December 26-Jan 1. Fresno Hmong New Year Festival. Fresno Fair Grounds 1558 N 9th Street, Fresno CA 93703 Contact Info: (209)384-7384 http://www.hmongnewyear.us/
Vendor Applications: Vendors who wish to reserve a booth space may contact HINY immediately. Demands for booth spaces are extremely high. To reserve your favorable spot, contact us today. Please contact HINY at the following:1558 N. Ninth StreetFresno, CA 93703Ph: 559-487-1012 Fax: 559-487-1015
This event is held at various cities in California, Wisconsin and Minnesota at various times late in the year.Since the Hmong arrived in the United States in 1975, Hmong Year Celebration has become a part of American culture. Of all such events, the celebration in Fresno remains the largest of its kind.In order to prepare for the huge Hmong Celebration, Hmong International New Year, Inc. was selected by the community to organize this festive, cultural event.Hmong International New Year is a non-profit organization founded to preserve Hmong cultural heritage, to promote collaboration and understanding among Hmong and other groups, and to build bridges with the world community.The spirit of community cooperation is reflected in how the New Year is organized and conducted. Since the beginning, the event has been organized and operated mainly by volunteers
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Fresno Hmong New Year Festival
Kwanzaa Gift Show
Kwanzaa Gift Show, Join us for 23rd Annual Holiday Kwanzaa and Christmas Gift Show, December 13th & 14th 2008, from 11am to 8pm at the Oakland Marriott Convention Center, located at 10th & Broadway in Oakland. Admission for the Gift Show is only $5 and children under 12 are free. Holiday Shopping is a fun time for individuals and families! It's a fabulous and profitable time for creative artist to market and sell their one of a kind specialty items to many jovial holiday shoppers.
It's also a season when community groups, organizations and corporations come out and support the annual Holiday Kwanzaa Gift Show. As Oakland's and the Bay Area's original African American Holiday Crafts Show, this grand event is in its 23rd year and is undoubtedly committed to sustaining and growing African American crafts exhibitors, small businesses, wholesome families and communities.
Kwanzaa is a unique, non-religious, African American celebration, celebrated from December 26 to January 1 with a focus on the traditional African values of family, community responsibility, commerce, and self-improvement. The celebration of Kwanzaa builds self-respect, unity and respect for those ancestors who worked and made a better life for all of us. Harambee (let's pull together) and let's make this event and all community affairs successful for the betterment of the people and our businesses. If you are interested in being apart of our event, please contact me at 510-534-1594 or email me at spam james@kwanzaagiftshow.com (remove the word spam before emailing for info)
NOTE: For Vendors, This event is listed in Craftmaster News. Booth fees are $575+ for 10x10, attendance 10,000. www.kwanzaagiftshow.com
KPFA Crafts and Music Fair
Dec 13-14. KPFA Crafts and Music Fair, Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco.
The 38th Annual KPFA Crafts & Music Fair, the largest weekend holiday craft fair of its kind in Northern California, to be held December 13 & 14, 2008 at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco. Every year, more than 10,000 collectors, craft enthusiasts and holiday shoppers attend this signature event that features 220 craftsmakers and artists from throughout the country , a gourmet food pavilion and live performances by some of the area’s leading world musicians – all in a warm and spirited ambiance that reflects the Bay Area’s great diversity.
Website VENDORS: This event is listed in Craftmaster News and I would believe they are filled up. For informational purposes. booth fees range from $475-900 with 200 booths.
Telegraph Avenue Holiday Street Fair
Dec 13-14. Telegraph Avenue Holiday Street Fair, Berkeley, CA. Also Dec 20-21 and 23-24. More than 200 Artists offer 6 days of Bargain Shopping! 11AM-6PM.
Janet Kleinrjrd20@hotmail.com (510) 234-1013
Yolanda Castillo yolandasbeadwork@hotmail.com (510) 220-8791
Vendors Info and Applications
Located between Dwight Way and Bancroft Way near the U.C. Campus in Berkeley CA.Holiday shoppers to the Telegraph business district will be treated to an abundance of good cheer, great music, fine food, and unique and unusual handcrafts by some of Northern California's finest artists.This fair offers the rare opportunity to buy fine art originals and inexpensive gift items in the same place. Shoppers can choose from a tremendous diversity of arts and crafts, including jewelry, beadwork, wirework, hats, candles, leather work, silk-screened and tie-dyed clothing, pottery, wood crafts, metal crafts, paintings, henna-art, gift boxes, photography and sculptures.Festive lights, colorful decorations, and a friendly multicultural shoppingatmosphere complete the experience
2009 Quartz Hill Almond Blossom Festival
Quartz Hill Almond Blossom Festival. It's that time of year when we start getting our applications for next year's festivals and I am pretty certain that all of us (previous participants) have receive their applications for the Quartz Hill Almond Blossom Festival in March 2009.
