CHAPTER EIGHT

BOOTH BUILDING EXAMPLES

The following are some illustrated example of how materials might be used to create your own Faire booth. These are all based on a 8 foot by 8 foot booth space and are only meant to suggest techniques you could use in designing and building your own unique booth. These are also far from the limits of what is possible, so feel free to play and come up with something that will set you and your wares apart from those around you, and yet fit within the overall theme of the event.

Twigs & Branches

This booth is constructed using only large branches, twigs, and poles. The booth is very open with only fabric for a roof and as a view block on the lower rail. Banners and flags decorate the booth as well as a string of colored rags tied along the front edge. This is the sort of booth a traveling crafts person would build and does not include a back space or place to lock away their products. This is a very portable design, but will require you to rope it together each time you do an event. I have seen crafts people arrive with nothing more then a pickup filled with poles and branches and miraculously erect a fantastic booth from scratch. I have to admit that I am not that brave, but I have seen it done to great effect.

FABRIC as a CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL

The cheapest building material by far for creating your booth or building is Fabric. Unless you are located in a particularly windy area (you don’t want your booth to become a kite), fabric is relatively inexpensive, is easily transported, and does a fabulous job of defining the walls of a structure, hiding areas of your booth you don’t want people to see or go into, and is great for roofs, awnings, and shade while still allowing light to get into your booth. Many Faires insist that all fabric used in booth construction be certified fireproof before the event opens. This can be accomplished by using pre-fireproofed material, having your fabric fireproofed and certified prior to construction, or some Faires will fireproof your booth for you, for a fee. If you are worried about being around toxic chemicals be sure to research what is being used to fireproof anything in your booth so that you are more educated about what is and is not safe.

No matter what you do to them, bed sheets look like bed sheets

When having to create booth walls, roofs, or awnings of fabric it is tempting to use something cheap and readily available, the obvious choice is to resort to used bed sheets. Although I have seen these used on countless booths, I have to say there is just something about them that cries out “BED SHEETS”! It may be the lightweight material, the color, or perhaps the types of patterns that customarily appear on them, but bed sheets actually defeat the look of a sturdy Faire booth and broadcast a lack of quality that will only cheapen the appearance of your wares.

THRESHOLDS & ARCHWAYS

 

While you are designing the layout of your Faire you need to keep an eye one on what the experience will be on the ground. Your audience is going to be navigating your labyrinth of booths and stages and always quietly asking themselves, “Where am I, and what is my relationship to this place?” Any opportunity that you have to help them get their bearings will make the experience more pleasurable for them. We have more fun when we feel safe and can relate to our surroundings, and always feeling lost is not fun at all. Best of all, once your audience understands where they are the more they will “own” the Faire and feel at home within it. One very powerful way to help people relate to your Faire site is to create thresholds, archways, and doorways, at each point where there is a thematic or geographic change. If I now that going under the banner labeled “Traders Market” will mean I am now in Traders Market then I can relate to both the theme and its relationship to the other areas of the Faire. If Traders Market is where your guests can find crafts and food from exotic places, they will find it easier to rediscover those wares and edibles if they wish to return.

RAG ROPE

Assuming you can tie things to or suspend thing from a nearby tree (not all sites will allow this), think of ways to festoon this natural element, like a Christmas tree, with your products, décor, or just fanciful baubles. One very effective decoration is the use of “Rag Rope”. This consists of a natural looking hemp rope with brightly colored torn rags tided and hanging from it in intervals of 1 foot or so. Alternating the colors creates a festive effect that can be draped in and among the branches or be suspended between your booth a the tree. Similarly, multi-colored pennants work well, although they can look a little like a modern day used car lot if they look too new, so use with caution. Also prayer flats are very nice, but only use if there is some reason your wares have some close connection to Tibet, otherwise avoid using them. An international district or world marketplace area of the Faire could be enhanced by the use of prayer flags, as would many eastern mystics booths, but few other places are appropriate. Another variation of the Rag Rope are Rag Hoops… like the rope, “Rag Hoops” are just like they sound, a round wooden hoop, roughly the size of a Hoola-Hoop, with colorful rags tied at intervals, also suspended from tree branches look fantastic and greatly enhance the overall look of a Faire.