Bohemia Days Mining Festival

Just did the Winchester Bay Oceanfest (July 18, 19, 20) and have decided to do the Cottage Grove Bohemia Mining Days festival in 2009. Any of you vendors out there ever do this event? Let me know about it. Thank you....

Sunday in Winchester Bay

July 20. Sunny most of the day, but it was awfully windy again...all day long. Sunday usual late crowds. Far less people today and lower sales. Took three hours to pull down our stuff, having to be extremely cautious of the wind gusts.

I don't think that anybody did exceptional at this event and this was our second time here. I like the area but just too much wind and of course, people not buying. Maybe they ought to check out flea market someplace. Met a lot of nice people here, especially other vendors.

Please be sure to read my review in Starving Vendors.
http://www.starvingvendors.com/events_Winchester_Bay_Oceanfest_2008.html

Next year, look for us at the Cottage Grove Bohemia Days Mining Festival, which is a 4-day event. Now, it's on to Myrtle Point for the Coos County Fair, which begins on Tuesday and runs through Saturday. See you there.

Winchester Bay Oceanfest

July 19. Opened up at 8:40. Just about everybody else had opened up. Some people walking around. Topay was a bit cooler and the winds picked up around 10:30AM and continued throughout the day. A little stronger than yesterday. Never have I ever seen two days of wind like this. My windiest show ever.

More people today and sales were much better... in line with what we did last year. Gosh, how can anybody walk around the booths in this friggin wind. All day long...again. The winds lasted past midnite last evening and I guess more of the same. Don't know how we'll be able to take our things down tomorrow. Hopefully, it will not be as windy in Myrtle Point for the Coos Counjty Fair, which begins on Tuesday.

Voice of the Vendor

Hello fellow vendors. I now have an area on my Starving Vendors website where you can view comments made regarding shows, festivals, promoters, etc. If you have done a show recently (good or bad), place your remarks in the 'comments' area below and I will put them on the following page:

http://www.starvingvendors.com/voice_of_the_vendor.html

I will post this notice every Monday and I would like to hear from our vendors out there on how they did the previous weekend. Thank you very much.

Winchester Bay Oceanfest

July 18. Friday. A typical Friday as far as sales and crowds go. It was sunny most of the day with arriving and departing clouds. The winds blew and sales sucked. Take it from there. Winds began to increase just before noontime and did not let up until late PM.

We drove over early...... 8:15 AM to make sure we could get a parking space nearby. I was expecting a large crowd? Uh uh uh uh. Around 9:00 we walked over to our space to prepare things for the day and to finalize our set up. It was like a ghost town. The streets were still rolled up! Hardly a soul, but the event started at 10:00. There were some vendors open and maybe 5 people walking the street.... Early 'lookers' are usually flea marketeers.

The day started very slow and the 'crowds' increased just after noontime. Look like mostly tourists came by. Quite a numbe of families with kids that had the 'itchy finger syndrome.' The winds were pretty fierce all afternoon, whipping around the top part of our canopies. However, the canopies barely swayed due to the precautios we took by adding lots of weight to the legs.

I suppose there were some return vendors that did pretty decently, but it was obvious that the people were not buying very much. The weather this time around is much better than last year, when we had some scattered showers and a 'Watch out for Flying Canopies' Thursday and Friday.

Regardless, we will return here next year, as this is the front end of four events for us and I prefer to kick off things with a weekend event. Four county fairs is just a bit too lon for me.

So people, come on over to Space 58 at the Winchester Bay (OR) Oceanfest and see what DandL Creations has to offer. We've got a good deal for you... we've got shoulder bags, fanny packs, backpacks, wrap-around skirts and pants, animal backpacks for the younger people, stools, amethyst, dream catchers, beautiful hand-made shell necklaces, hats, visors, shell creations and a whole lot more. Bring your money...bring your checkbooks, bring your credit cards. Come on down to the Winchester Bay Oceanfest.

In Winchester Bay.

July 17. After spending the night in an RV parking lot, we drove over to our space at 8:30 and began setting up. The weather was cloudy with temps in the mid-60's and cloudy. There were occasional winds off and on throughout the day.

We set up our canopy with all our grids, etc. To weigh it down even more, I placed 3 cinder blocks alongside 3 of the legs. I filled up 5 of our buckets/containers with water and placed them next to the other legs and tied them up. It is highly important for people here to secure their canopies because the winds do get pretty strong. Last week, they had winds of 50 MPH. This is the windiest place we have ever had a show in.

We took our time setting up taking about 8 hours. We had our motor home in front, so we were able to rest occasionally and eat, etc.

Our Oregon Shows - Winchester Bay Oceanfest

July 16. We left Hayward, CA this morning in our motor home at 3:00AM and headed up north to Oregon. I always like to leave early to avoid traffic and the weather is cooler during the earlier time of the day. We took Highway 80 to Vacaville and drove up Highway 505 from there, connecting with I-5 near Dunnigan.

The weather was mild the entire trip. There was quite a bit of smoke in the clouds near Yreka, which dissapated after about another 30-40 miles. We had thoughts of dropping by the Jackson County Fair when we passed through Central Point, but it was quite early, approx 9:45AM. We know a number of vendors there, including our favorite smoothie maker, Michelle, who has one of the most colorful, nicely decorated booths you will ever seen. Next show for her will be the Coos County Fair, where we shall be next week.

