The Renegade Craft Fair is happening in San Francisco July 12-13th! Unfortunately, I didn’t find out until this past weekend, which happened to be a week after the application deadline. Luckily, there are many other craft fairs happening in the area this season with applications still open.
AltCraft: (American Craft Council) August 15-17th at Fort Mason.
- Cost: $300 for three days, 10 ft. booth space.
- Deadline: May 23rd (e-mail ebrown@craftcouncil.org for more info)
- Comments: Fort Mason doesn’t really get foot traffic. Luckily, AltCraft is well established so they get a good number of visitors. I might consider applying for this is it weren’t happening the same weekend as my wedding!
Mission Bazaar: May 17-18th at the Armory at 14th & Mission
- Cost: $300 for two days, 8 x 10 ft. booth space, includes table and two chairs.
- Deadline: Today! Payment deadline extended to May 13th.
- Comments: This is happening the same weekend as Bay to Breakers and the public is being charged $5 admission, perhaps to cover the cost of entertainers. I’m going to wait until the holiday Mission Bazaar at least.
Roadworks: (Center for the Book) September 20th on De Haro Street between 16th & 17th (12-5pm)
- Cost: $80 for a full table, $40 for half
- Deadline: June 13th (tables $100/$50 after deadline)
- Comments: Sounds like a cool, fun event (they print linoleum carvings with a steamroller) but it’s only five hours long. I’ve got some time to think about it.
While I fully support having outlets for crafters to sell their wares I have to wonder, are all these craft fairs saturating the market? I mean, Baz Biz, Mission Bazaar and Capsule in May, Renegade in July, AltCraft in August and Roadworks in September gives San Francisco residents more than one event every month. Even I don’t shop for gifts that often. I fear that with application fees rising and more events crowding the calendar that fewer crafters will be able to afford to vend. That means customers would start seeing the same people over and over (a complaint I’ve already started hearing) and attendance would start to drop off. It’s a vicious economic cycle, I know, but I don’t want to see it hurt the handmade “industry” by turning craft businesses into a passing fad.
Biz Miss 
I wonder also if the high vending fees discourage vendors who sell items with lower price points. You have to sell many more lower priced items to make back the fees even if the percentage of profit is the same as more expensive items.