The Fremont Festival of the Arts

     This festival was actually recommended by a neighboring vendor at the Park Street Art and Wine Festival, and it did not disappoint. The festival is one of the largest I've seen in the Bay Area (of art and wine festivals, not fairs) with more than 700 vendors, three stages for live music, a kid's area they call "Kid City," and lots of space to mill about in without feeling crowded.
     The first thing that struck me when we arrived at the festival was the layout. The vendors are arrayed along both sides of a street divided by a meridian. This gives shoppers plenty of room to walk, stop and chat, and generally move about without reducing the flow of foot traffic or making the festival feel overcrowded. The wide open spaces were also a refreshing break for someone used to the packed-in feel of the big city, though Fremont is plenty large. Another thing I appreciated was that the festival producers put most of the service vendors on one of the side stretches, so those looking for something like window replacements or health coverage could wander that stretch and those who don't require any services (No, for the love of breakfast cereal, I do not own a house!) can avoid it.
     I was also happy to see many vendors I haven't seen at other festivals. Sugarbird Hollow was selling adorable little houses and campers, seasonal and not. Black Tie Caramel was selling handmade caramels in unique flavors like Coconut Lemongrass as well as caramel sauce. And the Washington High School ceramics program was selling wonderfully unique cups, bowls, plates, and more for absurdly low prices, and proceeds went into the program. There was a good variety of art, although few of the vendors sold prints and many of the canvases were very large. And many vendors that I've seen at the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival and other events had new work or different items on display. The Bubble Wands vendor was there filling the festival with a magical assortment of bubbles.
     In terms of food, I wasn't actually impressed with the variety and amount of vendors. Indeed, I didn't eat at the festival. But there was a lot of lemonade, well, everywhere. There were also a couple of Oasis booths selling slushies in kid's and adult's cups, which were refillable for a lower price. In terms of alcohol, this festival had margaritas in addition to various beer and wine choices, which I found unique.
     Another bonus of this festival is the amount of freebees handed out by businesses. Places like Blaze Pizza and a couple radio stations were letting people spin a wheel for prizes. Pacific Commons, a Fremont shopping center, was giving out free lip balm. And Lucky was giving out strawberries stuffed with goat cheese and topped with a lemon jam.
     Now, onto challenges and tips for enjoying the festival with the least amount of headache. The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Free parking was sparse, and most spots required a fair walk to the festival. If you don't get to the festival early, as in shortly before the start, you might have a traffic meltdown. The BART isn't far from the festival, so if you can BART, I'd recommend it. Also, the early bird gets the best freebees without waiting in long lines.
     In terms of weather and what to wear, Fremont is HOT. I regretted wearing a t-shirt and jeans, wishing instead I'd chosen a tank top and capris. Sun screen is a must, but it won't be enough. I strongly recommend sun glasses and a hat. There is a lot of open space and very little shade so it feels like the sun is pummeling you the whole time. Fortunately, there were several hat vendors if you forget your own.
     If you drive, don't forget about the shopping opportunities around the Pacific Commons area. There's a lot of big box stores, but there's also great food joints like Blaze Pizza, Which Wich, and Buffalo Wild Wings to name a few. And the Century theater is not only large, but its food offerings are unique. They have an ice cream counter that also serves a variety of beer (beer in a theater?!). And the food section is a walk-through affair where you can pick out your own hot dogs, burgers, nachos, candy, kettle corn, drinks, ice cream desserts, and even hummus.
     I would definitely put the Fremont Festival of the Arts at the top of my Bay-Area-Miss-Me-Nots list.

Panorama of wide open spaces...

The Nathan village. Hot dog anyone?

Plenty of seating areas scattered throughout.

 

A map of the festival.

Fremont Fire Department

Homemade Caramel?!

You could sit in the mini-BART. Always wanted to do this.

Halloween house from Sugarbird Hollow (hey, it's never too early for Halloween).

