Indio Tamale Festival

Indio Tamale Festival
Indio Tamale Festival, Indio, CA Dates: Saturday and Sunday, December 3-4, 2011 (Always the 1st weekend in December!)
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
Location: Downtown Indio The Festival is between Highway 111 and Indio Boulevard and fills-in the streets of Miles, Towne, Smurr & Requa.
Weather: 79 Degrees, Sunny Days; 40 Degrees, Cool Evenings

IMPORTANT: I have written a book about our experiences selling at Street Fairs, festivals, A&C Shows, fairs, flea markets. I know that you will really find reading it quite enjoyable and you'll be able to relate to a lot of things that I describe. Having to endure 71 mph winds, heavy rains, floods, lying and cheating promoters. You'll love it. Only $14.95. Street Fairs for profit, fun and madness



It all started in 1992 with an idea by Dave Hernandez, a member of the Downtown Indio Merch
ants Association. The rich heritage of the tamale, consistent community support and hard working tamale makers have created the festival's tremendous success. Recently, the Food Network-TV ranked the Indio International Tamale Festival in the top 10 "All-American Food Festivals" in the nation!Festival's Guinness World Records: The World's largest Tamale-over 1 foot in diameter and 40 feet in length, Dec. 4, 1999. The World's largest tamale festival-with 120,000 in attendance, Dec. 2-3, 2000.The weather is pretty good in Indio this time of year, but nights are a little cooler. Booths are spread along several streets. Lots of tamales and they all sell for the same price. Booth fees are a bit high and overpriced. Commercial goes for $475 and if you are staying in a motel, your expenses end up quite high. Very risky for this economy. Arts and Crafts spaces go for $475

CHAPTER 5    Tough Times at South Lake Tahoe

Wind, rain and snow in the Sierra’s in late May? You have got to be kidding me. Oh, lucky me.

It was Thursday, May 22, 2008 and we were on our way to South Lake Tahoe from the Bay Area for an Arts and Crafts show at Miller’s Y, located at the junction of Highways 50 and 89. 

Note:  Shows at Miller’s Y have been discontinued due to reconstruction in that area.  The property was sold and the new owners had the buildings demolished.

Highway 50 is the main highway stretching approximately 110 miles from Sacramento up to and through Lake Tahoe. This picturesque road climbs in elevation to around 8,000 feet at the summit.

As we were driving up Highway 50, we approached the community of Cameron Park and began to climb in altitude.  I was in the right hand lane of the highway and there was a large semi-truck in front of me struggling to make it up the hill.  Traffic was light and there were no vehicles on the left side of me, so I turned on my signal and began moving over.  But just as I began passing the slow moving truck,  a huge sheet of plywood suddenly appeared out of nowhere and came flying at us from the left side and smacked into the my van.  It caromed off the left front side and flew up and went completely over our van.  Unbelievable. We never saw where it came from.  I looked all around me and there were no other vehicles around, except for us and the truck.  Luckily it didn’t go through our windshield. It would be tough running around without a head.  My wife immediately looked up.  “What was that?” she asked me.  “I don’t know, it looked like a piece of plywood” I told her as I glanced over to the right side and looked into my side view mirror.  I could not see the board anyplace. Most certainly it didn’t come off the big rig since the container was fully enclosed. 

That was a very rough weekend in Lake Tahoe as we were vendors at an arts and crafts shiow there.  To read more about this and other adventures contained in my book Street Fairs for profit, fun and madness just click on the link.  You'll love it.

Whiskey Flat Days - Kernville, CA

54th Annual Whiskey Flat Days, Kernville, CA. Feb 13-16, 2009. website and vendor application info. One of the most popular Festivals in all of Southern California. A short 3 hour drive from Los Angeles to the Lake Isabella recreation area and the quaint town of Kernville (50 miles east of Bakersfield on Hwy 178). Whiskey Flat is a leap back to the good ol' wild west days when the area was settled by gold miners, cattle ranchers and trappers. Join us when Kernville reverts to its old name "Whiskey Flat" for four nostalgic days of fun for the entire family. I quoted this from their website.
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This event is not listed in Craftmaster's yet. I guess that they get around 50,000 visitors for the event. They have a really nice parade and other festivities. Great show if you can survive the drive through the Kern River Valley and if you can find an inexpensive motel room. Lots of curves. It snowed here 4 years ago and they often do get some rain, but not much. Kind of cold in he morning.

