If you read yesterday’s post you know Husby and I endured a blown-away canopy followed by a beautiful, sunny autumn day of sales at the Sister Bay Fall Festival. The thing that made me so nervous about applying for this show in the first place was the fact that it was a three-day show. I’ve never done a show of that length before. With one minus (blown-away tent) and one plus (lovely and lucrative day) everything about the show was even. However, periodically throughout the day Husby was checking the weather report for the rest of the weekend. It didn’t look good.
I spent the entire evening toiling over how I was going to manage the show with 20 mph winds and a 90% chance of rain with temperatures in the mid-40s. At least I was satisfied with how we closed up shop on Friday evening, lowering the canopy and adding even more weights to keep it from flying away overnight.
When I woke up Saturday morning I resumed my worrisome behavior, trying to decide if I should weather out the storm or shut down completely. I weighed the pros and cons of sticking it out. The cons won.
This is how it looked outside while I was pacing back and forth Saturday morning, trying to make one of the hardest decisions of my business life.
We rushed to the site of the show and packed up everything before the event was scheduled to begin. (No, the canopy had not blown away this time, thank goodness!) Before we made it back to the motel it started to rain. And it rained for forty-eight hours straight with healthy winds coming off the lake.
I’ve always been kind of judgmental when it comes to people packing up and leaving a show before it’s scheduled to end. I felt like a hypocrite and spent the rest of Saturday second-guessing my decision to leave early. When it was still raining on Sunday I knew I’d made the right choice. Not only would that much wind and rain have damaged my product, Husby and I would have been crabby and cold. Thinking like a shopper I knew I’d never venture out in that kind of weather to wander around at an outdoor event.
While we were out at an antique/junk store on Sunday we happened to see our vendor neighbor. I looked at my watch and saw the craft show was still, technically, in progress. I teased her and asked why she wasn’t sitting out in the cold rain. She said she wished she had done as I did and packed up Saturday morning before the rain started. There were no shoppers and many of the vendors started tearing down on Saturday afternoon.
Long and short of it all, I worked one day of a three-day show. I still feel a little guilty for begging out, but I’m also very glad my wares were safe and dry. I’m very pleased with the money I earned on Friday, but disappointed that the weather didn’t cooperate in making what could have been the most lucrative show of my life.
To my fellow craft show vendors out there, I don’t recommend leaving a show early for reasons like poor attendance or low sales. That’s the show to avoid next year. If it’s a one-day show, stick it out to the end. If it’s more than one day, and your product or your health might be jeopardized, pack up during the off hours of the show to avoid annoying shoppers and fellow vendors.
The decision to leave in the middle of this show was a difficult one indeed. Now I’ll spend the next six months trying to decide if I’ll take a chance on it again next year.
Auntie B's Wax 
Unpredictable weather has got to be one of the worst things you deal with. I can’t imagine the folks who decided later, and had to tear down IN the rain…disaster! I say, you timed it right and did the best thing in those circumstances. Good for you!
I’ve had good luck so far when it comes to setting up and tearing down. Only once did I have to set up in the rain, and it was a very light rain. I feel badly for the ones who tore down in the rain we had at this show. Ick.
It sounds like you 100% made the right decision, Sara. I agree with Cindy~~it must be really challenging to have to make these weather-related assessments. You done good.
I still feel like a wimp for not sticking it out, but it would have been miserable, especially after hearing there were no shoppers there. All in all it was the right decision. Thanks for the validation!