Over 40 displays from skilled artisans along Over 40 displays from skilled artisans along with great gift ideas and decorationswith great gift ideas and decorationsOver 40 displays from skilled artisans along with great gift ideas and decorations

27th Annual

Saturday, November 289AM - 3PM

August 10, 2020

Dear Craft Show Vendor,

On behalf of the Benton Civic Center here in Benton, Illinois I want to send you an invitationto be part of our Christmas Craft and Gift Idea show. Now entering its 27th year the show has grown into a major event bringing potential sales to you from a large area of Southern Illinois. Staged just after the Thanksgiving day holiday the show is positioned to take advantage of that kickoff weekend to the annual Christmas selling season. Indeed, many vendors have made the choice to spend this valuable weekend here in Benton year after year due to the success of the show.

If you think our show might fit your needs please take some time and look over the included information. Should you decide to participate fill out the show application registration which is now online. The next page of this packet will explain our new changes for this year including registration. Our deadline is October 30, 2020. After receipt of your application we will contact you with further information and booth location assignment on or around the first week of November. We do accept entries up to the show date based on availability.

Thanking you in advance for your consideration of our event, I am

Very truly yours,

414 W. Hudelson St.Benton, IL 62812

General ManagerBenton Civic Center

Price stays the same this year. Returning vendors from last year’s event will receive a $10.00 discount payable when you check-in for this year’s event. So instead of an $80 registration fee your effective fee would be $70. Just a way to thank you for your loyalty to our event. YOU MAY NOT TAKE THE $10 FEE OFF IN ADVANCE ON YOUR REGISTRATION FEE. You will not officially be registered until we receive all necessary fees.

Keep in mind that a big part of your fee goes to advertising (in our case television advertising) for this event. TV advertising is expensive but very effective.

Online registration for this year’s event. We’re asking everyone with internet access to go to this web address to register and make payment www.bentonciviccenter.comfor your booth. We accept all major credit cards and this will reduce our paper work (and help to keep our costs down). This will also provide benefits for future craft fair events to come. If you don’t have internet access then fill out the included form, put some stamps on an envelope and mail it back together with a check.

SUPERSIZE! We are, again, offering 5 enlarged booths located in front of our stage. The measurements for these 5 booths will be 12’ across by 18’ deep. They will be priced at $120 per booth. It’s basically a booth and one half.

COVID-19

Well let’s talk about the 800 lb. gorilla in the room! After a lot of discussion we’ve decided to go ahead with this event with modifications. We’re going to keep the number of vendors the same (you will all be pretty much social distancing anyway). What we will do with the shoppers is to limit the number in the building. We’re going to require shoppers access to the building at a rate of 25 people per every 15 minutes. They can stay as long as they want (most probably spend 45 minutes on average). That will hopefully keep an average shopper count in the building around 70 or so per hour. We will ask that all shoppers and vendors wear masks. We will also ask vendors to have sanitizing materials to keep ‘touch’ surfaces in your booths clean. We will provide additional hand sanitizing throughout the building.

Since the current health crisis is ongoing and subject to change the Benton Civic Center reserves the right to cancel this event at any time should conditions or circumstances warrent. If there are not enough vendors registered before Firday, November 13 to make it a worthwhile go for all involved the Benton Civic Center reserves the right to cancel the event. In either case all registration fees will be refunded to vendors.

Easy load in and outAs you can see from the floor plan, vendors may pull right up to the actual sales floor and unload for setup. No steps or hallways to negotiate. Handtrucks will work just fine. Of course access to loading doors is on a first come, first served basis. This usually runs pretty smooth to everyone’s satisfaction.

Setup available the day before the weekend event

Friday, November 27 will be available for vendors to come in and set up their booths. Scheduled time for load in will be from 10AM - 7PM.

Convenient Parking for Vendors and Public

There is ample parking around our facility. Vendors will be asked to park any trucks, vans, and trailers in the back of our facility during the event to make room for public parking.

On-site concession stand and food service

On-site Wi-Fi Internet Services available to Vendors

Check out our website for more information

The Benton Civic Center has a full service concession stand that will be in operation during the setup on Friday thru the final hour of sales on Saturday. Vendors and the public will be able to take advantage of food services without having to leave the building during the event.

We plan to offer Wi-fi internet services to vendors during the event again this year. Those using Square or Paypal credit systems should have no problem with access.

The Civic Center maintains an online presence. On that site are photos of our facility. If you are new to us and need to get a feel for the place go to www.bentonciviccenter.com. As we draw closer to our event we will be posting vendor information on the site for easy access.

www.bentonciviccenter.com

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11,000 sq. ft of floor display is available to vendors.

Exhibit Space Configuration

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Vendors have two ways to register for the Holiday Craft & Gift Show

#1 Apply online at www.bentonciviccenter.com. Go to our Events page. There you will find a link that will take you to our ticketing service. We can now accept all major credit cards.

#2 Apply using the enclosed form included with this packet. If you choose to use this method we will require a check for the full amount due made out to the Benton Civic Center.

Please note: The better description you provide of the products you are selling the better we can design the vendor floor assignments. Vendors selling large sized products will have different needs vs. a vendor selling smaller type items. Also electrical needs come into play along with your booth setup needs. So please take some time and help us get a good idea of your products and setup.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 28--THANKSGIVING WEEKEND–

Any questions phone: (618) 435-5700Call between 9:00 am & 1:00 pm or email bking0154@yahoo.com

VENDOR NAME PHONE # ADDRESS CITY, STATE, ZIP CODE

NUMBER OF BOOTHS REQUESTED (10' X 12' EACH) @ $80.00 EACH

NUMBER OF BOOTHS REQUESTED (12’ x 18’ EACH) @ $120.00 EACH

HOW MANY 8 FT TABLES @ $5.00 EACH NEEDED (may bring own) ELECTRICITY ($5.00) (circle one) YES NO

DESCRIPTION OF GIFT AND OR CRAFT

IS THIS A NATIONALLY DISTRIBUTED PRODUCT/GIFT? (circle one) YES NO

THERE WILL BE NO REFUNDS GIVEN AFTER OCTOBER 30, 2020 UNLESS YOUR SPACE CAN BE RENTED BEFORE THE SHOW.

SHOWTIME IS SATURDAY 9 AM - 3 PM. ALL DEALERS MUST AGREE TO STAY TILL END OF SHOW. NO EARLY LOAD OUT. SET UP FROM 10 AM - 7 PM ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2020 or 7 AM on Saturday morning.

YOU MAY SEND YOUR APPLICATIONS AND PAYMENT TO:

BENTON CIVIC CENTER BOX 48

BENTON IL 62812 ATTN: CRAFT & GIFT SHOW

Mobile Number:

EMAIL ADDRESS

APPLICATION FORM FOR 2020 SHOW

Registration Deadline: October 30, 2020

Note: The Benton Civic Center reserves the right to assign vendor booth locations as we see fit. In doing so we will attempt to provide the optimal arrangement so both vendors and the general public benefit from the floor design. We do make a full faith effort to honor booth location requests but cannot guarantee success. Submission of an application indicates a willingness to comply with this policy.

ONLY 5 AVAILABLE