Hi there !
I wanted to get some feedback on craft fairs, and whether they are (a) declining (b) about the same as the last couple of years or © Increasing.
Talking to some traders in the south, it seems there are at least some which were quite popular at one time, but are now far less so, and declining in numbers and footfall.
This is not to worry anyone, I am just looking for information. Problem is, that the organisers often pretend nothing changes, where footfall is declining on some sites.
They have a constant battle to attract people to a craft fair rather than go to other events.
I noticed this again at a craft fair I attended yesterday.
There were a fraction of the stalls that used to be, many regular traders that we knew just not bothering to turn up, and this trend noticeable over the last year or so. Of course, it might be an isolated case, but I don’t think so. Fewer customers, many look, but relatively few spend. Even the ‘lookers’ are fewer, and big gaps .
When an organiser of several sites starts offering special incentives to get more people to other sites miles away, you figure out that it ain’t doing so well, but good luck to them.
So are there trends across the country, of decline in stall numbers, fewer people coming to regular fairs, or is this a temporary blip ? With a growing economy (as we are told), in theory there should be more customers, not less.
I am always staggered of the range of products I see at craft fairs, some really beautiful stuff, (yes, on Folksy too there are some great products).
Is the market for craft products (or certain types of products) saturated, and the market reducing , because there is a limit to what people will be prepared to buy ?
Went to a major canalboat festival recently, loads of people but I guess 80%-90% of the stalls were fast food, and very popular.
The non-food craft stalls, many of them, I guess were struggling, and this on an event which lasted several days, and probably cost a fair bit as pitch rental. Don’t want to be pessimistic here, but what we need is some realistic feedback, as we won’t get it from the organisers probably.