Art Festival Madness?

Although I knew the economy was in a bad state I decided a few months back that I was going to take part in some local art festivals next summer. I have done Open Studios and a few small art festivals in the past and what I really enjoyed about doing them was the people contact. It's great being able to talk to people about the art and get feedback. This is something that doesn't happen when work is in a gallery. Last weekend, in preparation for next years festival season, I had a practice run at a very small new festival. It was very small, as I knew it would be, with very few patrons however it served it's purpose for me very well. After squeezing everything into two cars we arrived at the festival and managed to get the tent up along with the display walls. Everything worked and looked great. We met a couple of other artists who were also showing and they were really nice so it made for a pleasant day. Sales were bad for everyone but I did manage to break even and was lucky enought to win an honorable mention and cash award for one of my paintings. I now feel prepared for the larger shows next summer. Lets hope the economy picks up a bit by then.