Camper from Sugarbird Hollow

Park Street Art & Wine Faire

     Alameda is a charming little island nestled between Oakland and the San Francisco Bay, and it has plenty of charming little festivals. Around Mother's Day, Park Street hosts the Spring Festival, complete with live music, a variety of vendors, delicious food booths, activities for kids, and beverages for adults. In June, Webster Street on Alameda's west end hosts a festival honoring the historic Neptune Beach area (see my post on the festival here). In October, Park Street hosts one of the best classic car shows around (see my post on that one here). But in July, Park Street hosts one of my favorite Bay Area festivals, the Park Street Art & Wine Faire.
     I've already written a post on this wonderful festival with tips on how to make the most of your visit. You can read that here. In that post, I highlighted a couple of vendors I enjoyed visiting. However, this year, I'm happy to announce that my sister will have a booth at the fair. She started her own business, Handmade Hill, in January. As her business name suggests, she makes a variety of handmade items--hats, quilts, scarves, jewelry, etc.--and many of these items will be on sale at the faire. She'll also have a variety of local prints and paintings for the art lover. And she'll be selling sticker bundles, including authentic Playland tickets she has turned into stickers. I'll be helping her with the booth, so I'll be able to give those of you who have considered doing booths at festivals feedback on the experience in a later post.
     Besides my sister's booth, the fair will have over 300 vendors and will stretch from Encinal to Buena Vista. For Island natives and those nearby, there will be free bike parking so you can avoid the traffic. For all others, there's a very affordable parking garage around the corner from the Alameda Theater. When that fills up there is plenty of parking in the area, but you'll have a bit of a walk.
     Stay tuned for photos and feedback from this year's event, and learn more here!

And here's your promised FEEDBACK:
     My sister and I had a lot of fun as vendors at this event, but it was definitely a lot of work. Vendors are allowed to start setting up a little after 6 a.m. on the day of the event, and because this was my sister's first craft fair as a vendor, we got there at 6 on the dot. We were able to pull up to our spot, unload, and find free parking very close to the event. However, I did hear other vendors who arrived much later complain about the lack of vendor parking. Our booth space was located across from one of our favorite Alameda cafes, the Blue Danube (they have tea, coffee, Italian sodas, breakfast and lunch items, and more!), which proved very convenient for quiet rest and meal breaks, and we were within sight (but not smell) of the portable toilets.
     In terms of setup, it took us four hours to get everything put together, signed and ready to go. Granted, we had a couple fixtures to build and a lot of signs and tags to make. We also had some struggles with the E-Z Up canopy, as did a neighboring vendor with the same type. However, a nearby vendor, Julie, gave us a hand and some valuable advice for the best shows in the Bay Area in terms of foot traffic and profit.
     We were surprised to learn that many vendors simply leave the booths at night with no take down or wrap them in tarps. Julie recommended lowering our canopy on top of our fixtures, which we did, but we did take our merchandise with us. After manning the booth for eight hours, we were very much ready to call it a day at 6 p.m., when the faire was officially over each day, but there were a number of late shoppers that made it difficult to close up. This was especially annoying on the last day because it made it very difficult to get vehicles next to booths for loading.
     We were also surprised, and we heard many others vendors echoing our concerns, by the amount of foot traffic. My sister and I go to this event every year as shoppers, and it always seemed like a very busy festival. However, this year, the foot traffic seemed light, and a lot of people passing our line of booths walked quickly and didn't even seem interested in looking at the booths. While walking around the faire on Sunday at the busiest hours, I discovered that most foot traffic was concentrated in the middle of the faire in between the rides and the kids' area. People seemed reluctant to push through the crowd gathered around the Water Ballerz in order to see the last line of booths. Indeed, it was hard for me to push through to get back to our booth. However, most of the people who ventured into our booth purchased something.
     On the plus side, the event page for the event featured our booth on Facebook and retweeted a lot of our tweets, which I thought was sweet. The weather was lovely, with the perfect breeze. The music was wonderful (at one point, I could hear the Mario Brothers theme song drifting on the breeze from the stage), and our neighbors were great. I loved our location, even if it meant a decrease in foot traffic. And we did great for our first festival.
     Here's some advice if you want to be a vendor at this faire in the future:
     1) Pack snacks and water
     2) Make sure you have the inventory to cover your booth fee and bring in a profit
     3) Introduce yourself to your neighbors (they have a lot of wisdom!)
     4) Get there early for setup, and have parking scoped out early
     5) Prepare mentally for the long days (around 13 hours a day with setup and takedown)
     6) If coverage allows, take breaks to walk around and have a little fun
     7) Utilize social media
     8) Take advantage of your canopy by hanging items from the front so they are more visible to the casual passerby

