Well, people.  Show is over.  I'd like to hear how it was for you.  If you were a vendor there, did you show a decent profit.  Was it worth it?  Treated fairly?  Will you be coming back next year.   comments@starvingvendors.com.

I'll bet you are wondering if it's going to rain? YES. We are going to get rain on Friday and Saturday. Going to get wet. Hopefully the winds will not pick up. Good luck. Be sure to bring your raincoats, etc. and if you go, please buy something from the vendors and not just food, okay.  They are sitting out there in their canopies freezing their butts off in this bad weather and need something for their efforts.  Don't just run over to the carnival area.  Don't forget to pick up your Lockeford Sausage.  Best deal around.  I have been eating them for years.  Very long, both ends sticking out of the large rolls and smothered with sauerkraut.  Mmmmm.  I think that they are still only five bucks.  Scroll down to read my godforsaken review of the hideous 2008 festival which ran me away from this show for many years to come.

A WORD OF ADVICE.  We have a lot of people reading this.  I really suggest to the promoter's to move this event to another month.  People are paying good money to sell here and you are cheating them by having the event during a very rainy time-period.  Changing it is not going to do anything to the Almond Blossom's but it will make a world of difference to the vendor's.  Or at least, drop the booth fees to $150.  The last week of March of third week of April would be fine.
RainRainRainRainRainRainRainRainRain

Almond Blossom Festival
Feb 26-28, 2010   Ripon, CA
IMPORTANT:  Be sure to check out our vendor forum and hear what other's have to say about their shows, etc.  Please let me know how you did in this event.  I'll post it on this page.   show_review@starvingvendors.com

 Weather forecast:  Looks like rain the whole weekend.  Stay tuned
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HOT NEWS. Have you heard about 21 vendors booths being broken into at the Whiskey Flats Days in Kernville?
Have something to say about Ripon or anything else?  Tell me about it.
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UPDATE for 2010: 
(Jan 29)  I understand that the food booths have been moved over and there shall be vendors located between there and the carnival.  Excellent.  Only problem is the traffic flow if you are located behind the food booths.  Need to work that out.  I do believe that there are still booths available but these one's will be located BEHIND the food.  Good luck people.  I am not selling at the event because it is way too expensive for a February show.  Booth fees should be one-half of what they are charging.

There really aren't too many shows around to do this time of the year in February and a large number of vendors feel that they don't have a choice and are pretty much 'forced' to do this event for the sake of making a little money.  Promoter's know that and this is the main reason they are sticking it to you with such high booth fees.  I hope you all have a good show here this time around but I myself, am skeptical.  After having seen canopies flying all over the place at the old location, I just don't to deal with mother nature especially in such a wide-open area.    And of course, I had two canopies topple over with everything laying on the ground in Tyson Wells on January 21 from 71mph winds and heavy rains.


(Jan 17, 2010 update) This year's Ripon Almond Blossom Festival will be from Feb 26-28, 2010.  I highly recommend that you stay away from this event.  You know, I am still so pissed off at Dorothy for not allowing us to bring our vehicle down the street  to park and load our stuff up on Sunday morning because it was raining.  THERE WERE NO CARS PARKED IN THOSE 7-8 SPACES. THEY WERE NOT PAINTED AS HANDICAPPED.  Just Dorothy being Dorothy.  You can read about the encounter below in detail.  I am still pissed off after two years over this because she made such a big deal over it.  It was raining and she was forcing us to carry our stuff a block in the pouring rain to our vehicle.  We closed up our booth and went to see some friends.   You are the genuine article.  You messed with people when you had the show downtown and treated a number of people very poorly as you bossed them around.      You really mistreated us and I hope everybody sees just how bad your event is.  You've got the booths located at a ball field now and they are positioned away from the food and carnival areas.  How in the hell is anybody going to make any money.  So there you are; we know have this review at the top of google searches for everybody to see how mean you were to people.  Vendors:  Stay away from this show.  You will be kicking yourself in the butt for doing it.

If you don't believe me, go ahead and read what others have to say in Craftmaster News.
http://www.craftmasternews.com/shows.aspx


The weather wasn't as bad as advertised in double-0-9.  However, foot traffic was poor in the vendor area and this needs to be addressed.  There is a carnival area on the side of the event with the food between the vendors and that area.  Thus, people were just hanging in that space and not bothering to visit the starving vendors.  Recommendation:  itsnay-ootsnay.  I don't know how to spell it and it definitely doesn't spell 'relief.'  This is an expensive show for the month of February and vendors deserve to have traffic routed through them.   I didn't do the show in 2009 because I felt it was a bad show.  Unless there are remarkable changes and a serious swing in the economy, I'd stay the hell away.  That's my two cents worth - where are you going to get the other $349.98 worth?  You know, I dropped by the event in 2009 and checked it out while on my way to Marysville.  They were granted a reprieve on the weather, which can be rainy, windy and cold in late February.  This event is in an open ballfield with no buildings or trees around to block the wind which can swoop down and play havoc with the event.  Beware, okay? Don't believe me?  Check out their review in Craftmasternews.  Nobody rated it from 2009 but people had very little nice things to say about it in 2008
 
For weather reports, you can check weather.com, AccuWeather and  Weather Underground

First of all, let me mention that this event now has a new location, Mistlin Sports Park, 1201 River Road. I am glad to hear this and I hope that vendors do better at this location.  We shall see.  However, for a February event, it's too high-priced for me.   This had been held at the Community Center and the adjacent ballfield and that was disastrous.   Let's all hope that the new location works out for everybody.  So, let's read about the misadventures at last year's event.  For more 'official' information on the event, click on the link at the bottom of this page.  I'd like for you to read my review before you leave the website. 


