For years my best show involved setting up at 5 A.M. It was in October and it didn't get light until after seven. We set up using headlamps. Once the tent was up and the inventory was inside we would walk several blocks to a nice breakfast place and take our time until it got light enough to actually see what we were doing and arrange the display . The show didn't open until 10 A.M. , but from then until 5 P.M. we rarely sat down or stopped selling. Sometimes there were lines into the booth. So early set up was worth it. Breakfast was a life saver.
This was a tough set up , but most of the time it just wasn't easy. There is plenty of noise and confusion. It pays to be congenial to those setting up around you. You are about to spend a long day with them. You will probably see them at other shows throughout the year.
And there are some surprises. One year at a show in a major downtown area , we found out that someone had failed to close the street to traffic. Cars were flying by the tents. I'm sure our expressions matched the ones we saw on the people in the cars. Many of the vendors were just wringing their hands or expressing disbelief. I was marching quickly to the show office . It took a few minutes to get a barricade up , and before we did some brave souls simply went to the end of the street to redirect traffic.
And tearing down can be just as tough. Usually , everyone is tired. There is even more noise. Cars are coming in to get packed. It's worth thinking about packing up slowly and letting other people clear out first.
Basically , we are setting up a village , then tearing it all back down
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