By Bill Clark

I’m president of the Vermont Farmers’ Market in Rutland County, Vermont. For more than 25 years my wife, Sue, and I (and, at times, our four children) have been vendors in local farmers’ markets. For several years, we have also been involved in three holiday markets in November and December.
The holiday fairs continue to grow, with vendor sales now grossing more than $100,000. This is one-third of the market’s annual gross of about $300,000. Some vendors will sell more than $2,000 in seven hours’ time. The events are now promoted as “The Premier Holiday Fairs of Vermont.”
So why are we talking about this in March? Well, these events require a great deal of planning and most farmers have time to do good planning only in the winter months. Not only must the event itself be planned early, but farmers also need to be looking ahead to produce products that they can sell in November and December. Our holiday fairs are about 70% craft and 30% specialty foods. Our advertising encourages people to “shop with southern Vermont’s top artisans of crafts and foods for the quality and pride of the Green Mountains.”
I’m sure every area of this great country has something unique to sell, and a holiday fair can be promoted as a local event. Here are some suggestions we have for other groups that might be interested in starting a holiday fair.

Vendors
First, find out how many vendors are interested. Do they offer a good diversity of items? You don’t want four people selling the same thing. Don’t try to start out too big until you see how it goes. Our market has 40 summer market vendors, and about half of them also participate in the holiday fairs. Another groups of vendors participate only in the holiday fairs. Our total number of vendors is now about 50 to 60, and we often have a waiting list. We pay a Special Shows coordinator a small fee to plan and set up the holiday fairs.

Location
Is your town a good geographic location, or is there a town nearby that’s better? Ideally, you want to be in the same region as your summer market because you already have a customer base there.
Finding a site big enough is also important. In the early days of the Rutland County market, the holiday fair was in a church. The Poultney market also started its holiday fair in a church but quickly outgrew it and and had to find another venue, hitting pay dirt when it was able to rent the big Poultney High School gym for the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Although Poultney is a small town, it was a holiday weekend with visitors from all over the northeast up to visit at “grandmother’s house.” With our genuine Vermont products, we were able to pry folks away from the big malls.
In the early 1990s, the Rutland County Farmers’ Market lost the use of the church for its Christmas fair, and for a couple of years floundered without a good site. Our organization, the Vermont Farmers’ Market, decided to create a new fair venue of our own. The Rutland Holiday Inn had recently been built with a nice conference center and was looking for business. We contracted with them in January for a one-day show the second Saturday in November. It was a great success, so much so that we added a second show to the contract two years later.
When starting out, site fees shouldn’t be too much. As you grow, conference centers and large gyms can cost $500 to $1,500 per event. Our vendor spaces are usually 8×6 to 8×12 feet. Fees range from $40 to $100. We like to have vendors spend no more than 5-10% of their gross on booth fees.
Wherever you locate, be sure your insurance carrier is aware of the site you are using. It shouldn’t cost any more, but the insurance company needs to be informed.

Timing
Our Friday-Saturday after Thanksgiving is great, although getting ready for it cuts into our own holiday celebrations. The second Saturday in November is good, as are the Friday and Saturday before Thanksgiving. The first two weekends in December are very good. We recommend that you not go later than mid-December.
Be sure to make an actual measured and mapped floor plan of the facility well before the day of the event. Up to two hours should be allowed for set up with the event beginning at 9 a.m. and ending between 4 and 6 p.m. Friday evenings are usually good for sales, but Saturday evenings are not because it’s “restaurant night.” We don’t consider Sunday to be a good event day.

Advertising
Be sure to promote free admission, as competing shows often charge. Door prizes are an option, especially when first starting. This can also tell you about your customers, as they fill out their names and addresses to win the prize. Don’t give one big prize, give out four to eight batches comprised of donations from your vendors.
We advertise in one or two daily papers, six or seven weeklies, and one radio station. If properly handled, many weeklies will also give good news coverage at no extra cost. You have to sell yourself (as you do in summer) as having something unique, genuine and distinct to your area. It must be made or created by the seller – a native product that can’t be bought in a mall or big box store.
While our market generates some income by operating these events, our main objective is to give our vendors a good extended season market. Done right, it can be a great benefit to the market, its vendors, customers and the community.
The Vermont Farmers’ Market web site is up and will be evolving through the spring. We may be reached there at http://www.vermontfarmersmarket.com.