How to promote a vendor show

1. Start early, and build up

• Shoppers mostly hear from people they know. Word of mouth comes first in every survey we found:
  • 33% at 24 New Hampshire farmers markets, with road signs next at 23% (UNH Cooperative Extension, 2012).
  • "By a wide margin, recommendation from friend or family" at 72 Minnesota markets, then signs, social media and the market's website (Minnesota Grown, 2017).
  • 44% at Fayetteville, North Carolina's Holly Day Fair, a holiday craft fair, then a billboard at 15% and Facebook at 13%; newspaper, TV, radio and flyers were 3% or less each (2017).
  • 57% at the Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival in Alabama (2016).
  • At the Bath Christmas Market in England, 45% came because they'd been before, and social media brought 19% of first-timers (2024).
• So make your show easy to pass on: one post people can share, one link, signs they drive past, and a show worth coming back to.
• Start early. At our own shows, we put the whole year's events on the calendar in January, Facebook events included. Washington State University's timeline: a save-the-date and community calendars 4 to 6 weeks out, posters, a press release and social media 3 to 4 weeks out, and a final reminder in the last week or two. The American Library Association's: weekly papers and community calendars 4 weeks out, daily papers 3 weeks out, and a call to editors the day before. Most hosts start promoting 6 to 8 weeks out (common practice).

2. The Facebook event

Facebook's own help pages, as of October 2026:

• Make it from your show's Page, so anyone can see and share it: "All events hosted by Pages are public."
• Get it right the first time. "Once you've created an event, you can't change the privacy settings," and the date and time "can be changed up to a couple of days before the event."
• Put in everything a shopper asks: the address, the hours, parking, whether there's admission (Meta's rules ask you to disclose "any actions or expenses required to attend"), and photos of your vendors' work.
• Add co-hosts: the venue's Page and any partners. "Only a Page can add another Page as a co-host," and co-hosts can invite people too. Ask them to share it.
• Post in the event every week until the show, and don't mass-invite: "Each person can send up to 500 invites per event," and "Events with large invite lists may be reported as spam."
• If you must call it off, cancel the event rather than deleting it. A cancelled event stays up, and people can still post in it; deleting it removes everything.
• No "share to win." Meta's rules: "Your promotion must not require or incentivize participants to share, repost, tag others."

3. Your vendors are your best advertising

• Every vendor's followers are shoppers you don't have yet. At our own shows, sharing isn't required, but it helps: many vendors have a following of their own.
• Make it easy: give each vendor a picture and a short post with the date and address, and their booth number once you've placed them.
• Feature one vendor at a time in the weeks before the show: a photo of their work, a few words and where to find them.
• On Instagram, make it a Collab post with the vendor: once they accept, it shows on their profile too, to their followers. "You can add up to 5 collaborators to your post." Ask vendors to share your posts to their Stories, which works when your account is public and allows resharing.

4. Local groups, Nextdoor and paid ads

• Local Facebook groups (community, buy-and-sell, moms' groups) reach shoppers near you, but each has its own rules: admins "might require approval before you can post," and may limit posts a day. Read the rules, ask the admin if you're not sure, and post once per group rather than again and again, which is what Meta's spam rules are about.
• Nextdoor: promotion "must be done from a free Business Page, not a personal neighbor account." Nonprofit and community events may be posted in the main feed "up to once a week," and group admins set their own rules.
• Paid ads are optional. At our own shows, they helped when we were starting out, and aren't needed now. If you try them, Meta suggests starting with at least $5 and running at least seven days. Boost the Facebook event itself, aim it at people within a few miles of the venue, and boost Instagram posts from a computer: in the iPhone app, Apple can add a 30% fee.

5. Free listings and the local news

At our own shows, local news outlets, the chamber of commerce and the town's event calendar all help, and most are free.

