It may be your first craft fair, or it may be a while since you've been involved in face to face events and expos. There are things you may not know, or may have forgotten but they all need to be packed. 

Paperwork

 

Make sure you remember all the necesarry paperwork. That could be receipts for payment, stall or stand reservation details, nametags for exhibitors... Check any information emails or packs you are sent. You don't want to get there and find you can't park without the permit you haven't printed. 

 

Remember any legal things as well - a copy of your public liability insurance, assay details if you sell precious metals, health and safety or food safety certificates. 

 

Set Up

 

Check the size of your table / space and practice set up. Do roller banners still work and can you remember how they clip? Have you made sure your shelves fit on the table? Do you have enough stock, or does it look a bit empty? It's worth checking before you get there. 

 

Signs

 

Do you have all the signs you need? Are your prices clearly displayed? Can people see your brand name from a distance? And do you need any additional signs now to explain you accept contactless payment or have hand sanitiser? This can all reassure people who may be nervous. 

 

Some people won't be happy taking business cards - do you have a scanable QR code? Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest all let you download versions of QR codes than can be scanned via their apps. You can print them off and put them in a frame so people can connect with you. 

 

Emergency Kit

 

Do you have spare pens, sharpies if you need to label things? A first aid kit? Headache tablets if you're under strip lighting all day? 

 

What about things to combat the weather? Do you have clamps to hold a tablecloth down, a cover in case it rains heavily? What about hand sanitiser and wipes to keep things clean?

 

A power bank is always useful to charge your phone, especially if you don't have a power point on your stall. 

 

Plus, don't forget water bottles and snacks. It will be a long day and you don't want to get stuck with no way to find food. 

 

Ways To Take Money

 

You may be signing people up or taking payments. If you are taking cash, make sure you have lots of change. Especially if people haven't been using a lot of money recently, they may be payign with £20 notes, which will take all your change quite quickly. 

 

If you're taking card payments, make sure your card reader is charged and see if the app needs updating. Check you have the wifi password / enough data to take payments. Check your signal before you start as well as the lighting - can people see the screen in bright light? You might want to consider dark mode, or brightening the screen up. 

 

Packaging

 

Do you have enough boxes / bags / ribbons / goodie bags? If the weather is bad, you may need plastic bags or something durable. 

 

You may also need to consider hygeine - is your packaging wipe clean? Can it be easily sanitised?

 

Bonus: How you're carrying it

 

Is the event upstairs, ages from the carpark or over uneven ground? Do you have, or can you borrow a sack truck, trolley or something with wheels? 

 

Are things in clear boxes or well labeled so you know what is where? It's very easy to lose your blu tac / pens etc. Make things easy for yourself because it's wasy to forget what made sense when you packed it the night before. 

 

Overall, take the time to plan and enjoy the event. There may be something you forget bue experienced event managers / other stallholders may have spares to hand. Make a note of anything important so you can correct problems for next time.