Art Fairs Art Festivals and Art Expos

There are many working artists that do nothing but the show circuit.  It can be very lucrative if it is done correctly.  There are pros and cons of any venture, and today we will look at some of them.  Art Festivals are A LOT of work.  You must do your homework and find out which shows actually bring in paying collectors. There's a show ranking system which is rated by money in sales from each show.  Some shows are very expensive and do not bring in any visitors.  You want a show with a long standing history of sales. Any festival worth its weight in sales will show up on Zapp Applications  these days.  Now I am not talking about small local festivals, these are large scale events.  It is never a bad idea to work some small local shows with minimal fees to get the hang of how these things work.  But back to Zapp Application-- this is a central place where you can find anything you need to know about the fair circuit.  You can browse shows and apply on line according to location and deadline.  You can upload and manage your photographs.  You need to have the best photographs of your work possible.  This is how you will be judged.  There is also a booth shot photo.  If you have never done a festival before add a photo of your work in a gallery. There are specifications that need to be met on photographs-- such as pixel width, and labeling.  If you run into a problem there is information on site to help you. 

How do you know what shows to apply to?  I say start out with top rated shows that are close to your area. Like I said before, you can browse shows and see rankings online at Zapps.

Once you have applied to shows they will be kept in a section under your account where you can see if you have been invited or not.  Once you have been invited to a show, do as much research as possible about the event.  If you have not been to actual festival you can often times see footage from youtube by performing a search.

Make sure you have enough work to bring with you.  There should be a show liaison that you can email if you have any questions on what to bring.  You can also ask any of your artist friends that have participated in the past.

Some of the good things about art festivals are that they bring you face to face with the buying public.  Now remember I said you want to do your homework and find out which shows are good, and which are not.  Local galleries come to shows as well, this is a chance for them to see your work in a nice environment.  Imagine, they get tons of mail about artists works, but this is their chance to get out of the office and browse work in and have an enjoyable time while doing so.  You can also make good money at art festivals.  Some artists do nothing but travel the US and go from show to show. 

I hope this information helps some you thinking about Art Festivals and Fairs.

Art Austin Festival: Sculpture by Rainer Lagemann