Back to the Basics: The Burg Fest

This past weekend, I vended at the 11th annual Burg Fest in Warrensburg, MO. And it was yet another learning experience, to say the least.

The Burg Fest took place along Main St. in the older part of town, as well as several side streets branching off of it. The weather was sunny, clear, hot, and breezy–very breezy, at times. There was a carnival in the northwest area and a beer garden on the south end. These were joined on Saturday by a petting zoo near the south and a car show on the north end. It was the largest Burg Fest ever, by square area, and possibly by attendance as well.

As for my experience…Let’s just say, if last weekend’s Oktoberfest was a failure, then the Burg Fest was a complete disaster. There is, unfortunately, no other way to put it. Unloading Friday afternoon was easy enough, as we were able to pull right up to our spot. Things were a little odd from the start, though. For one thing, we were supposed to receive vendor packets on check-in–I never did. Also, on hearing the two volunteers talk to each other, it sounded like I was supposed to be assigned one space, but instead received another. While an easier place to load and unload from, it is questionable whether it was a better position for sales, being located on one of the many side streets.

One final oddity I would note as far as dealing with the organizers goes, is the fact that I signed on as a commercial vendor (i.e. paid commercial vendor pricing), but was listed on the event website as an artisan (artisan slots being lower in cost).

Sales-wise, I sold the same miniscule amount in 3.5 hours Friday that I sold in 6 hours Saturday! Granted, had I stayed to the end the second day, I could have perhaps moved one or two more, but the position was simply untenable. Between wind nearly blowing my tent away several times even without using flaps (I spent more time standing up holding it down than I did seated behind my table working) and the fact that the empty lot behind us gave the sun a direct angle on my setup, staying any longer was simply out of the question. I never was able to set up my poster display rack the whole time–just laid them out on the table instead.

So, overall, this festival was easily my biggest vending failure of the year so far, and I will not be going back. The tent problems were completely on me, of course: I was not properly prepared to vend under such conditions, plain and simple. However, even without those, I do not feel that my position was ideal. Nor do I believe the public in Warrensburg was heavy in readers.

How did this compare qith previous events? Well, to their credit, I found the people in Warrensburg much friendlier and more helpful than those in Peculiar the weekend before. However, I found the general organization (at least for vendors) less impressive for this established event than for the first annual Carry Nation Days in Belton a couple months ago. At least there I knew my position beforehand.

I will be making one more outdoor appearance this year at the Tulsa Oktoberfest in a few days. I sincerely hope this, the largest event of all three, does not also prove the largest failure of them all. One thing you may rely on: you’ll hear about it either way.