A big shout out and thank you to Alameda and everyone who visited our booth! We hope to see you next year! I've provided a link on my right side bar to upcoming festivals other vendors recommended.

Hill's hat and sticker table

 

Hill's painting and rug fixture, made out of a pallet

 

Hill' quilt wall and base

 

 

Hill's flower scarf display

 

Hill's jewelry, print, and keychain table

  

Hill next to her shop banner

The apron Etsy shop owner isewmuchtime made for us. Thanks JoAnn!

Hill, feeling a little overwhelmed during setup. Is it coffee time yet?!

Alameda's Park Street Bridge. Love ya, Alameda!



Jack of All Trades Market at Jack London Square

     Jack London Square is a beautiful area that resembles a ghost town many days of the week, but great fairs and markets are starting to bring the foot traffic it deserves. Besides Patchwork and the Sunday farmer's market, Jack London also hosts the Jack of All Trades Market on the second Saturday of every month. This market is from the same folks who do Treasure Island Flea. My sister and I visited January's market, and we were impressed by the variety of vendors and pleased to see some of our favorites like OodleBaDoodle and hrvst/3D.
     Jack of All Trades is really one of the best markets in the Bay Area to find craftspeople from, you guessed it, all trades, and judging by foot traffic and shopper enthusiasm, I think this market will only keep expanding. There are vendors who work with metal, wood, fabric, plastic, and repurposed items. They sell antiques, art, vintage clothing, jewelry, furniture, food, craft beer, pet toys, olive oil, perfumes, soaps, and more.
     January's market was held indoors, but craftswoman Lisa Inez DeFehr told us that the market is sometimes held outside and stretches all the way down the waterfront. Lisa's shop was one of our favorites. She handcrafts unique pieces of jewelry: necklaces with bottle charms containing tiny bird feathers, dandelion seeds, paper roses, or flash mobs. She also had a necklace with three little pig charms and a wolf. She said many of her pieces have an element of fairytale in them, and one walks away from her booth feeling a bit of the enchantment.
     One of the best parts of Bay Area art and craft festivals is that you get to meet the designer, creator, or artist and talk with them about their creative process. Artist Sean Murphy ushered me to his booth with the Force. Actually, it was his Star Wars-themed art, specifically a picture of the Millenium Falcon flying over the Golden Gate with the Death Star posing as the moon in the background. He also had a picture of storm troopers sitting in a vintage Batmobile and a Darth Vader Buddha. Besides Star Wars, Murphy had pictures of Smurfs engaged in a little illegal gardening, if you know what I mean, and alien ships flying over the Golden Gate.
     All of Murphy's art is funky, surprising, and humorous. He signed the print I purchased and told me about how each is made, what the materials he uses are, and the effort it takes to produce just one. I plan to make my living room wall a tad cooler with the Millenium Falcon print I couldn't pass up.
     I was pleased to see hrvst/3D at the market and to check out the new Bay Bridge charm I hadn't seen before. Hrvst/3D makes earrings, necklace charms, and tiny figurines of beloved Bay Area landmarks and features like shipping cranes, the Transamerica Building, Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge, Sutro Tower, and the oak tree (for Oakland). Most of their charms are made of 3D printed nylon, but they also have sterling silver and gold charms. Their pieces are so local and so unique!
     We were able to find items that friends and family will love, such as Giants wine glass bottle cap charms and finger puppets/pen toppers. There were multiple vendors selling a large variety of scarves in beautiful and unexpected shapes and sizes. There was a vendor selling rubber ducky soaps, another selling recycled steel drum sculptures, and still another selling repurposed wood tables of all shapes and sizes. And many of the Bay Area food trucks that have become a favorite at Off the Grid were gathered outside the market to satisfy hungry shoppers.
     One of the best things about this market is that it's dog friendly. Many people usually ignore the posted "No Pets" signs that are common at Bay Area festivals, but the atmosphere is not welcoming. At Jack of All Trades, pets were warmly acknowledged. I was happy to see the many dogs at the market and to do my shopping beside them.
     Overall, this market has one of the friendliest atmospheres of the Bay Area fairs, markets, and festivals. The latest Patchwork Show at Jack London required visitors to sign in at a table and walk down a sort of chute into the show, which made the atmosphere a little less inviting and a tad more chaotic. At Jack of All Trades, there were security guards but the atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming. If you're in the Bay Area, you can't miss this market. Not only will you find items that will surprise and delight you, but you'll be supporting many local and independent craftspeople. And that just feels good.

