Don’t Let A Crafty Mishap Cloud Your Sunny Bank Holiday Plans

August Bank Holiday. What does this conjure up in your mind? Maybe a sunny day on the beach complete with sandy sandwiches, rock pooling with fishing nets, sand castle competitions and a fish and chip supper while watching the tide come in and gently but inescapably wash away your sandy creations. Or perhaps a day filled with all the fun of the fair; stomach churning rides, giant pink candy floss and the exhilaration of people, music and excitement. Or possibly a quiet day rambling through some local woodland with good conversation, a picnic lunch and maybe winding up with a pub supper.

Or, do you have memories of rainy bank holidays? When events which have been much prepared and anticipated are reduced to squelching, soggy occasions? Or perhaps of hot hours cooped up with tetchy children in a car while crawling along our main roads at a snail’s pace.

Bank holidays originated in the Victorian era to enable all banks to close for business on the same day. Before this, banks could offer their staff a holiday and close on whatever day it suited them; this led to some problems with financial transactions when they all closed on different days. The August bank holiday was originally taken on the first Monday of August, but since the 1970s it has been on the last Monday for England, Wales and Northern Ireland while remaining on the first Monday for Scotland.

At a time when we generally have a far greater holiday allowance than when bank holidays were first introduced and when most of our high street banks have closed down in deference to internet banking, does the great British institution of the August Bank Holiday still serve a purpose? In our opinion, the answer is a resounding yes! In fact, most countries have more bank holidays than we do, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have marginally more than England and Wales. We could argue that in our 24/7 culture, the concept of a holiday when most people will be off work is even more important.

It is good to rest, to play, to have fun and to laugh. A bank holiday is a great time to ring-fence a day to get together with family and friends and plan to do something which you would not usually make the time to do. It’s also important to fill our minds and souls with beauty and those things which will inspire us, such as books, music, art and nature. There are numerous such events on over the August bank holiday, so maybe it could be the time to treat yourself to a visit to an exhibition, an outdoor concert or theatre, or simply a nature trail in some beautiful countryside.

Bank holidays usually see a wide range of events at historic buildings or gardens, whether they be privately run or part of a charity such as the National Trust or English Heritage. These are great for all the family, with children and adults alike enjoying activities such re re-enactment events, pop-up Farmers’ Markets, vintage car shows or outdoor live music. It’s a great time for crafters, too, with fairs and markets being held in many towns and villages across the land. So, why not book yourself a table at one of them and start creating some easy to make crafts that sell.

Whatever your specialist craft, it’s worth bearing in mind that a fair amount of your customer base over the bank holiday will be families with children. It could therefore be a good idea to pitch your products at the lower end of the budget range, focusing on easy to make crafts which sell well in addition to some more time-consuming and thus pricier products.

Bank holiday weekend craft fairs can have a festival vibe and holiday feel to them as relaxed customers browse your wares, carefree with a bonus day away from the mundane routine of work. Hopefully, this will overflow into their spending! You too can enjoy the day, free from worries of any unforeseen mishaps, with a little extra planning beforehand.

Any regulars at craft fairs will be able to give you a tried and tested list of things to do beforehand and to bring with you on the day. From selecting a backdrop colour theme for your table and displays to bringing some extra safety pins, from ascertaining the distance between where you can park your car and where you set up to arranging to bring a helper along with you, there are numerous tasks, big and small which will ensure you have a smooth run and hence can enjoy yourself too.

Another important consideration is ensuring you have the correct craft insurance for the day. Public liability insurance covers you for any claim made by a member of the public against you or a member of your team for damage to self or property. Product liability covers you for claims made for damage by one of your products. Even if this is not your fault, the insurance will still cover you, thus enabling you to have complete peace of mind.

While you may think the types of mishaps which lead to claims being made could be avoided with proper risk assessments and safety checks, the whole point is that they are generally completely unforeseen and hence unavoidable. This is why we sometimes call these insurances our ‘sleep easy’ products. As a family business, we communicate directly with each of our customers, so pick up the phone or drop us a line and either Sam or Naomi will be keen to hear of your craft fair plans.

We hope you can head out this sunny bank holiday with a good stock of easy to make crafts that sell, some extra safety pins, a trusted colleague to help and the correct insurance in place. Have a great bank holiday fair!