• Community calendars at newspapers, radio and TV: the Hawaii Tribune-Herald wants announcements "at least two (2) weeks prior," and says "publication is not guaranteed." KASU radio in Arkansas wants two weeks too, and lists free or charity events on air.
• Tourism, downtown and chamber calendars: Visit Indiana takes events up to 9 months ahead, and Visit Middleton, Wisconsin says three to four weeks before is best. The Bellows Falls Downtown Alliance in Vermont lists "craft fairs, vendor markets, pop-ups," and the Ellsworth, Wisconsin chamber takes "church fairs and bazaars" from anyone. Some chambers list only their members' events.
• If your show raises money for a cause, say so. Free listings often favor free and charity events.
• A press release: one page of 300 to 600 words, with who, what, when and where at the top (Stafford County, Virginia's guide), sent to local media at least 14 days before (University of Illinois Extension). Send it again the day before, and call the reporter (Wisconsin Historical Society).
• Google: a Business Profile can post an event that shows on Search and Maps, but a show in a rented hall usually can't have one of its own: a business "must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours." Ask your venue to post your show on its profile.

6. Signs and flyers

• Signs work. They came second after word of mouth at the New Hampshire markets, and in the top four in Minnesota. At our own shows, we put signs all over town in the week before the show.
• Know your city's rules. Almost everywhere, signs can't go in the public right of way, which "usually includes the sidewalk and utility meters and utility poles" (Prattville, Alabama), or on utility poles. How early they can go up varies: Phoenix allows event signs "no more than two (2) days prior" and wants them down a day after, with a permit; Poulsbo, Washington allows event banners 14 days before, and small off-site signs; Seattle's pole banners take an application 6 weeks ahead. Ask your city, and take every sign down right after the show.
• Flyers: libraries, coffee shops, grocery stores, churches and schools. Library boards usually need staff approval, and many take only non-commercial events: the Danvers, Massachusetts library posts flyers up to letter size for three weeks, and Reading, Pennsylvania's won't post "Commercial advertising." A school, church or charity show has the best chance.

7. Admission and the first shoppers in line

• Free or paid is your call. At our own shows, some events charge admission and some don't. Christmas Made in the South in Jacksonville charges adults $10 (children 12 and under free), the holiday market at the New York State Fairgrounds $8, and Madison, Wisconsin's HolidayFest $1. Round Rock, Texas's holiday bazaar is free, but asks shoppers to bring canned food for a children's hospital, which gives local news a reason to mention it.
• Swag bags for the first shoppers give people a reason to come early and tell friends. At our own shows, the first 20 shoppers get a swag bag. The Bloomington Handmade Market in Indiana gives the first 30 each day a bag of "goodies from the market's sponsors and vendors."
• Vendors and sponsors can fill them. Madison's HolidayFest asks each artist to donate a craft worth at least $15; SUNY Oswego's craft fair has a door prize every half hour from vendors' donations. A drawing that people pay to enter is a raffle, with its own rules: see Insurance, permits and sales tax.

8. Show week

• Signs go up, as your city allows.
• Post every day: a vendor, the map, parking, the weather, what's new this year.
• The day before, remind everyone in the event, and call the reporters you sent the release to.
• On the day, post when the doors open, and a photo of the line if there is one.
• Never promise vendors a crowd or sales. Tell them where you're advertising instead. How to host your first vendor show has what happened when one festival did.

9. See what worked

• Ask shoppers how they heard about the show. A poster board with a sticker for each answer is quick and works at the door (Oregon State University Extension's "dot surveys").
• See where your page's visits came from, and keep what worked for next year.
• Shoppers come back: at the Bath Christmas Market, a past visit was the biggest single reason people came. A good show is next year's advertising.

Mistakes to avoid

• Starting the week before. Calendars and the news need two to four weeks.
• Posting the same thing in a group again and again, or mass-inviting.
• "Share to win" giveaways, against Meta's rules.
• Signs on utility poles or in the right of way.
• Changing the date after you've started promoting.
• Promising vendors a crowd.