Many artisans do craft shows, festivals, farmers’ markets to sell their products. There are indoor shows during the winter and many shows in the summer outside. For the outdoor shows you need a canopy and displays for inside the canopy. Indoors is a little easier with no canopy tents required.
For a few years I have only been doing craft shows on Beaver Island. And since I am on the island in the summer I don’t have a chance to do the outdoor fairs. On Beaver Island I do the Historical Society art show in July. This is a wonderful display of all kinds of arts from knitting, painting and drawing, wood carving and jewelry. It is fun to meet many of my customers in person and they can meet me! Beaver Island Gallery on the island (where I have jewelry) has a Meet the Artist gathering in August during Baroque Week.
This year I decided to try to get into a couple winter shows in Ann Arbor. It is hard to “break in” to these shows if you haven’t been doing them. The show promoters have only seen your photos and not your real items. But this year I got accepted to do the Saline Farmer’s Market on Saturdays, through April (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.). Then back again in October. It is an indoor show with a mixture of crafts and food. I did my first show a week ago and it was slow for me. Hopefully more people will stop by in the future.
The Michigan Makers Holiday Craft Market will be December 13 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is held at the Suburban Collection Showplace on Grand River Avenue in Novi. I was accepted for this market so plan to be there with glass bead jewelry and functional items.