Giants Wine Glass Bottle Cap Charms

Hand Knit Finger Puppets and Pen Toppers

Bottle Charm Necklace with Dandelion Seed by Lisa Inez DeFehr

Visit her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thelisainez

Shipping Crane Earrings by hrvst/3D

Visit their website: hrvst3d.com

Dog Friendly!

Trendy Furniture Pieces

Handcrafted Tables

Food Trucks!

Golden Gate Bridge Pillow by OodleBaDoodle

Visit her shop on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/OodleBaDoodle

Great Dickens Christmas Fair

     Every year, a healthy dose of Christmas magic and a whole lot of fabric transform Cow Palace in San Francisco into Victorian London, and I do mean transform. The more than 120,000 square foot space is turned into London neighborhoods, complete with shops, eateries, and entertainment.
     You can stay in the family friendly side of town, where you can join in a Victorian dance, play parlor games, watch Pinocchio on stage, ride the carousel, and visit Father Christmas. Or you can wander over to the dodgy side of town where you can mingle with the edgy characters of the London Docks and Mad Sal's Ale House. Enjoy the hearty singing and playing on the dockside stage or watch the ladies of the notorious Le CanCan Bijou.
     In your wanderings, you'll meet quite a few of the over 700 actors in authentic Victorian costumes going about their daily Victorian London lives, and you might be lucky enough to interact with some of Dickens' most beloved characters. This Christmas wonderland is, after all, the Great Dickens Christmas Fair. And trust me, you've never seen Christmas like this before.
     This year, I visited the fair on opening day (a Saturday), although the fair runs for five weekends from November 23 to December 22 from 10 am to 7 pm. If you are the penny pincher of your family, you'll definitely want to go to the fair sooner rather than later because the price of tickets increases as Christmas gets closer. And this fair ain't cheap. Adult tickets for the first three weekends cost $25 a piece, children (5-12) cost $12.00. If you enter the fair after 4 pm, the reduced "twilight" tickets will set you back $13 for an adult ticket and $8 for a child. You can also save a few bucks by printing the tickets from the website before the fair starts. Parking is $10 and fills up quickly.
     The high ticket price is definitely worth it because the whole event is an interactive experience (and everything looks authentic), and the prices inside the fair for food, drinks, and souvenirs are fairly cheap. When you enter the fair, you become a player in the story. Actors will talk to you, ask you to dance, and tell you stories. If you are a reserved, shy person, this fair might scare the Christmas spirit right out of you. But if you swallow those jitters and join the performance, you will have the time of your brief Victorian life.
     Being the reserved, shy person myself, I was a little overwhelmed by the energy of the fair...at first. On our way to the gate, my sister and I passed a group of chimney sweeps who gladly stopped to chat and pose for pictures. Their investment in their characters helped me overcome a little of my own stage fright and broke the ice. Once I entered the fair, I only had room for "WOW."
