Loving the Locals
This past Saturday was when a fun art's festival is held in my neighborhood in Atlanta. It's called the East Atlanta Strut and it's really a fun time with lots of music, a great parade and, of course, artists. I've participated in the event for the past few years and it's always been a good show for me. This year, however, things looked like they might be a little different.
The weather forecast was for rain during the entire event. Literally, the forecast said it was starting at 10 am and ending at 9 pm like the clouds had seen the advertising for the Strut. That was a disappointing forecast but the weather guru's have been known to be wrong on occasion so I tried to stay optimistic. It was beautiful, sunny, and hot while I was loading up the truck and helping another neighbor clean the litter and weeds from the parade route (thanks again for doing that) on Friday, so why would it be so ugly and miserable on Saturday? Because that is how Atlanta weather works. It started sprinkling before I even left the driveway.
Thankfully the drizzle stopped while we were setting up the tent so everything stayed dry. Not that it's an issue if pottery gets wet but I use wood shelves which don't love the rain. I was smart enough to put the side walls on the tent, we needed them. It started raining, then it started raining very hard. A few people did come out between raindrops and they tended to get caught in a downpour. I was inviting people to come into the tent and hang out just to get away from the rain. I didn't even try to sell them pots, I just felt bad for them.
During the few breaks we got many of the other venders packed up and left. My truck was parked close and it would have been easy to do but I was already there so I stuck it out. My friends came by and brought me beer (thanks Dow and Tom) and food and watched the tent when I needed to leave for a minute. I was okay.
By late afternoon the rain quit. I came out of the tent to see a lot of empty spaces. I also made friends with another artist that was a few booths down. While we were chatting people started arriving and they were buying. They bought his paintings, they bought my pots, and they most likely bought art from the other venders who stuck it out. They all said the same thing to me, "I'm sorry about the rain." I'm sorry the event was rained out for so many but I'm thankful for the support of my neighbors. Financially it wasn't the best show I've ever done but I still felt good because of the caring and love I saw. I'm very happy about the show. Besides, my garden was thirsty.
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery by Lori Buff
The weather forecast was for rain during the entire event. Literally, the forecast said it was starting at 10 am and ending at 9 pm like the clouds had seen the advertising for the Strut. That was a disappointing forecast but the weather guru's have been known to be wrong on occasion so I tried to stay optimistic. It was beautiful, sunny, and hot while I was loading up the truck and helping another neighbor clean the litter and weeds from the parade route (thanks again for doing that) on Friday, so why would it be so ugly and miserable on Saturday? Because that is how Atlanta weather works. It started sprinkling before I even left the driveway.
Thankfully the drizzle stopped while we were setting up the tent so everything stayed dry. Not that it's an issue if pottery gets wet but I use wood shelves which don't love the rain. I was smart enough to put the side walls on the tent, we needed them. It started raining, then it started raining very hard. A few people did come out between raindrops and they tended to get caught in a downpour. I was inviting people to come into the tent and hang out just to get away from the rain. I didn't even try to sell them pots, I just felt bad for them.
During the few breaks we got many of the other venders packed up and left. My truck was parked close and it would have been easy to do but I was already there so I stuck it out. My friends came by and brought me beer (thanks Dow and Tom) and food and watched the tent when I needed to leave for a minute. I was okay.
By late afternoon the rain quit. I came out of the tent to see a lot of empty spaces. I also made friends with another artist that was a few booths down. While we were chatting people started arriving and they were buying. They bought his paintings, they bought my pots, and they most likely bought art from the other venders who stuck it out. They all said the same thing to me, "I'm sorry about the rain." I'm sorry the event was rained out for so many but I'm thankful for the support of my neighbors. Financially it wasn't the best show I've ever done but I still felt good because of the caring and love I saw. I'm very happy about the show. Besides, my garden was thirsty.
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery by Lori Buff
oh so good you stuck it out and friends that brought beer, how cool is that
ReplyDeleteIt's very cool. I'm lucky to have such good friends.
DeleteYour Saturday sounds like my Saturday, except I didn't have friends to bring me beer! It's disappointing, but if you do outdoor show, you just have to roll with it.
ReplyDeleteI think my Saturday was much better than yours Michèle. At least nobody stole a large pot from me.
DeleteI really wasn't disappointed, it ended up being a pretty good day.
Ugh, these outdoor shows, I have been reading much the same on other blogs. Seems lots of folks had rainy shows this weekend, at least you were in good company, haha,
ReplyDeleteReally it was no big deal. I had a great time anyway and made some sales. Of course if the weather was nice like the first 2 years it would have been better but you can't win them all. You are right though, I was in great company.
Deleteit is only rain.
ReplyDeleteSome of our best shows have been in rain.
I would be like you, if you are there- stay.
We did a show one year in poring rain and sold pots like they were hot-cakes!
You're so right. I can understand bailing out (pun intended) if your booth is totally flooding or the wind is really bad but honestly I stayed drier by staying and had a good day.
Delete