It's Raining, It's Pouring!

This weekend was the Old Norfolk Christmas Craft Show at the Fred Heutte Center in Norfolk, VA. I had everything planned out. I had PowerPoint presentations of my booth set up. I had more merchandise than I had storage buckets for. And I had mud. Yep! Mud!

When I arrived on Friday to do set up the ground was already muddy because it had rained for what seemed like an entire year. Saturday was promising more rain. I dropped off grid walls and tables and my tablecloths.

Saturday my friend Christine and I arrived to find this…

a big, giant, muddy, mess. I was grateful all of my stuff was still standing but my white tablecloth was missing. Huh? I would later find out that it had somehow ended up two booths away and was laying in the mud - so dirty in fact that the vendor thought it was hers an she took it home to wash.

As the day progressed so did the rain. The large tent had a pocket right above our heads and we spent our day poking the roof with a broom to release the build up of water. Eventually, the temperatures dropped. Thankfully a very kind man brought us his giant butane heater and we all gathered around it to keep warm.

Our reward for Saturday was Sunday. The rain broke and the sun shone bright. The vendors from the tent set up on the sidewalk. We basked in the sun and worked on our tans.

You can see here the mess that was left behind in the tent. We had layered straw, plastic bags and more straw but the mud still seeped through.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I met new vendors and made connections for new groups as well as got some great information on upcoming spring shows. My plan going forward… stick to inside shows!