Comments on: How Do I Attract Kids and Teens to My Festival Booth?

By: Carolyn Port

Carolyn Port — Tue, 29 May 2012 21:23:59 +0000

In England we don’t tend to have these huge festivals, but I have always sold a lot of children’s jewellery at local craft fairs by ensuring a ready supply of cheap sweets – drags them over every time! Also, as it’s a 4th July weekend could you perhaps drape your stall with an American flag? Good luck!

By: Mary Anne

Mary Anne — Tue, 29 May 2012 12:24:28 +0000

Having done many festivals where I worked the children’s craft tables…for museums and nature centers I volunteered for…my first advice is to make sure you have plenty of help. 2-3 helpers in your booth …even grab a teenager or a husband will make the event go easier. You will be orchestrating a very very busy booth! Kids and parents LOVE make and take crafts at festivals. Often there are several waiting to get in and sit down and make something. Public events are exhausting…make sure you are well organized, have everything at hand, and be ready fro throngs of kids and caretakers jostling at your booth.

I would go with as much color as possible. Kids are extremely attracted to color. I would definitely have helium balloons as part of decor. Or if thats cost prohibitive, you could have helpers blow up regular balloons, and connect to the tent, make a garland, or attach in some other decorative way.

For the various kits…make a vertical display. I have used inexpensive cork boards (Walmart, or thrifted). I spray paint them and use over sized push pins to attach my items. Or if they are extremely light weight kits….you could get away with using foam core (any craft store, and or office supply store has it). 30 x 20 size. You could actually sew or tie the kits into a pleasing display on the thick foam core. I use the largest table top stands I can find. Michaels has these metal table stands in the framing section…they can hold up plates,or framed pictures. I would use 2 of them for a large piece of foam core or bulletin board. You could also paint a piece of “pegboard and attach your kits. Pegboard is found at hardware stores, or Home Depot, Lowes, etc. For example of a cork board vertical jewelry display I made…look here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanwoodswalker/4134776700/

You can see the metal table stands here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanwoodswalker/4134776702/

Hope this helps and best of luck to you!

By: Barbara

Barbara — Tue, 29 May 2012 10:55:54 +0000

Can you get half a dozen or so mixed mylar or regular “hot air” (helium) balloons and tie them to your display? They’ll fill up your vehicle on the way to the site, yes, but seeing them floating and bobbing above people’s heads will definitely attract everyone’s attention. If you stick to your black and white colour table then you can have pops of colour with the balloons. Every flower department at local grocery stores seems to have the helium tank and the balloons these days so they’d be easy to come by.

Maybe you could have a draw every hour of the show — have that many balloons — or have it so that a person buying a kit on the hour “wins” a balloon, so by the end of the show you don’t have to bother carrying them home.

By: Random

Random — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:19:29 +0000

Oriental trading has a lot of hot air balloon decor stuff, perhaps some of it will give you some inspiration