My wife and I had a very rough time this past March there and we pulled out of the event because we were so disgusted by the way Lee Barron treated us. He has no class and doesn't care about the way he treats vendors. We drove over 300 miles to get there and we refused to stay.
If you want to find out why and hear more about Lee Barron and the Quartz Hill Almond Blossom Festival please read what I had to say about it. My wife was in tears from what he had to say to her. Very humiliating. I spoke to other vendors that did that event and they did terribly. Some left after Saturday because their sales were so disgusting. I am glad we left without setting up. A very very bad show. Has carnival rides and that takes a lot of the money away from the vendors. If you want to listen to my two-cents worth (which is more than I made at this $($(% event) DO NOT DO THIS SHOW. You will not be satisfied. There are other events to do, so stay the heck away. If you are a returning vendor, you pretty know much what I am saying is true. If you are a new vendor who wishes to do this show....my word of advice (and my other vendor friends) is not to even think about it. Stay away. We have been doing events for over 15 years now and never have we been treated so disgustingly.
Tucson 4th Avenue Street Fair
The Fourth Avenue Street Fair began in 1970 when Fourth Avenue merchants put tables in front of their stores to attract customers before the holidays. From that beginning it has developed into one of the premier street fairs in the nation, drawing crowds of 200,000 to 350,000 and ranking as one of the top visual arts fairs in the country.
Venues for Vendors: A bit pricey for this three day event. There are at least three promoters of booth spaces within the show.
The Parking Lot. Set up your booth in The Parking Lot (TPL), at the heart of the Tucson 4th Avenue Street Fair, just a few short blocks from the University of Arizona. Located on the corner of 4th Avenue and 5th Street (Tucson, Arizona), TPL provides a prime location for vendor booth rentals at one of the largest street fairs in the United States. The 4th Avenue Street Fair is free to the public. Too late for November...next event is March 20-22. We've done this lot several times. Good location. Near middle of event. However, high school groups playing alongside are quite loud. Porta potties next to the lot. Paved. Long line for the tri-tip sandwiches next door...must be great!!! Traffic flow is somewhat okay. Maybe 10 percent of passers-by enter the lot. Not too much of a difference if you are located in the back. They do walk all the way around. Commercial goods accepted.
Dingwell's Lot. 238 N. 4th Avenue, Tucson, AZ. Contact Don Dingwell 520-882-5657. Need to call him for fees. No website or email address. We were in his lot a couple years ago and there was rain and it turned quite muddy. When dry, the sand blows all over the place. However, you can get into this lot with general merchandise (commercial) and there is really great traffic flow...even though most of the people walk in..go all the way to the end and around the garbage can and go out. This is toward the beginning of the show, so you get a lot of lookers, but they are not tired from walking around.
Events and Festivals
Read my newest blog about Events and Festivals. I have listed a number of events that you may be interested...as a visitor or a vendor. More listings coming up soon.
DeAnza College Flea Market
Saturday, December 6. DeAnza College Flea Market, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, CA
This was the first time we did this flea market in many years. We intended on doing the event in November, but it rained cats, dogs, elephants, etc. Rather upscale Flea Market and one of the best in the area. Held the first Saturday of each month. You can download a copy of the application here and get info,. Applications are accepted (mail in) beginning the 1st day of the month prior to the event.
Fortunately, the weather was great, with temps in the mid 60's. A good number of people showed up to shop and some vendors did great. This was just a fill-in for us...we usually do street fairs, etc. and just do not have 'flea market' merchandise.
There were numbers of younger teenagers who must be enrolled in the 'Five finger discount class' because we did encounter some who attempted to steal from us, but the watchful eye is indeed quicker than the hand. One person wanted to purchase one of our $5.00 mini stools for $3.00. Uh uh. Another was going to purchase one of our ladybug fanny packs we had selling for $10 (discounted from $12). I had told her the price two times. She held it up in front of me and said 'Five Dollars?" "No, uh uh," I said to her. "those are ten dollars.' 'Oh, I thought you said five dollars'. I then replied "What do you think this is ... a flea market." We both laughed and that was that.
In our fifteen years of doing shows, something happened here to us that never happened before, Just when you thought you encountered everything imagineable? You can read about this and see more about the DeAnza College Flea Market.
