Not all craft fairs are created equal. The wrong event can mean a wasted weekend, lost money, and serious frustration. The right one can bring hundreds of new customers, validate your pricing, and fuel your business for months. Here's how to evaluate craft fairs like a pro — so every event you attend is worth your time.
Why Choosing the Right Craft Fair Matters
As a vendor, every craft fair costs you something: booth fees, product inventory, travel, time away from production, and often a full weekend of your life. A single bad event can cost $500+ when you factor in fees, gas, food, and unsold inventory. Tools like WickSuite help you track event costs so you know exactly which fairs are worth repeating. Meanwhile, a well-chosen event can generate $1,000–$5,000+ in a single day.
The difference between profitable vendors and struggling ones often isn't their products — it's their event selection strategy. Seasoned vendors are ruthless about which fairs they attend, and you should be too.
8 Factors to Evaluate Before Applying
1. Audience Match
The most important factor is whether the fair's audience matches your ideal customer. A handmade jewelry vendor will do great at a juried art show but may struggle at a general flea market. Ask yourself:
- Who shops at this event? Families? Tourists? Art collectors? Gift shoppers?
- What's the typical age range and income level of attendees?
- Does the event attract people who buy, or just people who browse?
- Is it marketed as a craft fair, art fair, festival, or market? Each attracts different crowds.
Pro tip: Look at the event's social media and past vendor lists. If you see mostly MLM booths and commercial resellers, the audience probably isn't looking for handmade products.
2. Event Size and Attendance
Bigger isn't always better. A fair with 200 vendors and 10,000 attendees sounds impressive, but that's only 50 potential customers per booth. A smaller event with 30 vendors and 2,000 attendees gives you roughly 67 potential customers — better odds, less competition.
Key attendance questions:
- How many vendors are there? (Fewer = less competition for you)
- What's the estimated foot traffic? (Ask the organizer — reputable ones track this)
- Is it a multi-day event? Saturday-only fairs often have more concentrated buying energy.
- Is it in its first year, or well-established? Established events are safer bets.
3. Booth Fee vs. Potential Revenue
Booth fees range wildly — from $25 at a church bazaar to $500+ at premier juried shows. The fee itself doesn't tell you much; what matters is the return on investment.
A simple formula: Your booth fee should be no more than 10-20% of your expected revenue. If a fair charges $200, you should reasonably expect to make $1,000–$2,000. If you can't hit that, the math doesn't work.
Free craft fairs are great for beginners testing the waters, but don't assume free means good. Sometimes events that charge higher fees attract more serious shoppers.
4. Location and Travel Costs
That amazing fair three states away might not be so amazing once you factor in gas, hotels, meals, and two days of travel time. Calculate your total cost to attend:
- Booth fee: The listed price
- Travel: Gas or flights, parking
- Lodging: Hotel for multi-day or distant events
- Food: Meals for yourself during the event
- Lost production time: Days you're not making products
- Wear and tear: Vehicle, tent, display equipment
For most vendors, especially those starting out, local events within 1-2 hours offer the best ROI. You can do them as day trips with minimal overhead. Use tools like Find Fairs Near Me to discover events in your area.
5. Juried vs. Non-Juried
Juried craft fairs require vendors to submit photos of their work for review. This might seem like extra hassle, but jurying benefits you:
- Higher quality vendors mean higher quality shoppers
- No mass-produced imports competing with your handmade goods
- Category limits prevent five candle vendors from being side by side
- Better event reputation attracts repeat attendees who spend more
If your work is strong, always prefer juried events. The higher booth fees almost always pay for themselves through better sales.
6. Indoor vs. Outdoor
This depends on your products and your setup:
- Indoor fairs — Weather-proof, consistent lighting, often shorter setup times. Great for delicate items, paper goods, or products that melt (candles, chocolate).
- Outdoor fairs — Typically larger attendance, more casual atmosphere, require tent/canopy. Better for larger displays and products that photograph well in natural light.
Always have a weather contingency plan for outdoor events. A sudden rainstorm can ruin unprotected inventory and send customers running.
