unit but couldn’t use it here)
Revenue: $165
Vendor Fee: $25
Sales Taxes: $12
PROFIT/LOSS: $96 (for this event only – still in the hole from the previous events)