How to find and select the right craft fair for you?

Craft and design fairs come in many different shapes and sizes – from local craft markets to cultural festivals to major international gift or furniture fairs with thousands of trade visitors. But, how do you find and select the right craft fair or design event for you and your products?

In this blog post, you will find the answers to how and where to find the right craft fair, and then how to select the right selling event for your creative products – with 21 helpful questions to think about when choosing.

How and where do you find the right craft fair or design show?

In the last few years it has become much easier to find out about craft fairs and selling events. The most popular options are:

• Do a Google search under ‘craft fairs UK’, ‘craft markets for new makers’, ‘design events’, or more specifically ‘ceramic shows’, ‘interior design shows’ etc. There are plenty of specialist websites to find craft fairs, trade shows, markets, such as UK Craft Fairs, Stall Finder, and Trade Fair Dates. For popup spaces Appear Here is a really good resource.
• Check out specialist craft or design trade magazines, blogs and forums for exhibitions reviews, advertisements, leaflets or ‘call for exhibition’ classifieds.
• Check for related hashtags on Instagram or other social media such as #craftfairs #craftshow #designfair #madeinwales or just follow other designers and makers and check them out when they are talking about the craft fairs and design shows they are doing.
• Sign up for newsletters or follow social media platforms of creative business support organisations that share opportunities, such as The Design Trust Facebook, the Crafts Council and Craft Scotland. 
• Specialist Facebook groups are a good place to find out about craft shows for new exhibitors too
• Ask your peers! If you sell on Etsy then ask in your Etsy team. Check out the online CV’s of your role models to see where they have shown their work in the past.
• Check out event listings websites such as Eventbrite or your local council or tourism support organisations.
• And our The Design Trust A2 Wall Planner also shows the most popular craft and design fairs in the UK and abroad!

21 Questions to help you select the right craft fair

There are so many craft and design shows around at the moment that it can be hard to find the right one for you! And it is a very personal choice of course.

A show might be really great for one maker and not at all for another.

An event might be brilliant one year and less so the next.

Choosing a show is very personal and outside influences such as the weather or the state of the economy can play a major role too in the success of a show.

Firstly create a list of potential fairs and then start researching a bit deeper. We identified 21 questions or criteria to help you find the right one(s) for you:

1. Who or what sells at this event? What’s the purpose of the event? Is it a creative event or does it attract a wider audience? What kind of creative products and services are for sale at this event? Do other creatives sell there too and are your peers there? What’s the price level of the products for sale? Is there loads of food or activities for children too?

2. Who else exhibits there? Are they high profile people in your sector, professionals or amateurs? Are you happy to have a stand next to them? Is the show very competitive for what you do or would you offer a gap in the market? Is it a selected show or can anybody exhibit? What is the top and bottom price level of products?

3. Who are the main visitors? Who attends this event? Is it a trade or consumer show, or both? Are your ideal clients visiting? Is it a local, national or international show? Why are visitors coming to this show – is it a key event to place orders, to buy Christmas gifts, to browse, or to be entertained with the children during the holidays? Does the show attract high level buying clients or are there many tourists coming? Has the event got the right profile for you?

4. How many visitors will attend? Are visitor numbers in the 100’s or 1,000’s? Bigger isn’t always better. Think about what you would feel comfortable with!

5. When is the fair? Many fairs take place at conflicting times of the year such as end of January or September, and many Christmas craft fairs happen in November or early December. Think about when your ideal clients are most likely to buy so that sales or orders are more likely.

6. Does the timing affect what you can sell? It is really important for you to know what buyers will be buying and when: trade fairs in January are aimed at Mother’s Day and wedding gifts, trade fairs in September are often aimed at Christmas. For fashion it is even more stringent.

7. Is this event indoors or outdoors? Is it in a special venue and location or in a specially created venue? How would the weather potentially impact on the success of the event?

8. Can you sell at the show or only take orders? At most trade shows you can only take orders to be delivered later. At most consumer shows you sell on the spot, so you need to ensure that you have got enough stock and can wrap your products safely but nicely.

9. Where is the fair? Is it easy for you to get to, or do you need to find accommodation? Is there convenient public transport, or plenty of parking (for you and visitors)? London trade buyers are often reluctant to leave the capital, so make sure that the people you want to visit actually will come.

10. How many stands are there? What are the types and sizes of the stands? How big is the show – from a couple of tables to 23 halls at the Milan Furniture Fair!

11. What is the profile of the fair in your sector? How long has the fair been going? Does it attract good press coverage and key players in your field? Who sponsors the event? What are the ticket prices? Has the show grown or got smaller over the years?

12. What are the costs? How much does a stand cost (don’t forget to add the VAT!)? Do you need to pay an additional commission to the organisers on any sales (fairly common with craft fairs)? What is included in the fee? How much would electricity and lighting cost (often added separately and can be very expensive depending on the show)? Can you bring your own furniture or do you have to pay? Would you need to pay for accommodation and travel costs and potential help at the show? What would your transport cost be to get your products to and from the show?

13. What type of stand would you get? Do you need wall space or a corner space? Would you be at the front or back of a show (the latter is often far quieter)? What presentation material can you bring (many shows can supply jewellery display cabinets)?

14. How long is the show on for? Some fairs have very long and late hours and go on for a long time (The Milan Furniture Fair is on for 8 days!). Make sure that you know in advance, and potentially get help to enable you to do a show without a complete breakdown.

15. What promotion do the fair organisers do? Have they got a good reputation with buyers and press? Where do they publicise and promote the event? Do they attract the right audience for you?

16. Have they got special deals for first time exhibitors? Check this out as often there are special packages, group stands or special areas dedicated to new designers or crafts people. You often will get more training or support through workshops.

17. What additional exhibition support will they offer you? What will they do to promote you to potential buyers and press? Will they offer training or PR for new exhibitors?

18. Is this a juried event or ‘first come first serve’? The best craft fairs have an application process with a deadline as they are often very popular. Juried events are better quality but often more expensive too.

19. What are your chances of being selected? Some shows get far more applications than they have stands. Make sure that you know in advance what your chances are.

20. What’s the ticket price for visitors? Some events are free, while others in London charge more than £20. The cheaper shows often attract a wide range of visitors, who love to browse but they might not necessarily be serious buyers or collectors.

21. How will loading in and out work? This is often one of the main frustrations (at a time when you are either stressed or knackered)! Check if you get a time or parking space allocated, and how much time you will get unload and pack up.

How to get the answers to find the right craft fair

The more information you can gather, the easier it will be to make your decision.

1. Do your research! You can find a lot of information on the craft fair’s website about the type of event and exhibitors, the amount of visitors and who exhibits. You can read between the lines what the purpose and overall feel and quality is of the event. And the images will say a lot too! Don’t hesitate to phone or email the organisers if you can’t find the information you are looking for. You can tell a lot from how they answer!

2. I strongly recommend that you visit a show prior to exhibiting, so that you can make a personal choice if the show is right for you. Talk to stand holders about their experience, most of them are quite happy to give honest feedback to you (when they are not busy selling!). Check out if the show is full of people looking, or if people are actually buying.

3. Talk to exhibitors. You can see who showed before on the exhibitor list or talk to them when you visit the show. You can also do some quick research on social media to see if there are any negative or positive comments (although don’t believe everything you read online!) or how the event is rated on Trust Pilot or Trip Advisor.

Did you find this post about how to find and select the right craft fairs and design shows for you helpful? Have you got any additional criteria for selecting the right show? Do let us know in the comments box below.