Almond Blossom Festival
Feb 23-24, 2008   Ripon, CA
 A SHOW WITH LOADS OF PROBLEMS 

In some ways, this is a nice community festival but there are so many issues involved with it.  Being held in February you'll always have to deal with the weather, which isn't always a pretty sight this time of year in Upper-middle California.  I hadn't done this show in several years, but now I am starting to see why.

 

I have a problem (as do other vendors) with paying $385 for a 10x10 space at this show this time of year.  The weather is always highly questionable and this is not a quality show.  People in this area obviously do not have huge sums of money also.  This show extends into the evening hours, ending at 9:00PM Friday and Saturday night and since there is a carnival, which usually draws larger crowds, that is understandable. 

 

Now, you are charging $385 for a booth space and since it gets dark just after 5:30-6:00, it's advisable for booths to have lighting and electrical connections should be provided free of charge, since it is pretty much a necessity.  But it is not.  You must pay no less than $65 to be provided with it and they will pull the plug on you and snuff out your life if you don't.  With such a high booth fee, I must re-iterate that electrical HAS to be provided 'free of charge' and not at the rate of what comes to $10.00 per hour (at least).  Ten dollars per hour people....think about it!!!

 

Another issue that I have is the amount of money they are forcing vendors to pay for liability insurance.  Fortunately, I have my own.  But a good number of vendors are extorted into paying.  I do believe that this $100 seems to be the standard norm for a number of shows.  But once again, you are charging vendors $385 and FORCING THESE ADDED FEES onto us.  I don't pay these and I have no intentions of ever writing a check for these ridiculous amounts.  The Chamber of Commerce purchases a 'blanket policy' for a sum much less than the total composite they receive from the amount they charge for insurance.

 

In past years, there have been quite a few more vendors than I see at this show.  Don't know the exact reason why.  I had a more satisfactory booth location this year, as I had been out on the ball field in past years.  In the past, the booths had been tightly packed together and not utilizing more of the grassy area stretching beyond the infield.  I have a thing about events being staged in parks, etc., where for some reason, you want to pack the booths in tightly together.  I really think that is poor planning and being inconsiderate to the vendors.  However, as I stated, not as many vendors this year and the booths pretty much have ample space.

 

Truly a terrible, terrible, terrible event.  Where do I begin? This could be a very nice community festival but there are so many issues involved with it. Being held in February you'll always have to deal with the weather, which isn't always a pretty sight this time of year in Upper-middle California. I hadn't done this show in several years, but now I am starting to see why.

 

The people running the show were a bit picky and bothersome at times and it was a nuisance having to listen to them. The weather was terrible on Sunday afternoon and I attempted to bring my van down the street and park behind my booth to load up at 1:00PM. By this time 37 vendors had already left. The police would not let me in and neither would Dorothy the person in charge. They told me that I HAD TO WAIT UNTIL 5:00 TO COME IN because that's when the show ended, Well, it's not like I'm trying to drive on to the property itself. I'm only trying to park in the street and they refused to let me do it, Dorothy yelled at me and told me "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO". Those were her actual words, believe it or not. So, after that, I closed up my booth and left town for a couple hours. Maybe 10 people walking around.

 

The weather for this event was terrible, but could have been worse. it didn't rain as much was anticipated and it was a bit windy and cool. A decent parade on Saturday and a decent crowd turned out. But of course, they were mostly only buying food and the kids were going on the carnival rides. Not a hell of a lot being spent on the vendors and I guess we all were pretty much invisible. Economy is bad of course and people just not buying. This could be a very nice event...most of the people are enjoyable and other vendors are quite friendly. But we are all human and we are all trying to make a living. Some are a bit better off than others, but we need people to buy our products. We do not need to pay for all these booth-add-ons because this is cutting into our profit margins dramatically and really hurts. The Chamber (and certain other promoters) are trying to drain every last cent out of us. There are a number of vendors quitting because of all the expenses involved and the fact that the economy is so bad. You know, I talk to a lot of fellow vendors and they all have stories to tell about how high these fees are,. But there are very few that will ever make a complaint about the problem. The promoter's answer always is 'Well, you don't have to do the show if you think the fees are too high, etc.'. Well....helloooooooo. Damm...fees just keep going higher and higher as they get more greedy, Where and when will it stop?

　

So, my fellow vendors. They are talking about changing the location and the week that the show is held. I am highly recommending to you NOT TO EVER DO THIS EVENT. They are gouging the vendors with add-on charges. it costs $385 for a booth and I would say that this is a $150 event. It always rains here, so you do get screwed out of a day or even two,. If you don't have carnival related stuff, you most likely will not do good anyway, The charge for insurance and electricity is SHAMEFUL. Imagine...you are being charged $385 for a booth fee and THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE ELECTRICITY, I did speak to a lot of vendors at this event and they WILL NEVER COME BACK HERE. We are treated terribly and we don't need crapola like the Chamber of Commerce dishes out, THEY ARE A BUNCH OF RIP OFFS. NEED TO NAME THIS PLACE RIPOLA and not Ripon....close. The name really does fit this town anyways, They weren't kidding when they called this place RIPON. They are Rippon you off left and right, Certain people here had certain privileges and I don't like that. Like I told them, I'm sorry but I don't know the secret hand-sign.

click here to read Manteca Bulletin on festival

show schedule