If you are ever leisurely driving through South Carolina during the first week of September, you may want to stop for a spell within the little town of Aiken, just a tad past North Augusta and about 3 hours north of Atlanta. Aiken host an annual downtown festival called Aiken’s Makin, where about 200 craftspeople and vendors gather to show their handmade arts and crafts to the public. Aiken’s Makin is indeed one of the most well-run festivals in the Southeast– very organized volunteers and officials, very open and responsive to feedback, and totally dialed in to the needs of their attendees and their vendors. As a vendor, you go into the downtown Aiken Chamber of Commerce, and all of the info regarding the show and vendor setup is laid out in an extremely organized fashion. On Thursday, there were about 150 vendors lined up to receive their credentials for the show, the chamber opened up(on time) at 6pm, and in about 15 minutes, the vendors received their credentials, map, parking pass, show publication and were out the door! Now that process is spectacular-I wish other Southeastern craft shows would take a page out of Aiken’s book. Very friendly people in Aiken and the surrounding towns, very loyal to returning crafts people, and…(whisper) lots of disposable income! Aiken seems to have a well established middle to upper class strata here, housing one of the largest equestrian facilities in the U.S. The festival is held on Friday and Saturday, but if you are a vendor, it is well worth the time to begin setting up on Thursday evening after 6pm. In 2007 at our first show in Aiken, we made the rookie mistake of trying to start our setup process on Friday morning, and buyers were already there at 7:30 am, with checks in hand and ready to spend-we weren’t prepared. Many craft shows that we have attended were usually pretty slow on Fridays, because people are usually at work and the kids in school, but this doesn’t apply in Aiken. This show has been going on for over 30 years, and people throughout South Carolina, Georgia, and the surrounding states mark this date on their calendar so they can attend this show. As a crafter, bring plenty of inventory and get some rest, because the action is hot and heavy on Friday and Saturday. The application process starts early in the year, so google ‘Aiken’s Makin’ and link to their chamber of commerce so that you can get your application submitted early. Aiken is a great setting for a craft show, with a wide variety of wood works, jewelry, fine arts, pottery, stained glassware, and many other kinds of specialties. Handmade crafts are have become en vogue again for the past several years, and Aiken serves both the artisans and the attendees to the show well. Again, Aiken is one of the première craft shows for those who travel the circuit in the South, and if you are unable to attend, you will be doing yourself and this slice of Americana a terrible disservice! Check out the short video under ‘Aiken’s Makin’ on the Local Merchants Page at
