Trade shows and other fun...

[milkmansdaughter]

We are on our way home from our first Alabama trade show with 6 more chickens and a new pen.
We spent a lot of time telling each other ,"no, we do not need/are not ready for a goat/kitten/puppy/pig/turkey/duck/violin/DVD player" (And no! @baymule, we really don't need pigs...yet! ) We didn't need 6 more chickens either but we did want a few Bard Rocks (we got two).
I didn't take any pictures of animals. Hard to do when you're being pulled away or holding something. The puppies all loved me. (Breakfast was wild salmon Jerky on the way there.
Anyway, it was great fun, and only $10 to be a vender if you want a covered spot/$7 if you have your own awning/ shade) We're already looking at it as a way to sell some of the things we're making. Here are some pictures. Would love to hear about trade type days in your area...

 

[Joel_BC]

Up here, above the 49th parallel latitude, we have various sorts of fairs. I've gone to "country fairs" (where people sell produce, value-added "cottage industry" food products, pies (frozen & fresh), grilled food, ethnic food, handmade knives, etc). There may be equestrian or dog competitions at these.

We have annual garden shows (flowers, produce... competitions for tallest sunflower plants, etc, etc).

"Craft fairs" (wrought-iron work, clever arty knickknacks, stained-glass panels, elaborate wax candles, leather work, deck furniture, etc. I sold some basic kitchen items like cutting boards at craft fairs, years ago.

The term "trade show" here is used for makers and wholesalers to show products and wares to retailers. They're held in the larger cities. Purchases are made for, say, 10 (or 100 cases) of 24 items each, or however the large numbers of things are sold and purchased at wholesale prices.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Hi @Joel_BC yes, that would be what we called a trade show when we lived in Wisconsin too.
Today's event was kind of a large outdoor flea market/farmer's market/rummage sale with animals too. They're having one on Monday (Labor Day here) with mules. We might go back just to see it (and also because our youngest son is about to turn 18 and really would like the fiddle/violin we saw today. Not a bad birthday present.) We do not need, nor do we have room/time/patience for a mule, but it might be fun. We did notice today that we saw all kinds of small farm animals (even a miniature pony) but no large animals and no sheep. Goats but no sheep. Not sure why.
As far as I can tell, this one runs every weekend all summer long. I'm not sure how long into the fall it runs, but probably at least until the gardens are done. They also had animal feed, barrels, Amish cheese, cast iron... It's a BIG place, the size of a large fairgrounds. We stayed for a while, but wanted to get the new chicks home and fed/watered so we didn't see it all.

 

[baymule]

That sounds and looks like a lot of fun. You could do a lot of shopping there.

20 miles down the Interstate is Canton, with a HUGE First Monday Trade Days. The Friday, Saturday and Sunday before the first Monday of the month is the trades day weekend. It covers over 400 acres. It is impossible to see everything in a weekend. Your Trades Day looks like more fun.

http://www.firstmondaycanton.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Monday_Trade_Days

 

[Mini Horses]

I'd love to go to any of them

I am in an area with too many "city folk" for a whole lot of that. We do have Farmers Markets in various cities with all sorts of different times & requirements. Would love to be involved as a vendor for some but often can only do that for those annual types of "fests" which are generally one day, annual events. Harder to find.

In the pics I noticed the stacks of eggs.....WOW, imagine the numbers of chickens he has!!!

Here's a pic of one of our "fest events" with goat soap...

 

[milkmansdaughter]

We were talking to different people. One guy told me how to prune our way overgrown grape vines. And we saw wood projects we want to try out. We talked to 4-H kids, and meat hen farmers.
One old guy in bib overalls was there. He had maybe a dozen chickens to sell. We were looking at some of his Bard Rocks. And we asked him how many chickens he had. He said they were kind of winding down now, and "only" had about 1200!! As in one thousand two hundred chickens! He said he used to have about 1500. Whew! Can you imagine the compost at his house??
I'm thinking of talking to him again next time to see if I could go see his farm, and maybe get a pickup load of that fertilizer... Not sure if they are free range or not. I can't imagine running around to find eggs from 1500 chickens! Not sure what I might be introducing though...

I do like the way this one was set up. Venders are allowed in at 4:30 am. By 2 everything is done. No long term commitment, so anyone wanting to do a rummage sale could get a covered table for $10 and sell things. Whole big section for animals with lots of shade trees. Quite a few permanent set-ups for people who are there every week. $1 to park. So if you wanted to go once a month, you could. It's a bit of a drive for us, but doable on a weekly or bi-weekly basis through the summer. Possible income source...

Green Bay and Appleton, WI have nice farmers markets/ craft shows. In GB, they had one every week where they'd shut down several city blocks. The roads would be lined with music, food, farmers markets veggies, fruits, honey, flowers, etc. Then a whole section of area craftsmen and their creations: photography, handmade items, wood crafts, jewelry, garden statues, leatherwork, glasswork... plus MANY little shops in that district to walk in and out exploring. It was a great way to spend a summer evening.

Nice display table @Mini Horses! Your soaps are nicely packaged. Do they sell well? (I've never tried goat soap...)

WOW @baymule!! That place is HUGE! I think I'd have enough just getting through the parking lot. But wouldn't it be fun to spend a day there with friends and say a $100 challenge? Have a few rules and it'd be like a grown up scavenger hunt! Woo-hoo! Christmas shopping done in one day and I could cross that off my list!

 

[Joel_BC]

I wish that like you, Milkmansdaughter and Mini Horses, I had some pics of booths and things from our annual fall fairs and other fairs. I searched for pics collected on my harddrive from local/regional events, and basically there's nearly nothing.

Here's one, though... a carving by a man who was teaching kids, no charge, to carve pumpkins.

And then, after we got home from one of the fairs, we took a shot of our winning submissions to the vegetable & fruit competition.

But that's all I've got to contribute. There isn't much besides food booths and live music at our very local fall fair. I guess I just enjoy the food booths and the live music in the moment, and have never shot pics of those. The annual Christmas Craft Faire 52 kilometres (32 miles) away has all sorts of things and more entertainments, but I don't have any pics. I agree, though, that events like these are great.

 

[NH Homesteader]

wow... We have nothing like that here. We just have farmer's markets and yard sales. Oh and an annual craft fair right after thanksgiving. And they're usually overpriced and not well attended. I would love that!

 

[Mini Horses]

They do well in some areas, at some times...LOL We have decent sales at established locations. Not enough to quite working but, covers all costs plus. I'm ok with that. My soaps have no artificial anything. Oils, fresh milk & food grade lye. It is extremely good with lather, excellent cleaning & leaves skin nice. No dry skin but, not oily. Fun to do. We work a lot to build stock, then can slack off for a short while.

Generally I take a few "gift basket" items. Small basket with 3-4 bars, scrubbies, etc. They do well at holidays. I even have some orders for such from the beauty shops where I sell from display. Any fragrances are essential oils. And always have NO fragrance types. Generally 4.5 oz bar. I use different colored bags for the different frangranced ones. They smell nice but don't stay on your skin much at all. Sure makes the cabinet they're in smell good. LOL

 

[milkmansdaughter]

There's a place north of us here in Scottsboro, AL called unclaimed baggage. They keep unclaimed airline baggage for a year, and if it's not claimed in a year, they sell it in a big ongoing thrift store type of store. You'd never believe some of the stuff that goes unclaimed! Golf clubs and surf boards, 8' tall Hollywood movie stuff, cameras, DVD players, and everything in between. I don't know how to add a link but it's great fun to look around there as well.