Please check my review of this past year's Whiskey Flat Days. Quite a large number of vendors do this event. They come from L.A., Bay Area, Modesto area, Sacramento and other places. Good crowds.

Starving Vendors - Page One! Features

Please visit Page One, the newest feature of our Starving Vendors website. Read the top headlines and stories relating to vendors, artists, issues, etc. along with appropiate links. Around the corner, around the world, around the clock, we bring you the important stuff you need to read.

We have loads of reviews from festivals that we have done along with relevant information for vendors. crafters, artists, etc.

Pages of event listings include European and Philippine Festivals, Flea Markets, etc,

Festivals of Texas

I just found a nicely designed website that lists events in Texas. It's called Festivals of Texas and breaks down into five areas of the state....North, East, Central, South and West. Describes event and provides contact numbers.

Good site if you are either a vendor or are looking for festivals in your area.Some of the shows included are: 12th ANNUAL SPRINGFEST WINE, ART & FOOD FESTIVAL, ROCKPORT’S CLAY EXPO, 63rd ANNUAL ST. PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATION (in Shamrock), LUBBOCK ARTS FESTIVAL, OILMAN’S CHILI COOK-OFF, 37th ANNUAL REDBUD FESTIVAL and a lot more.The have a page entitled 'searching for vendors' which comes in handy.

There are parts of the website under construction and I am sure that those sections will be every bit as impressive as the other area. Very nicely done.

For shows in California, please stop by my website www.starvingvendors.com for reviews, listings and loads of info on events we have done.

Parkes Elvis Festival

Welcome to the CountryLink Parkes Elvis Festival -Australia's Premier Elvis Event

On the second week in January every year, the town of Parkes in Central New South Wales comes alive to the sounds of hip-swiveliling Elvis Impersonators. http://www.parkeselvisfestival.com.au/

The 5 day Festival Program features a dazzling array of more than 120 individual events. Highlights of the 2009 Program will include the Mark Andrew Feature Concerts, the ever popular Elvis Gospel Church Service, the iconic Elvis Street Parade, the Crowning of Miss Priscilla, the Elvis Golf Day & Dinner, the Back to the Altar Wedding Ceremony and the inaugural Elvis Poets Breakfast.

Cooke Park comes alive on Saturday and Sunday with markets and non-stop entertainment on the main stage including Elvis tribute artists and competitions that the whole family can enjoy. Visit Elvis Central Store to buy your official festival merchandise along with some unique memorabilia items. With CountryLink providing fun all the way from Sydney to Parkes on the ‘CountryLink Elvis Express’ and Rex Airlines flying in the ‘Priscilla Plane’ the non-stop Elvis fun and entertainment will begin even before you arrive in town!

Become an Elvis Festival Fanatic (for FREE) and receive festival e-newsletters with exciting festival announcements and news. REGISTER NOW!

NEW!! ELVIS - BACK ON THE BIGSCREEN AT PARKES
Mojo Events & Promotions & BE Productions are pleased to announce, in conjunction with the Parkes Elvis Festival, the inaugural Flix in the Stix Outdoor Elvis Movie Screenings as part of the 2009 CountryLink Parkes Elvis Festival.

The giant 10m x 6.5m airscreen will be screening Elvis favourites such as Blue Hawaii, Viva Las Vegas and Elvis-That's the Way It Is. A special family screening of Kung Fu Panda will take place for families on Wednesday 7th January.

Bring a picnic and settle in under the stars.

Book early to avoid disappointment!

Download more information here. For a booking form click here.

Starving Vendors Website

We are constantly updating and improving The Starving Vendors website. Great source of information, especially for vendors. People think that selling products, Arts & Crafts as an easy occupation. Uh uh. No. Sometimes things go really great but a lot of times, some shows turn into nightmares....unwelcome trips to the twighlight zone. I have loads of reviews of shows that we have done over the past several years.

Do you ever go to a festival, etc., and see lots of people walking around enjoying themselves? But you really don't know what the vendors have to go through from the time they search out a show and send in an application until the time they close that door on the van, truck or whatever and drive away.

I have all kinds of information there....even pages about my favorite food, The Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich and much, much more. You have to see it to believe it. Awesome.