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Food trucks have been around since the early 20th century but evolved into an exciting new venture for foodies and first-time restaurateurs during the mid-2000s. This exciting phenomenon provided an opportunity for budding businesses to operate with low costs while remaining mobile. These capabilities, in turn, reached new customers and profitable locations.

According to SD Food Truck Pros, the food truck industry had an annual growth rate of 7.5% from 2015 to 2020 and is a two-billion-dollar industry. If you’re thinking about joining this community, here are some of our best tips for launching a successful food truck business.

Providing successful food service at festivals & fairs presents various challenges. Having good or unique food at a competitive (fair) price is not enough. Consistently providing quality food items that are not under or overcooked takes significant planning. Knowing how much to buy and prep, as well as maintaining proper refrigeration and heated service temperatures in a temporary environment add more challenge to getting it right every time for hungry patrons!

Festivals are a huge part of communities, offering residents and visitors a place to gather, celebrate, and have a great time. When a festival comes to town, it can increase tourists and visitors and get community members out of their homes and into the city's central area. Business owners can benefit significantly from community festivals, which help increase traffic, and sales and provide new opportunities to create emotional connections with local and visiting customers. Here’s an article to learn more about how our brain functions and control emotions.

Americans are in love with wine. Wine festivals are popping up all over the place, according to MSN, with the biggest, Epcot's Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, attracting hundreds of thousands with the promise of delicious vintages and snacks to wash them down with. The quality of American wine has been ratcheting up for years now, and can genuinely hold its own against the likes of Australian and European lines.  Find many wine (and beer) themed events on FestivalNet.com.  Read on for a few wine events in North America.

The popularity of Instagram, NFTs, and online forums has led to a democratization of art, music, and all things creative, in a way that was unforeseen just a decade ago. Just ask Edinburgh-based artist Trevor Jones, who, as recently as 2019, was borrowing money off friends to pay his mortgage. Today, he can make as much as $4M in a day by organizing his own NFT art sales. Artists and musicians are also joining forces, bypassing traditional galleries and museums to hold their own exhibitions and festivals and avoiding high commissions for agents and event organizers.

Volunteering helps not only those in need of aid, but also those who are paying it forward—as found in a 2015 study in the journal, Motivation and Emotion. When you fundraise or donate your time, it helps you engage more easily with others, lowers your stress, and helps you enjoy the support and intimacy that good friendships can bring. If you are interested in offering your time, which U.S. festivals have the most to offer in terms of the work you can do and the fun you can have when you are on a break or you have a day off?

Finding sponsors for an event takes time, patience and a professional approach. Although there are many sources to find potential sponsors, the best and most efficient approach is to become "business matchmaker." Essentially, you will be matching businesses with customers and clients. Approach sponsors with a win-win scenario and focus on what you can provide them - access to their target market. When companies can clearly see a return on investment for their sponsorship, you will find they will be much more interested in sponsoring your event.

Are you signed up for newsletters? Select manage your e-lists in My Account to select the ones you would like to receive. We offer specific newsletters for:

• Artists/Crafters
• Food/Commercial Vendors
• Musicians
• Promoters
• Event Deadline Reminders

FestivalNet has been around since 2002. Check out the newsletters archives here.

Looking for a spring event? The historic city of St. Augustine Florida is the home of a wonderful Seafood Festival. This year the event will be held on March 25th and 26th. Both vendors and visitors should check out this exciting Festival. Not only is it a great event, but it supports the charitable work of the Lions Club International.

This event has it all, food festival, crafts show, music, entertainment, and rides, no wonder it draws over 20,000 visitors in just one weekend. 

The Festival will offer a number of children’s, adult, and family events and activities, including axe throwing, face-painting, music, clowns, magic, character meet-and-greets, an interactive fire engine exhibition, arts and crafts, and balloon fun.

There are spots for 100 juried arts and crafts vendors to display their wares at this beautiful park location. There is a February deadline for both craft and food vendors.

Musicians can apply until the schedule is full. Visitors expect to hear Jazz, Latin, Country, Folk, Classic Rock, Motown, and Contemporary, so whatever your style this is an event for you.

