The season of summer festivals is nearly upon us, bringing with it long, lazy afternoons listening to outdoor music, sun-kissed mornings wandering around a multitude of stalls and warm, velvety evenings filled with food and more music. Of course, it can also bring rain and mud when flip flops are substituted for wellie boots, but as we book into our favourite festivals, or maybe try a new one, we fortunately don’t know what the weather will hold and thus can plan with anticipation and excitement.
Festivals can be a great opportunity to sell your handmade crafts; your face-to-face reach will be greater than at a local craft fair, footfall is heavier, and you can make some useful connections as well as great sales. However, table spaces often come at a price, so some careful planning is needed before you commit. As previously mentioned, our British weather is very unpredictable and has a huge impact on sales, as anyone who has sold at an outdoor Farmers’ or Craft market will know; a dry, sunny day will bring in the crowds for a good day out, ready to enjoy browsing and spending.
The first thing to do if you’re considering attending a festival with your business this year is to do some research as to the nature or “vibe” of festivals in your locality or further afield. From the Scottish Isles right down to the Channel Islands, there are a multitude of festivals, each with its own distinct flavour and thus audience it attracts. Some will offer world music, some big stage names, and some will headline local artists. Some will be family-friendly while others not so much. Many will have their own particular focus, whether that be on local crafts and food, activities based around the local landscape, eg wild swimming or forest skills or a particular arts leaning, eg poetry, theatre, circus skills.
The best way to get a feel for the type of festival, its clients and thus the products which might seek best, is to attend it yourself or speak to someone else who has done so. Also, take into consideration whether festival goers will be camping or just attending on day tickets; this can also influence what you sell. The price of tickets will offer some guidance as to the range of products to take with you; those on the lower side will probably attract attendees with a tighter budget than those at a higher price, who could be assumed will also have more to spend while at the festival.
Once you have decided upon a festival and booked yourself a place, you will need to begin to build up stock, advertise, and streamline your branding. Think about the focus of the festival; can you create some products which will dovetail in with this? For example, if it is by the sea and people attend because of the wild swimming this offers, could you add a sea motif to some of your products? Or, if it is showcasing the best of a region, could you create a range which also reflects something for which that region is known?
Consider your packaging; you will obviously need the necessary paper bags, tissue paper, bubble wrap, etc, but could you coordinate your packaging with your table cover and any other display items? Choose a colour or a palette of colours and run with them. The organiser should tell you what table size you will be allocated, and so you will know the size of table covering required as well as the amount of storage space underneath and display space above. Check how far you will need to walk between your vehicle and the stand. If it is a distance, you might consider investing in a trolley.
One of the greatest benefits of taking your craft to a festival is the number of customers you will meet and the geographical coverage they will have. Put on your best smile and engage with as many people as you can in conversation. It may be that they do not purchase at the festival, but will look you up later online. It is worth having an attractive business card…in keeping with your branding…to pop into bags with any purchase and also to give to potential future customers with whom you’ve been chatting.
You will likely be required to have artisan business liability by the festival organiser, and even if they do not ask for it, it’s well worth considering yourself. Artisan business liability includes both public and product liability insurance. Public liability insurance covers you for any claims of harm or damage made against you, your staff or volunteers. It’s a sleep easy insurance, in that it protects you from claims which are completely unforeseeable and thus not preventable. Product liability insurance covers you for any claims made of damage or harm done by one of your products. Even if you are not at fault, you will be covered for any legal costs or compensation required. You might also like to consider insuring certain business items; accidents, loss or even theft could be more likely at a busy festival than in your local Craft quarter or community market. Setting up the correct artisan business insurance is straightforward with us, and as a family business ourselves we communicate directly with each of our customers, which means there are no anonymous call centres and long queues. So, pick up the phone of drop us a line via our website and either Naomi or Sam will be here to answer your queries and talk you through the best artisan business insurance for your unique business needs.
Once you have everything in place, you can start to look forward to being a part of the festival buzz, to those long summer days filled with music, the aroma of delicious outdoor cooking, happy customers and soaring sales!
