Weather and vendor booths?

[new2woodwrk]

Was wondering what others do when they have rain for their vendor booths.

Tomorrow is another fair day, and it's supposed to rain and the fair is rain or shine!

My tent is canvas and drips during the rain

I've been reading about waterproofing a canopy tent, but so far it seems ti's a 50/50 work solution

My thoughts are:

• Throw a tarp over the top of the outside of the tent - secure the tarp with clamps on the legs and on the canvas
• Secure with clamps plastic sheeting on the inside of the tent
• Do nothing and pack up and go home

Thanks as always in advance for your ideas and comments

 

[Dan]

8 minutes ago, new2woodwrk said:

 

Tomorrow is another fair day, and it's supposed to rain and the fair is rain or shine!

 

If tomorrow is a fair day there shouldn't be any rain. Sorry, I couldn't let that one go. There are some good waterproofing sprays for tents that work. 

[new2woodwrk]

7 minutes ago, Dan said:

If tomorrow is a fair day there shouldn't be any rain. Sorry, I couldn't let that one go. There are some good waterproofing sprays for tents that work. 

Obviously you don't live in Florida where "fair" means it might, or it might not rain

I've been reading reviews about those sprays and not a one got more than 50% good reviews.

Most were Avg reviews and just under half were "doesn't work" reviews.

Edited November 27, 2020 by new2woodwrk

[Dan]

I saw a guy that used a tarp over a tent. He had it secured to the tent. The winds kicked up and took the tarp and tent down. Just be careful how you secure things. 

[trackman]

I always found that people don’t shop in the rain. So if going to rain I pack up and go home. 

[dgman]

@trackman is right. If it’s raining, people go home. If you still want to set up in the rain, you need a pop up that is water proof.

[new2woodwrk]

11 hours ago, trackman said:

I always found that people don’t shop in the rain. So if going to rain I pack up and go home. 

We're pretty much used to the rain here in Florida.

People actually just wait for it to pass then get on with whatever they were doing.

For example:

It rained a few weeks back during one of our Saturday events. We hurried to put up side panels and moved our tables back far enough to get a row of people under the tent. That's how I found it the canvas drips LOL

During the storm people kept buying, and still went from booth to booth.

As to @Dan - that is one of my concerns. However, we batten down our tents to the side rails of the docks and we do have extra weights if needed.

It's a dilemma for us because if we just pack up and go home, we will lose our last weekend for custom orders. Not to mention what we will miss after the rain passes.

This is perhaps the busiest weekend prior to Christmas at the event.

It's Small Business weekend and there are extended hours for the vendors as well. It's a really big todo here this weekend

Edited November 28, 2020 by new2woodwrk

[ike]

I do mostly indoors shows rain never bothers you much but sales arealways down,

IKE

[WayneMahler]

I have done shows that the rain didn't hurt anything and others where is was totally dead. I o have a waterproof tent and sides for it. As for the people showing up, it seems to depend on where the venue is. Remember, where there is rain there is wind. Make sure you tie your tent down securely on all 4 corners. 

[new2woodwrk]

UPDATE:

So we did our Small Business Saturday event.

It rained most of the morning from 7am through approx. 9:30 am

I opted for tarps on the underside of the tent - Worked like a charm. Unfortunately I forgot to take pics.

I had to use 2 tarps, but I'll be getting a single 12x12 asap for the next rainy session

We used hand clamps on the under rails to keep the tarps up and raised the tent a few extra notches.

We put up our side and rear panels as well.

We pulled our tables back about a foot and a half so the customers and our products were out of the rain.

So, during the rainy time it was very busy but we did do 3 sales.

About 10:30 the crowd really picked up. It was still cloudy, but no rain. We took down the side panels but left the rear panel up and that really helped to dampen the wind going through the tent

Right around 11 am the sun came out for a few hours and we had run after run after run

It was our highest unit sales day so far!

Mostly we sold kids stuff but did manage a few custom orders as a few in stock items

Thanks all for the input - it was helpful

Edited November 29, 2020 by new2woodwrk

[barb.j.enders]

Late to the game --- we have a boat that we spray the bimini with waterproofing spray every year.  Never can be too careful!