GENERAL

Download resources:

WELCOME!

Your presence at this year’s Art-in-the-Park is very much appreciated. Thank you for participating in our show.  We look forward to seeing you on August 5th!
LOCATION
Please take a moment to check your booth number and location. Booth numbers can be found here: http://artintheparkoakville.com/Participating_Artists.html
Booth layout Map: http://artintheparkoakville.com/Booth_Layout_Map.html

There are no bad booth numbers! Traditionally, visitors will check out all of the artists’ booths.

SET-UP 
This year as usual, in order to minimize congestion, there will be two arrival time slots.  Congestion during set-up has been a major complaint from many exhibitors for several years.  Also the Town of Oakville insists that no visitors can be on the field while there are cars on it.  For safety reasons, the Town requires a half-hour separation between visitors and cars.

 

Booth numbers 30 to 75 - please remember to use the east entrance upon arrival - that is the entrance closest to the Banquet hall.

Arrival times will be strictly enforced.  If you arrive before your time-slot you will be denied entrance to the field.  You will be required to leave the queue and return at your correct time.  (Exception: If you park your car and hand-truck your stuff onto the field you may set up at any time between 6:30 and 9:30am)

 PARKING

• Especially for Art in the Park, the Town of Oakville has granted us all-day free parking on all streets in Bronte Village south of Lakeshore Road, between Bronte Road and East Street on August 5
• No permits will be required.  This means that if the parking lots on the south-side of Ontario Street get filled-up (or are blocked-off for a Harbour Centre function, as one was last year) there will still be plenty of stress-free parking for exhibitors close-by.

The rule of 
(a) unload your car
(b) park it
(c) then return to set-up your booth
will be strictly enforced.  We will have a crew of volunteers available during set-up to assist you.  Our goal is to get cars off the field as quickly as possible. 

STAKING

• The Town of Oakville has recently banned all staking in Town parks.  This means that exhibitors must use weights to hold down their tents.
• Exhibitors who do not own tent weights, can rent them from Higgins rental  or can use any heavy weight such as large filled water jugs. Water jugs are lightweight when transported empty and can be filled on site.
• Remember, Bronte Waterfront Park is a windy place! See page 35 of the Town of Oakville Special Event User Guide for more detail:  http://www.oakville.ca/assets/general%20-%20culture%20recreation/FBSpecialEventUserGuide.pdf. 

NOTE:  EXHIBITORS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVIDING WEIGHTS FOR THEIR OWN TENTS.  SPARE WEIGHTS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AT THE EVENT THIS YEAR SO PLEASE ENSURE YOU MAKE THE NECESSARY ARRANGEMENTS TO PROPERLY SECURE YOUR TENT.

• The grass may be damp.  You are strongly advised to use a tarp as a carpet to protect your art during set-up and tear-down.
• To keep lanes free, exhibitors are required to park parallel to and tight to their booth location during set-up.
• To streamline check-in, you are encouraged to make a sign with your booth number on it and then display it visibly on your dashboard/windscreen.  (A magic marker and big numbers on a sheet of typing paper will do.)  If you are unsure of your booth number, please double check it on our website and have it available when you check in (http://artintheparkoakville.com/participating_artists.html).
• Also to streamline check-in, there will be only one check point.  You will not receive your welcome package at check-in.  After you have unloaded your car and parked it, please pick up your welcome package at the Art Society’s information booth located close to the main entrance. 
• Your welcome package will include a rubber identification bracelet which will allow you to exit and re-enter the field free of charge. Please note: failure to display the bracelet may mean you will have to pay the regular admission fee at the gate to re-enter the park.
• Notwithstanding the above streamlining measures, there will be congestion and there will be delays.  You are advised to allow for at least a 15-minute delay in getting onto the field.
• The fence will be a 6-foot high metal Modu-Loc fence.  It will not be possible for those with booths on the periphery to park outside the field and unload/load over the fence (as some have been able to do in prior years).  

EXHIBITOR CARE

• Oakville Art Society volunteers will be recognizable by their red aprons.  Please do not hesitate to ask any of us for help.  If none of us are immediately close by, you can always find one of us at the Society’s information booth.  We are on hand to help make this a successful day for you.  
• Should you need someone to spell you while you visit the toilet or get food from the catering area, we’re here to help.  There will be volunteers committed to this service throughout the day.  However, we can only offer short-term booth-sitting relief - 15 minutes at the most.  We will keep an eye on your booth and recommend that interested patrons come back in 15 minutes.  We cannot sell your art or process transactions. 
• Between booth-sitting assignments our volunteers will circulate the field, offering assistance. 
• There are portable toilets just outside the east entrance. In addition, there are public toilets (with proper plumbing and running water!) beyond the gazebo near the west entrance.
• The entire field is licensed.  Visitors will be free to wander with a beer or a (plastic) beaker of wine.

RENTALS 

• The Oakville Art Society is partnering again with Higgins Event Rentals, Oakville, as the preferred rental supplier for Art in the Park. Exhibitors at Art in the Park will be able to take advantage of specially negotiated rates for all of their rental needs, as well as a complete one-stop package to furnish their booth. To take advantage of this special offer, please contact Higgins directly to order your equipment. The Art in the Park specific link can be found below. .

  https://catalog.higginseventrentals.com/equipment.asp?action=category&category=113

  
  The OAS offers the information regarding Higgins rental as a courtesy only, we do not take responsibility for the rental arrangements , the set up of the Higgins tents or the accuracy of the orders: this is the responsibility of the artist and Higgins rental. If you are renting equipment you have the option to ensure the set up is correct on Sunday afternoon before the show, for 2 hours after deliveries and install are completed. Exact time to be provided closer to the date.

TEAR DOWN AND CLEAN UP

• We will issue a show-closing warning at 4.30pm and we will usher visitors off the field at 5pm.  You may begin packing-up your booths at 4.30pm, but no cars will be allowed onto the field until 5.30 pm.
• Cars entering the field at tear-down must do so at the west entrance.
• We would be very grateful if you can check your area and remove any garbage before you go.  Once the field is clear we have to pick up remaining rubbish and anything you can do to minimize this chore would be very much appreciated! 
• There will be garbage cans at both entrances and in the catering area. 
• To streamline everyone’s departure, please leave by the east exit only. 

EMERGENCIES 
There will be a St. John Ambulance team present at the show.  The ambulance will be parked near the west entrance.  For any medical emergency, please contact a volunteer or a member of the St. John Ambulance team directly.  

• For any other emergency, please contact a volunteer immediately.  We will call 911 if necessary.
• In the event of a thunderstorm, please leave the field for the shelter of a nearby building.  You should not shelter under trees.  Please wait for instruction from a volunteer before returning to the field.  The volunteers will keep an eye on the booths from the nearby Harbourfront building. You might want to bring a tarp to protect your artwork in case of heavy rains.
• Lost children should be taken to the Society information booth.  A volunteer will stay with them until their parents retrieve them.  Their presence in the booth will be announced from the PA system in the catering area.

FEEDBACK
As in prior years, we will be soliciting your feedback after the show.  We really do listen to you!  This year however, we will solicit your feedback via an online survey which, as well as seeking advice for improvements, will attempt to collect quantitative data – number of sales, total sales, price-points etc.  Everything you give us will be made anonymous but we see value in being able to play-back consolidated data to you.

Should you wish to give us immediate feedback during the day, we would be happy to hear it.  Some of us will circulate towards the end of the day to get an immediate sense of how the day has been for you. 
CONTACT US: 
eMail:                artintheparkoakville@gmail.com

 

ENJOY THE SHOW!