If you’ve been to a few festivals, flea markets, or craft show and want in on the action then you’ll have to get busy – early. That’s right, most of the festival vendors you see at your local festivals have signed up for their spot up to a year in advance. Some festivals are more competitive than others. If you have some prior experience being a festival vendor, but you’d like to join a well-known or traveling festival than you know how hard it can be to get a coveted space to sell your wares.

The first thing to do no matter what festival you want to be a festival vendor at is to find out who is in charge. Try to speak directly with them about signing up. If you are lucky you will just need to pay up front to reserve your spot and then show up on the first day of the festival. Sometimes you won’t have to sign up until the day of the festival, but most will require you to put down a deposit ahead of time. This means that even if you are signing up for a hot festival a year in advance you still might need to lay down a hefty deposit now. This also means that if you can’t make it at the last minute it you will probably lose your entire deposit. Unfortunately, this is just how things go in the festival circuit and if you want to become a festival vendor you will have to shell out some cash before you’ve made a penny.

The more experience you have as a festival vendor, the easier it becomes to get a space or a better one. Like almost anything in life, who you know matters. Being connected with the organizers and other festival vendors can help you out a lot when it comes to getting a prime space at a festival. This does not mean you need to try to get the management’s attention every chance you can. In fact what it means, is try to be a festival vendor who is easy to get along with and pays attention to the people running the show. It may sounds simple, but you will see many festival vendors put up quite a fuss when it comes to their space or a variety of things. Be the kind of festival vendor that people want at their festival. People will take note of this and this it will help ensure you a place at the festival or make sure that the your favorite space is vacant when you arrive.

If you’ve been to a few festivals, flea markets, or craft show and want in on the action then you’ll have to get busy – early. That’s right, most of the festival vendors you see at your local festivals have signed up for their spot up to a year in advance. Some festivals are more competitive than others. If you have some prior experience being a festival vendor, but you’d like to join a well-known or traveling festival than you know how hard it can be to get a coveted space to sell your wares.