Street Fairs Come Alive for Mad Munch

When we decided to take the leap into setting up at one-day street fairs, the first one I booked was the RB Alive Expo.   It was the first week of June (several weeks before the OB Street Fair), it was on a Sunday, which was still open for us & their website said that it attracted around 55,000 people.  

So, I went to work on a special grocery/checklist for what we needed to bring to sell there.  Here is that list:

As you can see, the fee was $375 to set up there- over ten times what we normally paid at a weekly farmers market.  Also, sunglasses & lawn chairs were not on this new checklist.

Kate went to work on making signs on poster board & a large print, condensed menu, built to crank out the Cheezers faster.  I set up the tent in our yard with the our brand new screen windows to make sure everything looked good.  After Golden Hill market that Saturday we each buttered bread for a couple hours until we had 30 loaves ready (enough for 300 cheezers).

RB or Rancho Bernardo was about a thirty minute drive north & we left around 8:30 so we could get there plenty early to be ready to sell from 10am-4pm.  

That's another thing about these once a year community fairs- driving, unloading & parking your vehicle can be confusing with all of the closed down streets.  Kate & I have gotten into arguments more over that part of setting up for an event than any other.

Our setup looked pretty good I think.

It was slow at first (typical on Sundays) but by lunch time we had a line.  My friend Bennett & his girlfriend, Bree, came down from San Marcos to grab some Cheezers.

"Wow, Zach looks like you finally got your shit together, man," he said & laughed.

"Yep, we're in the big leagues now, buddy," I said.  "You gotta pay to play here.  Not like those farmers markets, those are the minor leagues."

But, when all was said & done, we were back at OB market three days later selling "$1 Off" Cheezers because I over-estimated how many sandwiches we would sell at RB.  It was a tough lesson, but hey, it was our first street fair & a warm up for the OB Street Fair which boasted over 80,000 attendants.

Note: The Chicago Blackhawks jersey hanging in the back of the photo.  We rushed back to Sunshine Co. to catch the end of a Game Seven overtime loss to the LA Kings to win the Western Conference & play in the Stanley Cup Final.