This week brings the return of the New York State Sheep and Wool festival to Rhinebeck, New York. Held at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds on October 15 and 16th, this is the premier fiber event in the Northeast. Over 30,000 people are expected to attend this year. 

Billed as a family event, this Art Festival has something for everyone. Everything from live animals like sheep, goats, and rabbits to the fiber and products made from all these beautiful animals. You can buy raw fleece, roving, handspun yarn, and garments like socks and sweaters made by hand. You can buy the table looms or craft project supplies you always wanted.

The 2022 holiday shopping season is early here in the United States. Already, back-to-school is off the shelf, and holiday-themed items are everywhere in retail stores. It's time to get your stuff together and make the most of the holiday selling season. There are a lot of steps that you need to take to prepare for this important time of year. For many artisans, it is their main selling season! 

The steps include:

• booking your events, lodging, and travel
• getting your inventory in order
• marketing the events
• ordering packaging
• display booth management

Displaying your work well is critical to drawing people into your craft show booth. If potential customers don’t walk into your booth, you can’t make a sale. Many artists lose sight of this and rely on their work alone to do the heavy lifting. The last few shows I attended had some great examples of this.

Visiting the Celtic Classic in Bethlehem, PA recently, two booths stood out for their marketing efforts. One for presentation and the other for graphics.

As more and more people turn to buying products online instead of in stores, eCommerce sites are booming with business and companies selling products online have gained a definitive edge. In order for your products to sell well, however, you have to do more than simply offer them online. Regardless of your industry, clients will have a sea of choices to wade through when making their online purchases. Excellent product descriptions will make your company's products stand out. These five tips will show you how to write product descriptions that will bring about the client conversion you want and grow your products' popularity and credibility.

Nothing says fall in North Carolina like pumpkins, apples, and foliage. It's such a unique period of the year that many people all around the state and beyond like to celebrate. And what better way to say hello to the new season than by attending an outdoor festival? Well, if you happen to reside in North Carolina or are just around it in time for fall, you're going to like hearing what we're going to say next. It doesn't matter if you're looking for apple cider, pumpkin butter, or just a plate of otherworldly barbecue; there are lots of events to explore around the Tar Heel State that provide all of these options and more. With that said, we bring you the list of the best fall festivals to visit in North Carolina.

#1 Yadkin Valley Pumpkin Festival

The first festival we will talk about is the famous Yadkin Valley Pumpkin Festival. Held in a charming little town named Elkin, located approximately an hour from Winston Salem and Charlotte, this event draws thousands of visitors to Elkin's main street.

If you’re a part-time artist or crafter that wants to expand your side hustle into a full-scale business venture, look no further! Though there’s nothing wrong with leaving your craft as a passion and not monetizing it, there are certainly ways to get your work out in the world on a larger scale. Here are some of our best tips for getting exposure and scaling your business.

Find the Right Digital Space to Sell

Depending on your art medium or creative venture, the platform online that you sell your products on may be different. You should explore the use of a digital marketplace when putting your art out in the world! Whether you use FestivalNet's online platform or a larger-scale marketplace like Etsy or Redbubble to sell, you’ll want to compare what portion each site will take out of your sales.

Sell more of your work by talking about what matters most to your customer.

When I first started the art festival guide I had a somewhat clear organization and, once I decided on the main points to cover, I kept to my outline more or less faithfully. During the course of art festivals, I would think of bits and pieces and almost all of them fit neatly into my chapters...almost. Another phenomenon that occurs in art festivals is that some of us get a lot of visits from artists that want to entertain the idea of embarking upon the art festival adventure.

As you plan your digital promotion strategy, one thing to think about is whether contextual content can help connect audiences closer to your music. You can use your own social channels to create a content universe — articles, videos, social posts, and other interactive elements — to drive an emotional connection between your songwriting and your listeners.

Here are a few tips for crafting compelling stories to accompany and provide context for your music, online or otherwise.

As a food truck owner, you embrace the challenge of driving from town to town and setting up shop for the day. Your unique type of business gives you the opportunity to increase your market and gain new customers along the way.

Because you have the ability to interact and serve a diverse group of people, it's best you make sure your marketing plan is on point. In case it needs some work, or if you want more ideas, we put together four food truck marketing tips that are easy to implement.