My 10 Favorite Shows

The following is a listing of our favorite shows to do. There may be some that we do not do anymore because of high expenses (designated by *) and there are one's included that are great locations, etc. This is just a listing and is in no preferential order.

Morro Bay Harbor Festival* Did this for years, but with the slow economy, income is small. Great scenery. Good Food. Did not do this event this year because of high expenses.

Cambria A&C Shows, Cambria, CA. 20 miles north of Morro Bay. Nice area on the Central Coast. Good Food. Relaxing atmosphere. Great getaway. Sales have been slow here and the weather could cloudy and cool. Always windy. Will be there in September 2009

Ceres Street Fair, Ceres, CA located 70 miles from Hayward. Decent event for us, been doing it for about 16 years now. Same space every year...shaded, etc. They treat you very nice at this event and make that extra effort to get you to your space for set up. Promoter's... grab your clipboards and take notes. They know how to do things. Also, hats off to the Manteca Street Faire because they are great at getting you to your space. Very organized also.

Monterey Custom House Plaza, Monterey. We do shows such as the Seafood Festival, etc. here and have participated in about 15 events over the years. Great location for an event. However, sales have dwindled for mostly all shows and we are all struggling. The Columbus Day event was not good. Promoters did their job, but people just did not come out and the ones that came out, did not buy.

Tyson Wells Sell-a-Rama. Every year in mid-January we go here to sell our goods. Around 900 vendors at this event and mostly RVers shop here and also attend other events. Many other rock, gem, mineral shows going on and the place is packed in January. We like to park overnights with our motor home in the BLM land during this event and it is relaxing, quiet, etc. When we set up here, we take our time..maybe 8 hours and we are here for 11 days before taking down. We're going to be there also for the Arts and Crafts Show which follows, but we have to move to another location.

Coos County Fair, Myrtle Point, OR. We do their county fair every July. A small event, but people are friendly. Nice to see the same people year after year and catch up on things. Good Philly Cheesesteaks, delicious Pizza and super Smoothies by Michelle and her family. My favorite county fair to do.

Fall Festival, Castro Valley, CA Been doing this event for the past 8 years or so. Very well run and organized. Kind of slow this year due to the economy, but it's been a great show for a number of years. Close to home, less than 10 minutes away.

Lake Tahoe events. This year we did the Miller's Y over Memorial Day Weekend and the weather was the worst we ever heard. However, I love doing shows up there since it is a beautiful relaxing area. We did several shows a number years ago at Commons Beach and they were nice. We'll return once or twice this coming year, but that weather strikes fear in my heart. In all my visits to Lake Tahoe, I never encountered something as unexpected as that weather. I usually stay away if I know weather is going to be bad.

Hayward Zucchini Festival. Only 2 miles from home and right now, that might be the only reason we do the event. A tradition? This is not a good money making event and it is not enjoyable as it once was. Much more riff-raff strolling around and a lot fewer booths, as other vendors have departed for better events, Many things wrong with this show, which includes forcing vendors to pull down and load up in the dark. They want the music to go until 7:00 and then have us wait longer. The promoters will not listen vendors cries over this, They might when they are down to 10 vendors. They had 22,000 this year and they used to draw more than double that. Need better music. Zucchini bread is terrific. A large drinking crowd.

Ten Shows we will never do again.

TEN SHOWS I WILL NEVER DO AGAIN. For various reasons, I have not intention of participating in these events. The first five were truly bad events for us (and others) and treatment and respect of vendors was very bad. The bottom five represent mostly dis-interest from the buying public. The last one just had plain old lousy hours and terribly hot.

1, Jackson County Fair, Medford, OR
2. Chandler Ostrich Festival, Chandler, AZ
3. Almond Blossom Festival, Quartz Hill, CA
4. Daly City Fil-Am Festival, Daly City, CA
5. Almond Blossom Festival, Ripon, CA
6. Douglas County Fair, Roseburg, OR
7. International Festival of the Winds, Marina. CA
8. Tucson 4th Avenue Street Fair, Tucson, AZ
9. Central Valley Pizza Festival, Lemoore, CA
10. Cornfest, Brentwood, CA

Stay tuned...I will be listing the 10 most enjoyable events I would return to anytime (with reasonable booth fees, of course)