Craft Fairs / Events Northern Ireland 2009

SuperMum2008

Hi Indigos Mum - Im sorry youre having trouble with the Stork Fair - (I hope I replied to all your emails - LOL!!), I think the fact that it is very specific has made it difficult for some of us to tailour our wares completely - thinking about a few of us here, between us we sell jewellery, knitted goods, bath bombs, paintings, fair trade things ad that might no be appropriate for this particular fair.

I think I had expressed an interest in the Stork Exchange fair originally and said that we could do it with our more decorative items, but as our products are constantly changing and morphing into new products (which is always the way with crafters!), Im not sure that our things would now be appropriate - we have some mobiles and hangings that sell well for babies' rooms, but the rest of the stock is for small children, teenagers and adults - but let me know if you would still like us to come!!!

I do think that most of us on this forum jump at the chance to attend most things as it is almost impossible to find out about fairs other than by word of mouth, (I feel as if I am jumping to everyone's defence here!!!) so I would continue to urge all you crafters to keep in touch with the fair organisers. Even if you cant do the one coming up, there could be a link to a future date if only you communicate well so it is definitely worth the effort.

I would also say on the flip side as a stall hirer, that all fairs are organised "differently" and sometimes it can be a complete disaster!! Over the last 12 months we have experienced (oh dear, I feel a rant coming on - apologies ina dvance, hormone attack!!):

1. "We forgot to advertise the fair so don't think many people will turn up" after we have driven 30 miles and unpacked a bulging car in lashing rain.

2. "I know you're a stall holder but tea and coffee is still £1.50" - ok, we've paid for the stall hire, driven all this way unpacked the car in lashing rain and now we have to PAY for the tea and coffee??

3. "Sorry, the hall is quite full and we have had to cram the tables together" - this is so frustrating. We want to display our things in the most appealing way possible, and be ble to move around our display without dragging 24 pairs of earrings off the table of the stallholder next door!!

4. Just before the fair starts - "could you give us your £40 table hire money NOW?"

5. "We need to choose something from your table for the raffle - aha, this £20 bag will do nicely"...GRRR!!!

6. "We decided to put all the jewellery sellers together at one end, and all the fair trade bags together at the other end, so people can compare" LOL....!!!

Right, rant over, Im sure you've all had some funny experiences, but on the whole I have to say, we love stallholding and love hearing about fairs we can attend so don't give up on us!!!!

SuperMum2008

belle87 wrote: »

carftfox if u hear of anything contact me i usually travel approx 11/2 to attend events as im coming from newcastle direction, i am also attending the stork xchange event in august.

imnot sure if you noticed my post about nendrum college this sat imnot sure if its too late to get a place but worth a try

RE NENDRUM - We managed to secure a table on Tuesday so it is still worth contacting them!!

belle87

SuperMum2008 wrote: »

RE NENDRUM - We managed to secure a table on Tuesday so it is still worth contacting them!!

ohh i didnt know they were having a fair on the tuesday hope goes well

SuperMum2008

Oops no, meant we contacted them on Tuesday about the fair this weekend and got a table at short notice!!

belle87

ahh ok cool well shall see u there ie been told there is alot of activities and with it being an opne day thing for schools o im hoping to sell a good bit:) have to keep my hopes up haha

craftyfox

good luck to all for saturday at nendrum ..... i'm having saturday off:j i'm having a tooth out tomorrow afternoon :eek: soooo i think i'll spend the day in bed _pale_

SuperMum2008

craftyfox wrote: »

good luck to all for saturday at nendrum ..... i'm having saturday off:j i'm having a tooth out tomorrow afternoon :eek: soooo i think i'll spend the day in bed _pale_

You poor thing! Hope it goes ok . We have your flowers by the way - we can post them if they are needed asap?

craftyfox

thanks for that supermum i'll pm you soon .... and i didn't get the tooth out :j we will try some root treatment first but it is now quite sore and a bit of a pain in the wallet department as well but i still get to smile with out a big gap:D (i don't need any help in putting the customers off with a wonkey smile )

thriftyminx13

There is a Northern Ireland Environment Agency event today at Hillsborough fort called "military madness." It's a free family event and will have stuff from civil wars, WW1 and 2 etc.

http://www.wonderfulni.co.uk/111

belle87

well had a pretty good day 2day better than expected lol well chuffed roll on fair end of month haha:)