Frequently Asked Questions

About The Fair

About Participating

About The Fair

What is unique about this fair?

This fair is a partnership between the Town of Vernon and the holistic health community to educate the general public about the benefits of alternative and complementary options, what the different modalities offer and where to find them in our region. From the practitioners viewpoint it is an opportunity to reach a fresh audience.

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What happens to proceeds?

Proceeds go to the Vernon Youth Services Bureau, an agency of the town, for its programs. In the past this has included tuition for after school and summer programs, summer employment for youths, providing food baskets for needy families, supporting tuition for summer school, and supporting case management services for middle school aged youth.

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How many attendees do you expect?

This is the one variable we can’t control. This is our seventh fair so we have a good idea of where our advertising is most effective. We have experimented with different times of the year and late March or early April (depending on when Easter falls) seems to work the best as spring sports have not really started, and the likelihood of a snow storm is low. At our 2013 fair we were delighted to have about 800 attendees each day or 1,700 for the weekend including our exhibitors.

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Will there be food available?

In 2013 we added a Café in a separate room just beyond the gym. Our food vendors will again be Monet’s Table and R House Restaurant. There is plenty of room for tables and a place to rest and relax. The location also helps draw attendees to the gym.

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Where will workshops and demonstrations be held?

Most workshops will be held in the classrooms. Drum circles and gong concerts will be held in the auditorium.

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Will there be an Author’s Table?

Yes, we are bringing back an Author’s Table for sales and book signing. There is no extra cost if you have a booth and a $25 fee in you have no booth. To sign up and for information contact June Hyjek.

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How will you advertise?

For the last fair our 7 large 8’x10′ signs at key sites around Vernon drew the most attention, followed by email campaigns. We advertised in The Door Opener, Natural Nutmeg and Natural Awakenings as well as area Reminders covering Vernon, Manchester and Tolland and which are delivered to every household. For the Reminder we used cover stickers so people would be sure to notice the ads. This year we’ll add small street signs as they have become popular and seem to be effective. We also have a Facebook Page and Conscious CT is available.

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Why don’t you do this fair every year?

Since all money raised goes to the Vernon Youth Services Bureau those of us putting it on are all volunteers. A fair of this size takes a lot of work. We need a year off to recover.

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Will there be a way to get an Internet connection?

This year wi-fi should be available.

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About Participating

How does the town’s involvement affect the fair?

The town asks us to keep our focus on health; thus no readers or church groups. In return we have free use of the school and access to town property for advertising signs. This helps us keep our expenses low which we can pass on to exhibitors and attendees.

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Can we sign up for just one day?

Yes, you can request a booth for either Saturday or Sunday. Preference will be given to those taking both days, but we expect to have a number of one day requests.

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Are groups that teach meditation or Eastern philosophy permitted if they are not a religion?

Generally no if there is any appearance of a religious connection.

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How about the sale of products?

We include a number of vendors and artists to add interest and many practitioners also sell products associated with their work. The only prohibitions are items that are religious in nature or include religious icons or are multi-level marketing (MLM)/network marketing products.

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Why do you exclude MLM products; many of these have health benefits?

At our first fair we had a bad experience with a practitioner who brought along people from a MLM product. They were extremely aggressive annoying attendees. We want our attendees to have a pleasant experience and be comfortable exploring things that may be new to them. Our priority is to our guests, not those who are marketing products and most problems come from people more interested in building their down lines than in education.

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Why the extra fee for those selling products?

Again the focus is on educating the public about health options so we want to encourage practitioners to participate and thus offer them a lower fee.

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Can we charge for giving massages or doing energy work?

Yes, you have the option to charge for these services. If you do please post the costs clearly so there is no misunderstanding as some practitioners will be offering free demonstrations.

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Can we brew tea at our booth?

The Vernon Health Department requires that you have a license to serve tea or any other food or beverage prepared at your booth. Wrapped food items are acceptable. For information contact Alan Slobodien.

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Can we request a certain booth?

Only if you are a Sponsor. Otherwise we’ll consider your request, but placement will depend on electricity needs and balancing types of exhibits. Preference will be given those attending for both days.

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How late can we wait to sign up for a booth?

At our last fair we sold out Saturday by the early deadline and Sunday by the end of January and had a lengthy waiting list after that. Some exhibitors dropped out and we found a few more spaces, so we could accommodate many on the waiting list. Because the last fair was so well attended and there seem to be fewer large events there has already been a lot of interest in reserving spots. We expect we’ll be sold out by the end of January, so don’t put it off if you are interested.

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If you get more requests than you have booths how will you determine who gets spots?

Preference will be given to regional practitioners and vendors, 2 day exhibitors and we’ll look for a balance of practitioners, vendors and artists.

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How will you determine who gets workshops?

There are always more requests than we have spots so do get your request in by January 16. The focus is on education, so promotion of products will not be favored. Again we’ll look for a balance of interesting topics and will show some preference to regional practitioners.

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