7. Event Marketing and Promotion
A well-promoted event is a well-attended event. Before applying, check:
- Does the organizer have an active social media presence?
- Do they run paid ads before the event?
- Is the event listed on local event calendars and tourism websites?
- Do they send email blasts to past attendees?
- Is there local media coverage (newspaper, radio, TV)?
Events that rely solely on word-of-mouth may have passionate organizers but unpredictable attendance. The best fairs invest in marketing — and that investment directly benefits you.
8. Organizer Reputation and Communication
How the organizer communicates before the event tells you a lot about the event itself:
- Do they respond to questions promptly and professionally?
- Do they provide a vendor handbook with setup times, load-in instructions, and rules?
- Do they have a clear refund/cancellation policy?
- Do past vendors speak positively about the event?
Red flags: vague details, no contract, no vendor handbook, hard-to-reach organizers, and events that accept anyone who pays. New to vending? Trust your gut — if something feels off before the event, it usually gets worse during it.
How to Research Craft Fairs Effectively
Use a Craft Fair Database
Instead of googling endlessly, use a dedicated craft fair search tool. TheCraftMap lets you search thousands of craft fairs by state, date, type, and more — with details on booth fees, application deadlines, and venue types so you can make informed decisions quickly.
Browse fairs by state, filter by this weekend, or plan ahead with our calendar view.
Ask Other Vendors
The vendor community is surprisingly generous with information. Join Facebook groups, Reddit communities (r/craftfairs, r/Etsy), and local maker groups. Ask specifically:
- "What was your experience at [event name]?"
- "Did you break even? Make a profit?"
- "Would you do it again?"
- "How was the organizer?"
One honest review from a fellow vendor is worth more than any promotional material from an organizer.
Attend as a Shopper First
If possible, visit an event as a customer before applying as a vendor. Walk the grounds and note:
- How crowded is it? Are people carrying shopping bags?
- What products are selling? Is anyone in your niche?
- How's the layout? Is foot traffic distributed evenly or do some areas get ignored?
- Is there good signage and parking?
Building Your Craft Fair Calendar
Once you know what to look for, build a strategic calendar for the year:
- Start with anchor events: 2-3 proven fairs you know work well for your products
- Add strategic experiments: 1-2 new events per quarter to test
- Mind the spacing: Don't book back-to-back weekends unless you have enough inventory
- Track application deadlines: The best fairs fill up months in advance. Check our deadlines page so you never miss one.
- Account for seasonal peaks: Holiday markets (Oct–Dec) are the highest revenue season for most vendors. Read our seasonal planning guide for month-by-month tips.
Red Flags: When to Skip a Craft Fair
Walk away (or don't apply) if you see these warning signs:
- No vendor limit: Events that accept unlimited vendors will oversaturate the market
- No category restrictions: Five competitors in your exact niche = split sales
- MLM/direct sales welcome: Lowers the perceived quality of the entire event
- First-year event with high fees: Unproven events should have lower entry costs
- Poor location: Hard to find, no parking, bad neighborhood
- No marketing plan: "We'll post on Facebook" isn't a marketing plan
- Organizer won't share attendance data: Probably because the numbers are bad
Track Your Results
After each event, record your numbers:
- Total sales revenue
- Number of transactions
- Average sale amount
- Total costs (fee + travel + food + supplies)
- Net profit
- Email signups or social media follows gained
- Notes on what worked and what didn't
Over time, this data becomes your most valuable tool. You'll see clear patterns about which types of events work best for your products, which price points perform, and which regions have the best customers.
Use the TheCraftMap vendor dashboard to track your expenses and revenue across events, making it easy to compare ROI between fairs.
The Bottom Line
Choosing the right craft fair isn't about finding the "best" event — it's about finding the best event for you. Your products, your price point, your location, and your business goals should drive every application you submit.
Be strategic. Be selective. Track everything. And remember: saying no to a mediocre fair frees up your weekend for a great one.
Ready to find your next event? Browse thousands of craft fairs on TheCraftMap and start building a calendar that actually grows your business.