Date: 22/06/2018 to 24/06/2018

Frequency: Annual

Venue: Bowood House

Stand Type: Shell Scheme

The Handmade Fair is brought to you by Kirstie Allsopp and is all about appreciating the beauty of handmade, and learning the skills to become a maker yourself. Whether your day at the Fair teaches you how to make something yourself, upcycle a piece you already own, or if you buy it from an expert, it’s here to help everyone to make their life a little more beautiful.

The Shopping Villages are full to the brim with handmade products of the highest quality, brought to you by our hand-picked and incredibly talented makers, along with an enviable range of tools and materials. The Super Theatre, Skills Workshops and Grand Makes are hosted by the UK’s most renowned experts, so you can be sure you’re learning from the best in the business. It’s not only a fun day out, but you’ll also be able to take away a bundle of skills and knowledge that you can use to improve your own life and home.

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Anonymous

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A wonderful venue however parking was too far from the site.
Trade at this event was very disappointing. The Artisan market place was visually unattractive as there was no center divide, therefore exhibitors have no way of displaying a professional looking display. (This has been an issue with all the Handmade Fairs) Non Artisan sellers had space within the tent, (Tails.com, Gousto and Hello Fresh) who were literally hounding visitors.
The visitors were great however there was no footfall in the afternoon.
3 years ago
Anonymous

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Parking was too far from the selling area, making it a pain if you need to restock through the day.
Space was nice, decent organisation. Problems with the wifi meant a number of lost sales on the saturday.
I think the ‘handmade’ fair shouldn’t include people quite clearly buying in from china and similar places just readily available product. Especially when this directly competes with another exhibitor who is doing the same product but actually handmade and so loses out due to the cheaper competitor…thats bad planning on the organisers part in my opinion and the exhibitors should be much more curated than that.
Also the charity stalls need to understand what is and is not appropriate behaviour. A large number of people were complaining about one in particular, this really should have been dealt with by the organisers. Someone shouldn’t be allowed to be whistling and clicking at people and dragging them off other stands.
Overall we really enjoyed the show, lots of lovely people and amazing surroundings. But it was very very slow. I think to do well you really do need to have something people can make, finished products sell but not as well as craft kits and little workshops.
I also think these shows should include things like wifi as part of the package, it really shouldn’t be an added extra in these days when it is so vital. (they should also have a back up plan for when things go wrong…espeacially if you are charging for the service)
3 years ago
Anonymous

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Bad bits:
– I expected this fair to showcase HANDMADE things, however a number of sellers were not hand making their goods, they were selling bought/sourced items (a bag stall in particular). Another jewellery stall was selling jewellery that they had assembled (elements bought online and just put together). I was really disappointed in the lack of genuinely ‘handmade’ products.
– The wifi was terrible. Although refunded and fixed on Sunday morning, it resulted in loss of sales and there should’ve been a back up when you are paying such a high fee for it.
– Not prepared for the hot weather. Needed more sides down and ventilation in the tent. I asked lots of visitors who all said they couldn’t bare going back inside to browse properly as it was too uncomfortable. Some came back to purchase and couldn’t bare to wait for the card reader to work in the heat (!?) that they left.
– Really expensive food and drink. Next event it would be great to have trader tokens/ or a area in the organisers tent with an urn etc.

Sales were lower than usual fairs due to the nature of people buying ‘kits’, cheaper stands that sold cheaper NOT HANDMADE products and the uncomfortable shopping environment inside the tent.

Good bits:
location beautiful
clean inside space
lots of toilets
friendly and helpful staff
3 years ago
Anonymous

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This was probably a great, if an expensive day out for visitors – the cost of getting in, workshops, and food and drink would have already set most people back before they even made it in the shopping village. The charges to use the cash machines certainly won’t have helped either.

I would echo that this fair definitely had issues for exhibitors though. It was my first time at one of these Kirstie events and I definitely won’t be doing it again.

