Edmonds, day 0
Jun. 18th, 2015 03:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrThe last time I did the Edmonds Arts Festival was in 2008. I'd gotten in off the waiting list in 2007, had a good time and good sales, so applied again in '08.
Haven't been back since. Not by my choice--I keep applying--but never got closer than the waiting list until this year. Set-up was rigorously organized: vendors with trailers come in one two-hour block, then north-facing booths, south-facing, corners. We arrived right at 10 am, the start of the south-booth block, and parked in the queue down 9th Avenue. Gave our booth number to the volunteer with the two-way radio, and settled in to wait.
Right behind me was another potter I know, from Albany, who was annoyed by their micro-managing. Me, I was just happy to be here on a sunny but cool morning. Turns out the vendors had scrambled their best-laid plans, so instead of orderly ranks of loaders-in, they had volunteers all over the grounds checking what spaces were available to load into. After two or three others pulled in to the site, I got pulled out of line and waved through to 231 Monet Blvd. We were the first on either side of our block, so we opened up the canopy, then shuffled out all the booth hardware and pottery boxes. I left Denise sorting out the booth walls while I moved the empty van to offsite parking and caught the shuttle back. Drove in at 10:15, out again before 10:45, and all the shelves were up, shimmed and leveled by 11:30. It took a little less than two hours more to set out the pots and organize the restock. Even including a lunch break, we were out by 1:30.
Too bad we're not youngsters anymore; with all afternoon free, we might have gone to the zoo, or downtown to Pike Place Market, or some other tourismal activity. As it is, we went back to the motel and flopped on the bed.
Haven't been back since. Not by my choice--I keep applying--but never got closer than the waiting list until this year. Set-up was rigorously organized: vendors with trailers come in one two-hour block, then north-facing booths, south-facing, corners. We arrived right at 10 am, the start of the south-booth block, and parked in the queue down 9th Avenue. Gave our booth number to the volunteer with the two-way radio, and settled in to wait.
Right behind me was another potter I know, from Albany, who was annoyed by their micro-managing. Me, I was just happy to be here on a sunny but cool morning. Turns out the vendors had scrambled their best-laid plans, so instead of orderly ranks of loaders-in, they had volunteers all over the grounds checking what spaces were available to load into. After two or three others pulled in to the site, I got pulled out of line and waved through to 231 Monet Blvd. We were the first on either side of our block, so we opened up the canopy, then shuffled out all the booth hardware and pottery boxes. I left Denise sorting out the booth walls while I moved the empty van to offsite parking and caught the shuttle back. Drove in at 10:15, out again before 10:45, and all the shelves were up, shimmed and leveled by 11:30. It took a little less than two hours more to set out the pots and organize the restock. Even including a lunch break, we were out by 1:30.
Too bad we're not youngsters anymore; with all afternoon free, we might have gone to the zoo, or downtown to Pike Place Market, or some other tourismal activity. As it is, we went back to the motel and flopped on the bed.