Attended my first ever Spruce Bog this weekend up in Whitehorse. I did alright, but not what I was hoping. It was held in the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre. The building itself is very beautiful, but I don’t feel it was the best setup for a fair as large as Spruce Bog. The fair was split up into multiple rooms, two large halls, and six smaller classrooms. I was placed in one of the classrooms, and it was small. The tables were setup in a U shape around the room, leaving very little space in the middle for customers to move.  It was like sardines in a can for much of the day, customers were extremely crammed, hard to move about or even see tables, which caused a lot of customers to just pass by the classrooms entirely in favor of the larger halls that had more walking area. The building felt over capacity for the entire day, no matter where you went. I heard the year before they held it at the Canada Games Centre, so I’m not sure why they changed it this year. I hope next year they choose a different venue. I felt like the vendors in the two large halls were more of the larger attractions than us smaller tables in the classrooms. They did try to entice people to enter every room with a punch card for a draw, but because of the cramped conditions, people tended to only enter long enough to get their card stamped, then bail out.

That’s not to say the experience was bad, it really wasn’t. The organizers were on the ball, and the Cadets they had working to assist were wonderfully helpful. Customers, stuff, volunteers were all very friendly, and it was a very welcoming environment. It was busy all day, with barely much time to sit down, got to talk to soooo many people! The new capsule machine was a huge hit, kids and adults loved playing it.  I put a bunch of “winning tickets” into it, and it was awesome when little kids won a prize and seeing them get really excited about it. I really want to do Spruce Bog again next year, I just would want a bigger space, but that was on me, I applied pretty late. I liked my setup, but if I can help it I am never doing a 5′ space ever again. It’s just too small! I made it work, but because I had to go UP with my space, I couldn’t sit down, at all. I would just disappear behind the display.  Overall, it was a decent fair, one I plan to return to next year.

UP NEXT: Watson Lake Christmas Fair on Saturday November 24th, then Geek the Halls in Whitehorse on Sunday, November 25th!

Attended the Etsy Made in Canada Market last weekend up in Whitehorse. Sales weren’t too bad. Boy did I stand out though, my table was absolutely nothing like all the other tables! All the other tables were things like soaps, jewelry, scented things (my poor allergies… X_x I had such a migraine by the end…), clothing, and paintings. I’m not saying this as a bad thing! Standing out from the crowd was kinda fun! It got peoples attention for sure, and the kids that came really loved my table, because it was something for them.  Only thing that sucked was my capsule machine broke that morning, and I couldn’t have it on the table, which really annoyed me because that thing is always a huge attraction for the kids. I’ve since gotten it fixed (I hope), but it was a bummer not having it.

I enjoyed this market. The organization was great, the people who set it up knew exactly what they were doing, it was well thought out, set up, promoted, and monitored. Very pleased with it overall. My only critiques would be they put the power cable in a terrible place, right in front of my table with no markings and people were tipping on it constantly (sure it got people to kind of stop at my table buuuut they were annoyed and it was a hazard so… yah.).  Also, I had requested not to be placed near scented tables due to my allergy and I was put right next to a lady who sold scented bottles, and she was spraying/pouring that stuff out all day so it got a little extreme. I took the maximum of my medications I could before I got there just to be safe, and I was still in pretty bad pain by the end. Next time I’ll have to speak up more about that and request a change if it happens again.

Otherwise overall, great market, tons of people, and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. Even though I didn’t make nearly as many sales as I hoped, I talked to a lot of people and gave out many business cards, which to me is a big win. Getting my setup better each time, really like my little banners over each sticker section. Still more tweaks to do as always, but it’s improving every time I set it up. Next event for sure is my annual Christmas Fair in my hometown in November. I’m on the waiting list for an event in Whitehorse, not sure if I’ll get in, but here’s hoping, and I’ll post if I do!