The honest packing list for a first outdoor show, from canopy weights to change for a twenty.
Your first show is mostly logistics. The work is already made. What decides whether the day goes smoothly is whether you brought a chair, whether your canopy stayed put in the wind, and whether you could make change for a twenty. Here is the honest list, roughly in the order you will need it.
Nearly every outdoor show expects a 10x10 canopy, and a lot of them require it in white. Straight-leg canopies give you more usable space underneath than slant-leg ones. Check your acceptance email before you buy any color other than white.
Weights are not optional. Most outdoor shows will not let you set up without them, and the ones that would let you should not. Plan on roughly 25 pounds per leg, more in an open field or a parking lot. Purpose-made weight bags work, so do four buckets of concrete. Stakes are useless on asphalt, and a canopy that lifts becomes somebody else’s problem very fast.
A 6-foot folding table is the standard. A 4-foot is easier to carry if your booth is small or your work is little. A fitted cloth that reaches the floor does two jobs: it looks finished, and it hides the bins underneath. Pick a color that does not fight your work. Black and white are safe, a busy pattern is not.
Bring a chair. A folding camp chair with a back is worth the trunk space. You will stand for most of the day anyway, but a ten-hour show without a chair is punishing. Do stand up when someone walks in. Sitting behind the table reads as closed.
Two signs earn their keep: your business name, big enough to read from the middle of the aisle, and your prices. Price everything. Shoppers who have to ask usually do not ask, they walk. Tags, tent cards or a printed list all work. What matters is that a browsing person can work out the cost without talking to you.
A small sign listing which payment methods you take saves a hundred conversations.
Bags for whatever you sell, tissue or bubble wrap for anything breakable, and a roll of tape. Business cards or a QR code to your shop, so a sale today can turn into an order in February.
If you sell anything wearable, bring a mirror. Earrings and necklaces sell noticeably better when people can see them on.
Rules vary by state and often by city, so check your own state’s requirements rather than trusting what another vendor tells you in the aisle. In general there are three things to look into. Whether your state requires a sales tax permit to sell at a temporary event. Whether the city or county wants a temporary vendor license. And how the show itself handles tax reporting, since some organizers collect a form and most do not. Your state department of revenue or taxation website is the right place to start, and the show organizer can usually tell you what past vendors needed.
Pack in stackable lidded bins, not cardboard boxes. Bins survive rain and stack in a car. Label them so you are not hunting for the tablecloth in the dark. Arrive earlier than you think you need to. A first load-in always takes twice as long as the second one.
Grid walls, professional lighting, a printed banner, custom shelving, a second table. All useful eventually, none of it required to have a good first show. Get through one show, notice what you wished you had, then buy that one thing.