Issues:
– The exhibitor car park was too far from the show ground, don’t understand why the grass outside where we unloaded couldn’t have been used. Unless blocking the view of the lake was more important
– marquee was way too hot and I can’t believe traders were only given one small bottle of water for the whole 3 days!
– footfall was great but most people seemed to be browsers having a nice day out, which is fair enough but not great for traders
– I would disagree that only kits were selling. I design and make my own kits and sold one in the whole weekend. The only stands that seemed to be doing a decent trade were those who had been running the making workshops
– there seemed to be something fundamentally wrong with this event. Not sure what it is but for so many traders to have a bad experience it would suggest something is not right. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on felt off-key
– it needs to decide what it wants to be – either a fair to sell handmade goods (I really wish I’d taken more of my finished products) or somewhere to get introduced to craft and supplies. For me, the mix of the two didn’t gel well.
– the size of the stand was laughable, even though I knew the size beforehand I actually laughed outloud when I saw it
– there was not enough space – as an exhibitor with a 2 * 1.5m (allegedly) stand, once I’d set up there was no space for me. If I stood either side I was blocking someone else’s stand and I felt like I was constantly in the way. If someone was looking at my stand then no one else could. The aisles between stands weren’t huge so in busy periods it felt very claustrophobic

It could be a great event but very big miss for me as an exhibitor. In terms of comparative cost to sales, this was the worst event I have done since I set up my business. All new events have their teething problems but I am not going to be going back to see if they improve, it’s just too much of a risk.

I spoke to several people who said they were very unlikely to go back and I think this is possibly why the cheaper import not really handmade exhibitors are starting the creep in. They need to fill the space and are probably starting to reach the point where they are running out of exhibitors willing to take the risk. I’d heard very mixed reviews beforehand and wish I’d taken more notice!

On the plus side!
Gorgeous location, by far the best thing about the whole event!
They are very good at marketing the event
Plenty of toilets
3 years ago
Doodlecraft Designs

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This was our 4th Handmade Fair. Last year they were really positive and affirming events. This year they have cost exhibitors not earned for them. Some of the reasons are in society and some are related to the event. The organisers got people in. Some of the logistics around parking are the venues responsibility. In this case holding an event so close to previous event within 40 mins by car is illogical. A month between shows with same catchement area is crazy. In my opinion the first day was 60% crafters the second was 40% crafters and third was 15% crafters which is not good good for kit sellers. I agree with the comment about identity of the show. If Hampton goes well and the workshops are aligned to craft types better so we stand a chance of attracting stitchers for our products. We will consider attending again. If next year Bowood has no stitching workshops i would not consider exhibiting and the other shows as well.
3 years ago
Anonymous

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This was my first large fair so I don’t have much to compare it too but my initial feeling of it:

Bad things
– The marquee was incredibly hot, some form of fan to get a bit of an air flow going would have been perfect
– More shade outside for customers (and traders) to sit!
– It felt expensive for what you got, no WiFi included, no storage, one random bottle of water for the weekend
– Parking too far from the site for traders
– No advertisement for the traders, only the workshops were regularly advertised on their social media, which feels wrong for the amount of money paid..
– Getting out was a shambles with only one exit/entrance in the traders parking and a lot staff standing not doing anything about it
– Charity stands shouldn’t be put next to traders. It is off-putting for customers, they have paid a fair amount of money for a nice day out and not to be hounded
– Internet went down and it seemed that only when the traders called the WiFi company did anything get done about it
– Too long, hardly anyone in my area made a sale past 4pm, it doesn’t need to last till 6pm in the shopping village
– Why was there imported cloth and bags? Didn’t fit with the “handmade” title
– The weeks leading up to the event was disorganised, not inline with their timeline given at the beginning, I had to chase a few times for things

Good things
– Everyone was super friendly
– Beautiful location and great food
– Those who were selling handmade goods were of great quality
– A pretty good variety of makers (minus the importers..)

