Fire and Ice Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 Well the festival I was doing this weekend was a complete bust and I pulled out due to my candles starting to melt!They set up the crafters in the road between two huge brick building! the pavement was hot enough to melt the tires on one of the food vendors wagons!Of course I setup my tent and tables the night before because I wanted to try and get the coolest pavement possible.The next morning I show up and the committee tells us we have to move down because a fire lane is needed! My candles had to sit in the back of my truck for an hour while all of the tents were moved down two spaces.I no sooner get everything set up then a woman comes into my booth, looks at my candles and says, "Hon, these are melting!" Sure enough the candles are liquifying from the bottom and the top!" I had to decide to pack everything right back up and leave! I hadn't even been setup for ten minutes!Tried to find someone on the committee to let them know and couldn't find anyone.I had to treck the candles home, then comeback for everything else! It was ab out six hours wasted but at least it was local.What I couldn't believe was how quickly the news spread on the midway that I was leaveing or that so many people would be so upset because they wanted to buy MY candles! I probably lost $2000 in sales but it just couldn't be helped.And because I pulled out, there's a chance they won't invite me back!:undecided Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinInOR Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 that's a crying shame, I feel for you totally..At least your reputation is still intact with your customers, but that's a pretty large chunk of change to miss. You should have gathered up everyone that you could and squatted on the town park That would be pretty rude of them to not let you back just because of the heat. I know festival owners want to make $$$, but you'd think they'd have a little compassion for their crafters. Word gets around and pretty soon they'll have an empty fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire and Ice Posted August 13, 2005 Author Share Posted August 13, 2005 I went back this afternoon to thank the crafter next to me for helping me tear down my tent and took him a candle. He was such a wonderful guy! There were two other crafters who left after me. They were angry that they placed all the crafter on a side street and then blocked the enterance with a huge basketball challange. Corky(my friend) finally called the head of the Festival and let him have it! Not many people knew where the crafters were. I asked if they were going to announce it regularly on the PA system and they said yes but from the crafters I spoke with, they never did! Two others had decided to pack it in when I was getting ready to leave so I stayed and helped them pack and tear down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashlie K Posted August 14, 2005 Share Posted August 14, 2005 Sorry that you had to go through that especially unpacking and packing up your stuff. Were your candles salvageable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharyl55 Posted August 14, 2005 Share Posted August 14, 2005 Sorry to hear about your big festival was so badly organized. You'd think they'd understand the impact the weather has on the crafters when they put everyone in such a confined area. Hope they understand you didn't have any other option but to pack up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimOCandles Posted August 14, 2005 Share Posted August 14, 2005 I feel your pain. I just did the first half of my show today and man, was it HOT HOT HOT. Luckily, no damages, other than to my BRAIN. But, it is thunderstorming as we speak, so we'll see what STORM damages I'll take on now. GRR, if it's not heat, it's now storm. AND, NO FREAKIN' SALES!!!!!!!!!! I don't know whether to laugh or to cry, and this is my biggest show of the year. I haven't even made booth. Man, I need tequila, but alcohol gives me migraines. Grrr. Oh well, next show.KimO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire and Ice Posted August 14, 2005 Author Share Posted August 14, 2005 Yes Ashlie I was able to salvage all the candles but only because I acted so quickly! Thank you so much for asking. I hit the tops with a heatgun and then allowed them to settle down and resolidify their bottoms in the basement! There actually were only a few with melting bottoms. The rest were melting tops and that just fixed with a heat gun. The women who organized the crafter didn't have a clue about my candles and she couldn't have cared less about them until a few off the food vendor informed her just who I was. They were pretty upset on my behalf because I didn't have time to be upset. I was moving too quickly. And many of them were out a later candle buy which is what they were really upset about. Seem many of them bought them last year and loved them! Most of the vendors are out of the area so they only will see me once or twice a year. But I got a huge compliment on the fact that I know how to drive a pickup in reverse through a craft fair without hitting a single person or booth! I could drive up but I had to back out three times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted August 14, 2005 Share Posted August 14, 2005 It's good you didn't run over anybody. The bump could have got the melting wax sloshing around pretty badly. Glad to hear you saved your stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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