As I said Wickford is coming up July 7-8. Charming little hamlet of Wickford in North Kingstown, RI. An old seafaring-captain type of town, right on the water. I get to park my car at the town dock which is pretty cool and then you have a longish but very pleasant walk through the town to your assigned area . It is a very large festival, 250 or so tents with maybe 40,000 people coming through. It's usually non-stop crowds all day long.
The roads are very old and caved in and the sidewalks just as bad. If they have a heavy rainstorm, the water may take several days to drain away--and it frequently settles in somebody's tent. (Artists have to set up their booths in the street along the sidewalk) I had that happen to me one year and I was beside myself, with half a foot of water in my tent. Luckily some angel (he was with his girlfriend-artist) had a bilge pump which he hooked up to a marine battery and a hose and he pumped 90% of the water out of my tent. After that episode, I went out and bought a battery-powered bilge pump and I make sure I take it to every show.
Wickford touts itself as the premier art festival in New England. What's great about it is that you're juried in for 3 years. It's nice being able to plan ahead and not having to worry if you're going to be accepted that year. It's an all original show which means no prints, unless you're a photographer. That's a bone of contention among artists, but I'll go into that another time.
I do love seeing all my old artist-friends and their spouses at these festivals. And I do love going Friday and Saturday nights to Duffy's--that great restaurant/bar with the cheap and good seafood--lobsters, clams, etc. And of course the Marguaritas!
All we can hope for is good weather and good sales
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