Having been a regular stallholder at various different fairs, fetes, agricultural shows and the like, it never ceases to amaze me how people organising these events can get it so wrong.
I have been to some events where it really shows how seasoned the organisers are. From a lack of advertising, to bad space management, the list of errors is, to me, quite surprising.
So what makes a good event? Well this is easy, but can be hard to acheive. From a stallholders point of view you need a good mix of visitors, all with cash to spend. At this time of year this shouldn’t be too difficult, most people are searching for slightly different gift ideas, something other than the usual socks, tie or slippers.
Getting the advertising right is the one thing I believe event organisers should concentrate on. If they don’t get the customers in, then there will be no repeat events in future years. I was at such an event recently, was wondering why I wasn’t selling much at all, and then my husband who was with me mentioned that he overheard they had not taken time to promote the event at all. There was no banner up outside the building, and no stakes in the ground showing the way. I only just found it and I knew there was something happening there.
So, what else. Well being greedy and trying to fit too many stalls into too small a space will not only make the customers feel crowded, it will make the stallholders feel like lab rats, all packed into a tiny space. Tables are usually 6 ft, and it is a good idea to leave a couple of feet extra for space to move around the table. This includes front and back, so planning the best use of the space available is the next most important consideration. It may be tempting to try and fit an extra table in, but it won’t benefit anyone in the long run.
So, what else do you need to think about? Pricing. If you charge too much for the space, and then don’t get the visitors in, your stallholders may not be keen to come back next time. This can be tricky to get right as you can never guarantee that people will attend, no matter how many times they have been told. The weather, what’s on the television, and the kids being ill can all stop your target visitors from turning up. Pricing can vary from the sublime, less than £5 for a table, to the ‘how on earth am I going to make that money back?’ approaching the hundred mark. Of course the price you charge should reflect the overall tone of the event, so a school fair would be around £10 and a large baby fair in a local exhibition centre would be the other end of the scale.
You may also want to think about the atmosphere for the event. At this time of year I am attending a lot of Christmas Fairs and shopping evenings, and it is a lovely idea to offer wine and maybe mince pies, ok a bit gimmicky, but if your customers and stallholders are having fun then your event is more likely to go well. You may have decided to organise a raffle or other entertainment, a nice idea I heard the other day was to get some carol singers in, as long as they can sing I can see how that would be a bonus.
So you have your stallholders, all with a comfortable amount of space, and you have put up posters everywhere including the neighbours cat, and you have Santa booked to attend complete with sack of presents. So that is it all taken care of?
Not quite. Some of the more tedious but necessary things to consider are insurance, parking, and security. Luckily I have only been to one event so far this year where something was stolen from a table, so it doesn’t happen that often. Parking can be a big factor, depending on the location you have chosen for your event, and you will have to have insurance to cover the possibility of someone getting hurt at your event.
Events, when they go well, will be a benefit not only to the stallholders but the customers as well. Everyone will leave buzzing with how great the day was, and how they can’t wait to go back next year. What better publicity could you hope for?