Basically, although it was fun and I met a lot of lovely people, it was expensive for what you got. Everything was an extra cost, not just for the traders, but for the customers as well.
3 years ago
Anonymous

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This was my first Handmade Fair and unfortunately, despite having a really lovely three days, I won’t be rushing to exhibit here again. My main issue is the cost for exhibiting, the shell scheme fees are just too expensive for what you get, and this is before the somewhat hidden added extras like power and WiFi. Luckily I didn’t have to pay for accommodation as I live locally, but this means the other Handmade Fairs would be even less viable for me. With prices going up next year I just don’t think I can justify doing this fair again. I know the celebrities bring in the visitors, but if that is why the fees are so high, and other beautifully curated, less expensive, markets and fairs succeed without them, I know which option I would prefer, and can afford, to take part in. Also I kind of feel the celebrity element was possibly a bit oversold, for visitors and exhibitors alike. I also agree with other comments about the identity of the fair, it should really be for crafters OR for handmade items. Maybe the celebrity endorsement of the fair lends itself more to the craft kits and supplies aspect. Also the shopping village didn’t need to be open until 6pm, I think 4pm would be more suitable with workshops and talks running on longer if needed. Despite all of the above I had a great three days, purely down to the amazing and talented people that I met whilst trading. This and the stunning location were the highlights for me.
3 years ago
Anon

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This was my first Handmade Fair and unfortunately, despite having a really lovely three days, I won’t be rushing to exhibit here again. My main issue is the cost for exhibiting, the shell scheme fees are just too expensive for what you get, and this is before the somewhat hidden added extras like power and WiFi. Luckily I didn’t have to pay for accommodation as I live locally, but this means the other Handmade Fairs would be even less viable for me. With prices going up next year I just don’t think I can justify doing this fair again. I know the celebrities bring in the visitors, but if that is why the fees are so high, and other beautifully curated, less expensive, markets and fairs succeed without them, I know which option I would prefer, and can afford, to take part in. Also I kind of feel the celebrity element was possibly a bit oversold, for visitors and exhibitors alike. I also agree with other comments about the identity of the fair, it should really be for crafters OR for handmade items. Maybe the celebrity endorsement of the fair lends itself more to the craft kits and supplies aspect. Also the shopping village didn’t need to be open until 6pm, I think 4pm would be more suitable with workshops and talks running on longer if needed. Despite all of the above I had a great three days, purely down to the amazing and talented people that I met whilst trading. This and the stunning location were the highlights for me.
3 years ago
Anonymous

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My rating is made on a value for money basis.

Negative Points:
Completely over priced for what you get. Save yourself from near bankruptcy and walk away with your business wallet in tact.
The footfall relative to price was very very poor. At other events I pay a third of the price to see four times the footfall.
There was not enough of the ‘right’ advertising for the handmade products, hence most of the footfall we spoke to were crafters themselves rather than a demographic of buyers who were interested in purchasing quality products. This is a fundamental failure on behalf of the events company.
The selling environment was cramped and too ‘closed’ – almost claustrophobic in places.
There was extremely hot weather over the entire weekend but there was no preparation for this – no ventilation in the tent, horrible uncomfortable selling environment. Customers were also uncomfortable and were not stopping to buy for this reason – rushing to find fresh air.
WIFI went down on the second day. Yes we’ve been offered a full refund, but that doesn’t make up for the loss of sales and poor image that is portrayed to customers.
Parking for exhibitors was a 10 min walk from the event and getting on and off site to load and unload was a nightmare.
Food was extortionate. Every other fair/event I’ve been to some sort of subsidy is given to traders. I thoroughly object to paying £8 for a wrap with a bit of chicken thrown in.
There is no place at events like this for charity muggers. We were near one and had customers continually rushing up through the middle of the aisle to avoid them. It ruined the weekend for at least 5 stalls around them. Quite frankly, a disgrace that although multiple complaints went in, the situation was not adequately dealt with and got worse as the weekend went on.
The ‘front face’ of the event was nowhere to be seen for most of the weekend.
Probably, all in all, the biggest disappointment at a fair I’ve ever experienced in 10 years in business.