I gassed up for a price of $4.37 per gallon and in Oregon, they pump it for you, which is nice for lazy people. We proceded up I-5 and turned West at Winton and headed some 65 miles to Myrtle Point, Coos Bay and arrived in Winchester Bay around 3:00PM. It's about 67 degrees here and a little bit breezy. Last year we had heavy winds a on a couple days, it rained.

We parked the motor home over in a dry-camping area for $11 per night. Nice fresh breeze here and I can hear the sea gulls outside. Set-up is Thursday at 10:00AM. I expect to take at least six hours. The Oceanfest here in Winchester Bay starts on Friday and runs through Sunday. Stop by and see us. DandL CREATIONS. Look for the booth with the colorful shoulder/sling bags handing toward the front. You can not miss that. See ya. Great weather this weekend.

Hayward Zucchini Festival (Aug 16-17)

HAYWARD, CA -- The Hayward Zucchini Festival is coming up in another month and is held in Kennedy Park on Hesperian Blvd. Our booth is #135 and we are located along the sidewalk north lf the play area. The name of our business is DandL CREATIONS (www.dandlcreations.com )Come on over and visit us. Once again, we shall be selling our shoulder/sling bags along with wrap-skirts, Betty-Boop T-shirts and a whole lot more.

We usually have great weather for this event and occasionally it gets a bit cool underneath the huge trees. I look forward to buying the Zucchini bread, which is always delicious along with other food being offered.

Here's a story I found about last year's festival.

Deschutes County Fair (July 30 - August 3)

Redmond, OR. Be sure to visit us at the Deschutes County Fair in Redmond, OR between the dates July 30-August 3. We are DandL CREATIONS and we shall be selling our shoulder/sling bags, wrap-around skirts & pants, shell necklaces, amethyst and a whole lot more. You can visit our website at http://www.dandlcreations.com/ and purchase a custom-sized, hand-made shell necklace. Many, many colorful designs to choose from. Also, we sell hand-made cowrie shell chokers and wrap-around skirts. Secure on-line ordering is available.

Entertainment schedule:

Little Big Town - Wednesday July 30th @ 7:00pm Concert is free with ticket (admission to Fair not included).

Alice Cooper - Thursday July 31st @ 7:00pmConcert is free with ticket (admission to Fair not included).

Kellie Pickler - Friday August 1st @ 7:00pmConcert is free with ticket (admission to Fair not included).

For more information on the fair, please check the website

Check the 10-day weather forecast for Redmond, OR

Oceanfest in Winchester Bay coming up July 18-20

Hello Oregon. Will be arriving in Winchester Bay on July 17 to set up for your festival. Hopefully, it will not be as windy as it was last year when we had to really weigh down our canopy with buckets filled with water. Shall be prepared this year. A bit cloudy at times and a few sprinkles, but what else would have expected along the unpredictable and fabulous Oregon Coast.

Oceanfest lasts three days with many booths selling a huge variety of items. Please stop by and see us. We shall be selling wrap-around skirts, Betty Boop shirts, shell necklaces, shoulder-sling bags, tote bags, cute animal backpacks for the kids, stools, parasols (for the sun?) and a whole lot more. The name of our business is DandL CREATIONS. You can even visit our website http://www.dandlcreations.com/ to see what we sell. Great-looking custom-sized hand-made shell and semiprecious necklaces are the most popular.

Anyhow, we enjoy doing Oceanfest and hopefully we'll be able to make it there for many years to come, even though gas prices are getting extremely high. Hope to see ya later...... Look for us at the Coos County Fair (Myrtle Point), Deschutes County Fair (Redmond, OR) and the Douglas County Fair (Roseburg).

check the 10-day weather forecast for the Reedsport-Winchester Bay OR areas

Douglas County Fair - Aug 5-9

ROSEBURG, OR-- Come see us at the Douglas County Fair which is from August 5-9. We have a booth there (DandL CREATIONS) selling our popular shoulder/sling bags, wrap-skirts, shell necklaces, stools and a whole lot more. http://www.dandlcreations.com/

Just checked the entertainment schedule and it looks pretty good. Kelly Pickler will be there on Friday, August 8 at 7:00PM. Other performers throughout the fair will be The Doobie Brothers, Brian Howe with special guest Edgar Winter Band, Bad Company, Rodney Atkins.

http://www.co.douglas.or.us/dcfair/fair.html

Check the 10-day weather forecast for Roseburg, OR

This will probably be our only year at the Douglas County Fair because the dates are being changed to Aug 11-15, one week later and we will have left Oregon by that time. So, here's your chance people.

17th Annual Pirate Faire - Lake Casitas, Ojai, CA

This looks like it would be fun to go to. As for vendor info, It's kind of like a Renaissance Fair, where you have to be selling period merchandise, something I could never sell in. However, I did stumble across this event. Something different, I must say. http://www.goldcoastfestivals.com/piratefaire/piratefestpg1.html

Dates: September 20-21 and September 27-28 Hours: 10Am-6PM each day

Not really too much info on the website regarding activities, etc.

Pirate Festivals have grown in popularity and numbers in recent years. Many renaissance Faires and Fetivals have pirate themed weekends or events. A pirate fetival will usually offer activities, crafts, and othe fun stuff for children, who will cherish the memory of talking to a REAL PIRATE. Historical characters of places are featured in several pirate festivals. Prices are $7.00 for children under 12 and $15.00 for adults.

For more information on Pirate Fairs, Civil War reenactments and other unique festivals, please visit our website www.starvingvendors.com and check under the menu item Main Menu-Show Guide.