Vendor Handbook

Public hours

The fair is open to the public from:

Friday • 5-9pm
Saturday • 10am-5pm
Sunday • 10am-4pm

Vendor hours

The venue is open to vendors from:

Friday • 2-9pm (setup 2:30-5pm)
Saturday • 9:30-6pm (vendor party 5-6pm)
Sunday • 9:30-5pm (teardown 4-5pm)

Vendor party

Get to know your vendor-neighbours! Vendors are invited to stick around from 5-6pm on Saturday evening for some light snacks and a drink (alc or non-alc!). No pressure to stay if you’ve gotta run, but we’d love to have ya! It’s a great opportunity to chat, relax, and leisurely peruse everyone’s wonderful work without the crush of customers.

Load-in

• Load-in times: Vendors can load into the venue between 2-4:30pm on Friday afternoon. We ask that all vendors are set up by 4:45pm, before the doors open to the public at 5pm!

• Parking during load-in: Parking is very limited directly out front of the venue – there’s a small strip of free parking directly in front of the venue on the west side of Gateway Boulevard. For vendors using that parking area to load in, we ask that you park, bring all of your work to your designated space in the venue, then immediately move your vehicle out of that load-in zone before you begin setting up.

• To find your table: Please reference the table layout that we email to vendors ~1 week before the fair! Your table will also be labeled with your name. If you can’t find your table, check in with one of the organizers and they’ll help you out!

• Moving your stuff with ease: If you can swing it, a dolly/hand truck/wagon can help make your load-in process a more comfortable experience!

Load-out

• Load-out runs from 4-5pm on Sunday evening, immediately after the fair closes to the public.

• We ask that you only bring your vehicle around to the parking space in front of the building once you’re ready to load your vehicle.

• Before you leave the venue, please ensure you’ve disposed of any garbage at your table, and that you’ve followed organizers’ instructions on where to take your table and chairs.

Venue accessibility
The Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre is located at sidewalk level. There is a small amount of short-term parking available immediately out front of the venue. A sloped sidewalk curb is available just north of the venue.

The venue contains two rooms with vendors (the “small room” and the “big room”). Note that one section of the big room is raised and is accessible via a small number of stairs. There is also a ramp located at the back, right-hand side of the stage.

Washrooms
The venue includes accessible washrooms (note that they are gendered).

Food & drink
Food and drink for the Spring 2024 season will be provided by our pals at Sorellina . There is a free water fountain available on site. You’re also welcome to bring your own food and drink!

Wifi
Wifi in the venue is notoriously spotty! If you need an internet connection to run your point-of-sale system, we do not recommend using the venue wifi – a phone plan is a much safer bet!

ATM
An atm is available on site, but note that it does not distribute coins or small denomination bills.

Parking
Free and paid street parking, as well as paid lots, can be found throughout the Old Strathcona neighbourhood.

The large parking lot opposite the venue on the east side of Gateway Boulevard is free on Saturdays from 10am-3pm (expect it to be busy, as this coincides with the Strathcona Farmers’ Market hours). Outside of those hours, make sure to pay for your parking at the terminal within the lot to avoid a ticket.

Quiet & busy times
Friday night tends to be the craziest of the whole weekend, and Saturday around noon can get busy as well. Sunday morning from 10-11:30 and in the afternoon from 2-4 is often the most relaxed!

Available table space & floor space

• Tables are 4-, 6-, or 8-feet long and ~2.5 feet (30 inches) wide

• You may use wall racks provided they don’t impede on your neighbours’ movement through the aisles

• Vendors with wall space will have roughly 3’ of space behind their table to work with. Keep in mind that your aisle neighbours may need to move through this space in order to enter/exit your shared row!

• Vendors without wall space will have ~2’ of space behind their table, as part of an aisle shared with the vendors behind them. The aisles are pretty cozy, so please keep your booth contained within your table space!

What we supply/what you should bring

• We supply the tables and chairs, you bring everything else for your setup

• Don’t forget some kind of tablecloth/table covering – most of the tables look ROUGH

• If you have a standalone setup that does not require a table, please let us know ASAP and we won’t order a table for you

Sharing your booth

• Unless you’ve applied and been accepted as a collective, we do not allow vendors to share their table with vendors who haven’t been selected for the fair and/or to bring in work by outside vendors, as this jumps the queue of waitlisted vendors. If you’ve worked on a collab with an outside vendor and want to see if it’s OK to bring that work to the fair, just shoot us an email!

• You are welcome to bring a helper along to help sell your stuff, watch your table when you need a break, etc.!

Power access

• There are a limited number of power outlets available in the venue. If you require power access to run your booth, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate!

Can I request a specific table space (e.g., next to my BFF, away from scents, in a particular room, etc.)?

Yes! We will contact all vendors to get a sense of seating preferences about a month before the fair. The table layout is always a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, but we do our best to accommodate your requests!

How should I take payment from customers?

• These days, most customers pay by card, but cash still pops up now and again! If you can swing it, we recommend coming prepared to accept both. If you’re not set up with a card reader, the point-of-sale devices offered by Square are generally quite reliable and affordable.

• If you would prefer to not accept payments by card, you can direct cashless customers to the on-site ATM (which, heads up, does charge a small transaction fee).

Do I need to bring a float?

• It’s up to you how you accept payment, but we do recommend keeping a small float on hand made up of denominations of bills and coins that will make it easy for you to make change.

How much should I make?

If only we knew!

Where can I find packaging, tape, etc.?

• For small amounts of packaging materials, consider calling up The Paint Spot, Eddies, Staples, or Delta Fine Art to see if they have what you need!

• Uline generally offers the lowest per-unit prices on a lot of packaging supplies, but you typically have to order in bulk.

Totebag giveaways
Before the fair opens to the public on Friday evening, organizers will go around asking vendors to contribute to the giveaway tote bags (which go to the first 10 people in line, and the one contest winner). Please know that there is NO PRESSURE whatsoever to donate your work, but this can be a great way to get rid of old stock, odds and ends, or anything that’s just been kicking around for a while!

Social media
The fair largely depends on YOU sharing the word of OddBird, and spreading the love on social media! Tag us in your behind-the-scenes photos and reels, make sure to like and share our posts, and do your best to engage with our content! We know this can feel like a bit of a slog at times, but let’s all do our best to get the algorithm working in our favour.