Are street fairs and local art festivals worth doing as an established artist?

Absolutely yes, even if you’re also doing high-end shows and selling expensive work. You never know who will walk by. At a local festival with thousands of attendees, you might only get two serious customers, but those two could represent ten thousand dollars in sales. Plus, affluent visitors often attend local festivals when traveling or visiting from nearby cities. The key is being strategic: do festivals near wealthy areas or tourist destinations, and view them as customer acquisition opportunities, not just immediate sales. Someone who buys a fifty-dollar print at a fair might commission a five-thousand-dollar original next year.

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Asked by an artist wondering if local shows are beneath them · Answered by Perry Milou · art-marketing-podcast · 2024-11-08