Positive Points:
Bowood House is absolutely stunning and well worth a day out
I met some absolutely delightful, if somewhat disillusioned, stall holders. There were some wonderful quality crafts and incredibly talented people. Such a shame they have not been given the support, marketing, environment and visibility they deserve.
3 years ago
Moonraker Bears

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This was our first handmade fair and I don’t think we would come back. The main reason being it was horrendously expensive for the size of stand and the items included. WiFi should have been included in the cost given how much we had to pay for the stand.

Tannoy announcements would have been helpful. I was told by another trader that these weren’t allowed on this site which I found unusual as in another job I have helped run many events on this site and there has been a tannoy at each of them. Something to engage people and get them shopping would have been useful.

We didn’t purchase WiFi as we had hoped to use our mobile signal for card payments. Sadly this didn’t work but as none of our neighbours who had paid for WiFi could get that to work either we were quite glad we hadn’t paid for it!

Advertising running up to the event was also poor. I am a local, living less than 10 miles from site, and saw nothing before the event except what I did myself and one banner outside Bowood. We are an area full of craft businesses, visiting them and offering them discounted rates at the show in return for advertising would have been a good way of getting the word out.
3 years ago
Steffi

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I usually give the other HMF 5 out of 5 but this time less as it was less busy for us.
I believe the reasons were:
1) weather too good/hot = not organisers fault. But this could be gone to still encourage people to come into tents: have a greater presence of Kirstie in the tent (we never saw her), better ventilation/fans, handing out free bottles of water/drinks inside the tent, having a loudspeaker system to let people know what is happening inside the shopping tents (demos for example etc)
2) location: the location is stunning and that has also meant people loved being outside enjoying it. This has been to the detriment of shopping inside! I personally don’t believe it helped having access to Bowood House as that has given people even more choice. And people coming from Bowood into HMF are less likely to spend money in the shopping tent (wrong demographic I suspect!) I’d make the grounds smaller further away from the actual house (can still be seen like at Ragley) but less distractive!
3) time of the year: this is our second less successful fair and the last one was also at this time of the year. People are thinking about holidays, weddings and are less likely to spend money. I think it was also unfortunate that the WM was on.
Other than that we still love the atmosphere, the organisation, the whole feel of the fair, exhibitors are carefully chosen and what is being sold is of high standard and quality.
3 years ago
Anon

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Good points:
Good variety of stalls
Great communication
Handmade fair reps/staff were very helpful and chatty
Clean
Great location
Great atmosphere
All traders were lovely/made a lot of friends

Bad points:
Hugely overpriced for a stand, I myself and 90% of traders I spoke to made a loss of hundreds.
Parking was much too far from event especially on packing down
Food traders charged the earth, my coffee was £3 after a ‘trader discount’.
WAY too many non handmade stalls (tons of charities, vintage plates, nail varnish…)
Much to hot in the tent, where more panels could have been opened they weren’t
Footfall was much much lower than expected
Advertising wasnt very good at all locally
Kirstie only showed up for one day and barely visited any stalls. This was the worst disappointment.

Overall:
I would consider doing this again but only if I offered pop up workshops on my stand, as this seemed to be the only real way to bring in money.
3 years ago
Anon

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I have been exhibiting at Needlecraft and Textile shows for years and I have never paid so much per square metre and got so little in return. This applies to the actual stand itself and to the footfall through the show. I can only describe the stand as minimal – the walls were painted white which was powdery and came off easily, they were a good deal shorter than usual so there was less wall space to display on and there were no fascias the front of the stand.
Attendance seemed very low, I looked out of the marquee at various times of the day and there seemed very few visitors for the size of the event and also for what had been promised by the organisers. I did squeeze out without actually making a loss but my takings were the lowest that I have ever had from any show. I have often taken three times as much from a stand that cost about a third of the price.
The great and good Kirstie Allsopp, who was supposed to be hosting and fronting the show was only there on the first day and even then made no effort to visit the marquee.
All in all most disappointing!
3 years ago
Anonymous

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I am a huge fan of the Handmade Fair. The atmosphere, exhibitors and customers alike make this a great place to exhibit.