     As I wandered through the London neighborhoods (including the Grand Concourse, Grenadier's Gate, Pickwick Place, Bellringer's Row, Cratchit's Yard, Tinsley Green, Fish Street, Hollyberry Park, Golden Square, Nickelby Road, Mincing Lane, Petticoat, Lane, Maiden Lane, Fagin Alley, the London Docks, and Ale House Alley), I was amazed by the actors shopping, chatting, eating, drinking, and in some cases, mumbling. A drunkard (acting not actual) stumbled along in front of us. Another chimney sweep stopped for a photo and a few jokes with us. We saw Scrooge berating a group of gentlemen. We were haunted by Jacob Marley's ghost and impressed by his heavy chains. We saw the Christmas ghosts passing through the crowd like a dream. Again and again, I was surprised to be addressed by these actors and included in the drama.
     Of course, my shy side did intervene when we stopped at Fezziwig's Dance Party to watch the English country dancing, waltzing, and polka. Actors left the floor to ask us to waltz and polka, and I had to draw the line on participation, unwilling to try the dances with such a large crowd of onlookers. However, I greatly enjoyed seeing a young boy (around 7 years old) excitedly take the hand of a fair lady and rush onto the dance floor to be swung around in the polka.
     In the dodgy part of town, a handsome gentleman tried to sell us corsets and talk us into some daring pictures wearing them (we politely declined). Near the London Docks, a woman asked us to help her find her hat pin and to see her show later in the day. And everywhere we went, we were wished a "Happy Christmas." To take a break from the energy of the streets, we ducked into the Victoria & Albert Music Hall to watch Pinocchio. Seated next to us was a gentleman in top hat and coat.
     There are also a lot of food vendors at the fair with traditional English delights. If you visit one of the many pubs and ale houses, you can get a hot toddy, buttered rum, Irish coffee, scotch and soda, mimosa, spiced cider, and more. There's a Roasting Beef Inne where you can get a roast beef sandwich, crepes, or a steak and potatoes pasty. The Tippling Toad offers a larger, fancier dinner, including pumpkin pie. You can get banger sausages at Mr. Barker's Bangers and meat pies at Heritage Meat Pies. You can also visit Mr. Punch's Pasta, Acropolis Greek Food, and HMS Fish & Chips.
     If you want a snack rather than a meal, you can get roasted chestnuts, cinnamon almonds, and popcorn at little street vendors. For sweets or caffeine, you can visit MacClaren's Cookies & Milk, Mr. Brown's Fine Coffee and Teas, Cuthbert's Tea Shoppe, Confounding Confections, Bramosia Fine Chocolates & Candies, and 2 English Ladies.
     There's also plenty of shopping. You can buy clothes, jewelry, gifts, tankards, cups, violins, candles, pewter figurines, scarves, Christmas ornaments, soaps, perfume, books, ceramic and glass items, and much more.
     When it comes to entertainment, you can see performances of scenes from Dickens' novels, stomp to bands, watch dances, listen to carolers, see scientists and inventors discussing curiosities like electric-powered lanterns, visit Father Christmas, and more. People-watching is not only encouraged at this fair, it's expected. The actors, after all, didn't get all dressed up for nothing. Go to this fair with plenty of energy because you'll need every last drop. Visit the fair's website for more info: http://dickensfair.com/.
     According to their website, the Great Dickens Christmas Fair has been a "Bay Area tradition since 1970." If you live in San Francisco, you may have had the pleasure of seeing actors in full Victorian outfit riding the BART to or from the fair, although everyone who attends is encouraged to dress up. San Francisco has a gift for getting in character. It can be Gotham City or London, and it celebrates the kid inside. This fair forces the Christmas spirit upon you, even if you're a Scrooge. If you visit the Bay Area during the holidays, this fair is definitely a miss-me-not.

Scrooge!