In life, you know when you are on a roll. Things go smoothly in a positive upwards direction. Equally, there are times when you know the portents are agin yah. And likewise, you just have to roll with the painful consequences of these. It's an Ouch, but, hopefully an instructive Ouch. Such was the Farmers & Makers Market at Fakenham Race Course
If one read and noticed them, the augeries were all there. E.mails stating a spaced out arrival schedule for stall holder's - they don't get to everyone. The lack of any advance publicity or even basic roadside signage. So when we arrived and joined a long arthritically slow moving queue of cars and trailers, this did not bode well. We arrive at 8am, didn't get on site til gone 9am. They needed food stalls to go in first, but many were arriving late, spaced out amongst this ever lengthening queue. Tempers became fraught. Fourteen year old stewards were sworn and berated at.
By the time we were stressfully setting up our stall, the punters were arriving. The morning up to lunchtime was only 'showing promise' sales wise. But after lunch everything went incredibly quiet and continued as though a plague had suddenly hit, until at 3pm we could start packing up.
Markets are long days, with a lot of advance preparation involved. The outlay of time, sheer effort and fee, is not insignificant. So for it not to be financially worth it, well that's more than a little disheartening. After two dud craft shows in a row, we are reviewing, yet again, what our criteria for choosing markets are.
We know what we have to offer is good. But finding where our customers are, is not proving easy. Nowhere near Fakenham apparently. We need to be nearer to catchment areas that more likely to have surplus income.
What was the most notable thing about the folk who attended the Farmers Market? The incredible and widespread obesity, male or female, young or old, whole families of them shaped like Russian dolls. Women in particular, who were so morbidly obese they had double crutches or zimmer frames that could barely support their weighed down frames, curved spines, hunched torso. All with such tangibly painful movement and restricted agility.
It was actually quite shocking to see the level of it's prevalence at this Market. I don't think I'd be exaggerating if I were to say 20% obese. When we hear about the coming obesity crisis, this is what they are talking about. It has, apparently, already arrived in Fakenham.
What we saw in Fakenham was primarily local folk turning out for a Market, to buy a pie or two. and a craft beer for later. Then going home. With the complete lack of meaningful publicity no one from further a field had any knowledge it was even on. Relocating the market from The Raynham Hall Estate to Fakenham changed not just the atmosphere but the clientèle it attracted quite radically.
No comments:
Post a Comment