Updating my May 25, 2009 blog entry, FireRaine Studios has now completed the following shows:
June 6-7: Arts & Crafts Festival, Hiawassee, GA - This was a show set in the extensive Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds there, so each exhibitor had a fairly weather-tight rustic shed to sell from (no canopies needed).
The Fairgrounds is spacious and very interesting. When in full use, it features a LOT of permanent structures for various local civic groups, churches and clubs to sell food and other products. Of particular note is the extensive Frontier Village, which includes historic structures donated to the Lions Club (which owns and operates the facility). It's fantastic when all the authentic village functions spring into action, the blacksmith, the cotton gin, the various grinding and milling operations...
But unfortunately for us, NONE of these things were active during our event.
The primary draw was the list of professional performers appearing at the large music hall located on the property, many of whom were names known to me - folks with real musical talent...
But unfortunately for us, THEIR event schedule (which cost about $40 for the 2 evening slate) and ours rarely overlapped. The music STARTED Friday 1.5 hours after the advertised end of the arts and crafts show, and there was only about 3 hours overlap Saturday with the two events' schedules...
And NO music on Sunday.
Predictably, sales and attendance was awful Friday and Sunday, and spotty Saturday.
June 13: Cave Spring (GA) Festival - This is a really lovely setting for a show, in a park featuring the signature Cave Spring and on the grounds of the historic school. The show was well-attended but not huge, and rather loosely juried, but sales were good and it was a worthy effort by all concerned. The hard-working members of the local Historic Society did their best to bring an old-fashioned southern welcome to the vendors. I like the small town atmosphere and the show.
June 20: Stone Mountain (GA) Village Arts & Crafts Festival - This is one of those historic district renovations that just has not "taken". Having participated in a similar effort in Roswell, I feel for the few remaining merchants striving to keep the flame burning, but the show simply has too many strikes against it. Attendance is lacking and though cut down to 1 day from 2 last year, it is still best characterized as "struggling". With the focus on the BBQ activities dominating all, it was a physically taxing event - hot and humid, with smoke and fumes from the adjacent mega-cookers and smokers at times choking the air. Many of the visitors came expecting a "Taste of Atlanta" event, with sampling of BBQ or at least a wide assortment for sale - when in fact, the professionals were there to earn points from the judges, and rebuffed the questions of the festival's attendees.
July 3-4: Smithville (TN) Fiddler's Jamboree - This is a wonderful show for lovers of classic bluegrass music. Weather this year was particularly fine (cooler than usual, and with enough cloud cover to keep the sun at bay). The music was, as always, plentiful and amazingly good...
But the crowds were down even further from 2008, which was by all accounts a pretty down year. We made good sales, and we are returning next year, but its obvious that even a high quality, FREE show like the Jamboree is struggling with the local economy and heavy festival competition on the key 4th of July weekend.
Coming up next:
July 18-19: Uncle Dave Macon Days, Murfreesboro, TN
July 25-26: Save the Music, LaFollette, TN.
