This Wednesday, April 1st, is the deadline to apply for the May Bazaar Bizarre, which takes place during the Maker Faire in San Mateo on May 30-31st. If you make your own wares, and you only have the time/budget to do one craft fair this year, apply for the Bazaar Bizarre. Not only is it by FAR the least expensive to participate in ($130 for the entire weekend!), they really take care of you, providing dollies, load-in help, and free food and drinks all day long. They even have volunteers to man your booth while you take a bathroom break or go get lunch!
The spring Bazaar Bizarre is always extremely well-attended. 60,000 people went to last year’s Maker Faire, and I think most of them came through the Bazaar. Most of the time it was so packed I couldn’t even see the booth across from mine. Last year it took the organizers a full hour after closing time to get customers to stop shopping and leave. Having learned from experience, this year’s Bazaar will run two hours longer.
There are only 70 booths available for the Bazaar Bizarre, so competition is pretty stiff–usually two to three vendors vying for each spot. But the organizers are committed to always reserving a certain percentage of booths for new crafters, so even if you haven’t been accepted before, keep applying.
Biz Miss 