I understand this was the first event at Bowood and there were bound to be teething issues but I was disappointed with the following:

1. Kirsty Allsopp who is the “face” of this event (nor did she Ragley) makes no mention of this event on her personal social media channels. With 147,000 followers, posts in the run up and during the show would have a massive impact on Customer attendance. Her support therefore feels disingenuous and for financial gain. If she and the other celebrities fronting this event cared enough, they would provide more coverage through their own channels.

2. The shopping village is open too long. It currently runs from 0930-1800. It should be 0930-1600.

3. Marketing for this event was poor. We stayed in a B&B for the event and the host had no idea the event was on. These are very small villages where word would spread fairly quickly so I don’t understand why more marketing was not done in the area. This point was reinforced when I spoke to two local ladies (hugely into crafts), who had turned up purely by chance, they had access to the land and were disappointed to have missed most of the event. They told me they would have attended with their large group of friends had they known.

4. Handmade Fair do need to be more selective about the exhibitors they accept. Not only does this make a mockery of a “handmade” Fair, but imported, mass produced goods can be sold at a fraction of what handmade goods are sold at. This does not help artisans hoping to promote their hard work.

5. Parking for exhibitors is just too far away. We use our van as secure storage for excess stock because we cannot afford a huge stand, however, retrieving stock from the van on this occasion took almost 40 minutes. Far too long.

6. I would hope that the Handmade Fair have a serious discussion with their celebrities and ask for more support and reduce the rates of their stands. They are too expensive for the overall amount taken.

7. Having said all this, I do feel the team will take these reviews on board and improv the next show. Therefore, I’m willing to give the event one more try!
3 years ago
Sophia

I’ve been going to all the Handmade Fairs since it started. I love the atmosphere, the other makers, the customers. It’s a wonderful show to sell at.
Although this year at the first Bowood fair I didn’t do that well on sales. (I make personalised gifts) I feel that was reflected across the board. There’s a lot of negativity about low sales, but I feel that’s just people not spending as much. It’s not the event teams fault customers aren’t parting cash with you. They got the people there. That’s their job. It’s your job to turn it into sales.
Hand out business cards, network, make sure your getting your name out there. I know I’ll get more sales in the next few weeks from the marketing I did at the fair. And already a few new customers from seeing me at the show have requested bespoke items.
It was a gorgeously hot weekend, so maybe that’s another factor. But overall I loved every minute and I’ll look forward to attending next years.
3 years ago
Anonomous

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Bad:
Cheap Imports from China – Cheapens the ‘Handmade’ aspect.
Too Hot – more ventilation in marque, did not realize one bottle of water was for the three staff holders on stand – so put it near the entry of marque! (Saw one smart trader who had power and a fan!!!)
A trade discount was needed for food and drink. Especially since it was hot weather, also a trade area for stall holders!
More seating everywhere is needed, especially shaded.
Expensive for stand then having to pay extra for wifi, power etc
Not enough space to stand at your stand and have customers move. Had a ‘que’ of family that were willing to wait to get in the stand to have a look, but lost customers from this too.
Disappointed that we didn’t see Kirstie or any of the other celebrities. Would be better if they came around the stands at 9am or earlier to get to every stand.
The shopping village was open too long.
Car parking was too far and not enough signage for the Exhibitors parking. (Glad visitor parking was at the same place so not just traders that had to walk that far). Would be nice is the rows of cars had a number or letter for each row. If one person goes to park the car and then the other person needs to find the car later – you have to walk around looking for your car.
Didn’t actually know who the organizers were – just looked for the people with the walkie talkies. Noticed the organizers had a fenced in area behind their tent.
Long way to walk from setting up the stand to the organizers office to find out where the production office is to get the bands.
Break down was a bit hectic – could have been organised more by time allotments or something.

Good
Location was nice
Nice weather (before it got too hot)
Summer Fruit punch was lovely
Other traders we spoke to were friendly
Lots of toilets and they were keep clean.

Glad that we aren’t the only ones to not break even. Not likely to come back to a fair if the price is due to rise.
3 years ago

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The Handmade Fair – Bowood House

The Handmade Fair – Bowood House

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