Bele Chere 2007

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="05bfd5a3.jpg"> <div> <B>Bele Chere 2007</B></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="05cd2043.jpg"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mike Albin.Com "><U>Mike Albin.Com </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="wd.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Web design"><U>Web design</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="ma.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marketing Articles"><U>Marketing Articles</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="sr.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Show Reviews"><U>Show Reviews</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="mt.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marketing Tools"><U>Marketing Tools</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="l.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Links</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#DDDDDD" TEXT="#080000"> <div> July 27-29, 29th Annual Bele Chere, Asheville, North Carolina. Contact: Asheville Parks and Recreation, P.O. Box 7148, Asheville, N.C. 28802. 828.259.5800 web: www.bellechere.com  App. Fee: $20.00, space fee: $300.00-$600.00, space size: 10x12- 12x20.  Est. attendance: 375,000 source staff.  $3,500.00 in awards.</div> <div> There are horror stories told by artists about this show and most of them are true!  Long hours, crowds of sometimes unruly festival goers, hot temperatures and it usually rains like crazy at least one day and sometimes all three days.  So if this sounds like fun to you, come on down and sign yourself up.  This is how we choose to make our living, right?  With all of that said, we generally sell pretty well here, Bele Chere has been typically an average to above show for us.  We love being in the mountains, escaping the Florida heat, in the summer.  Asheville is such a great little town, we've often talked about moving there. </div> <div> This year, like most of our other shows, sales were down.  We did have a few close calls at selling a couple of good size pieces but could not close on any of them.  The be-backs never came back.  </div> <div> There are two types of booth classifications here, Arts Park, about 50 fine art booths in a parking lot and arts and crafts/ buy sell vendors on the streets between stages.  For the second year, a massive Burt's Bees booth took up one large corner of Arts Park and forced another ten or so artists from the park and onto the street.  I spoke with several patrons that commented there were just too few artists in Arts Park to make the trip worth fighting the traffic and the crowds.  This was our seventh year for doing this show and we're seriously considering giving this one up for greener pastures elsewhere.  </div> <div> A jeweler said sales for her were down but still did well enough to return.  A wood worker said he had one customer opening a gallery that bought 11 pieces and made his show.  A photographer said sales were very slow until one customer came in and bought several large pieces to give her about an average show.  Without the one customer she said, sales were very slow and she probably would not apply next year.  A potter said sales were down from past years but still a slightly below average total for him.  A metal artist there for the first time said sales were slightly below average and would probably be back next year.  </div> <div> I spoke with two artists that were on the street this year that had been in Arts Park the past few years and both reported better sales on the streets.  Traffic is much heavier on the street though crowds seem to be much younger and rowdier.  </div> <div> Break-down this year was a bit complicated.  Two hours before the show closed festival staff came around and said a huge storm was on the way and should be there just about the time we would be closing up, just great, now we get to breakdown in the rain!  The good news was they wanted us to stay there and not breakdown early.  HUH?  Just get ready for the storm and be prepared.  Patty and I took a few of our larger pieces to our trailer and left everything else.  As usual, the weatherman was 100% wrong.  No rain, lightning or anything,  breakdown was smooth and uneventful.  </div> <div> If you live close by and expenses are aren't too high I would recommend giving this show a try, specially if you sell lower priced items.  High ticket item sales are few and far between.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>