orchid show admission fees? - Orchid Board

Christi · #1 02-11-2011, 11:22 AM

Well I am off this morning to help set up the Fraser Valley Orchid Society display, at the Vancouver Orchid Society Show. I have had the feeling that attendance at the orchid shows here is dropping and one of the reasons, I believe is that the entrance fee is too high and it puts people off. Especially the casual traffic. Of course you or I would pay anything to get in addicts that we are. So I'd like to know what other shows charge for entrance fees. Your thoughts on the issue would be most welcome.

camille1585 · #2 02-11-2011, 12:06 PM

Hard question to answer, since it depends on the size of the show. In Europe, the small local shows I go to are either free or cost only a few $. One I regularily go to is not only free, they also give you a free orchid at the door.

Of the large shows I know of in Europe, they cost between $5 and $20. I looked up the price of the Vancouver show, and I think that $7 sounds reasonable, but like I said, it depends on the size of the show!

For orchid addicts who live close the venue, paying an entrance fee can be more than worth it when you consider the shipping fees involved if you were to buy the same orchids online.

gnathaniel · #3 02-11-2011, 12:13 PM

Hi Christi, my local society holds our show at the North Carolina Arboretum, and the only admission fee is the $8 per car the arboretum assesses non-members. A lot of people seem to carpool and the arboretum is a popular attraction anyway, so the admission fee doesn't seem to deter attendance at all. I don't know the exact figures but I believe we've had at least several thousand attendees per show for the last few years. The 9-10 vendors we have each year sell most of the stock they bring, and we have a waiting list of other nurseries who want a spot if someone else drops out...

On the other hand, a nearby (and much larger) city's OS holds their show at a botanical garden that charges $12 per head, and they've supposedly seen attendance plummet since they started using that venue. I think there are some other factors at play (time of year, distance from the city population center) but the high admission charge can't be helping.

I hope your show goes well!

--Nat

RosieC · #4 02-11-2011, 12:43 PM

I would pay as long as it was under £10 for the bigger shows and only £2-£3 for smaller shows. As I always go with Hubby then more than £10 would seriously eat into my orchid buying budget. (I like the per car idea for that reason) and smaller shows I would worry it would turn out to not be worth it.

I think venu can really make a difference, if it's a venu I think I would enjoy in it's own right I would pay more. One last summer was in a nice country house and garden and the cost was really the entrance cost of that. I thought that if the orchid show was not up to much we could go and enjoy the house and gardens as a day out anyway... as it turned out I spent so long looking at orchids there was no time for anything else

Of course we are all orchid lovers and will pay something to go see orchids... but I think you are right about passing casual traffic. Lets think if it was a show of Roses, I think they are quite pretty but don't go out my way to see them. If I walked passed a sign saying there was a FREE show of Roses I would probably wonder in and have a look and maybe be tempted to buy something, however if I there was even a small charge I probably wouldn't bother unless it was something like the Chelsey Flower Show or some other very large show.

Call_Me_Bob · #5 02-11-2011, 01:17 PM

I agree with the above. My os has free admission to our show. But it is a rather small show, it's held at a garden center and we have a hard time getting good attendance. We have deduced that when rainy and yucky weather we get more ppl.

But I would pay more to go to a show that is somewhere I would go enjoy of the show wasn't there. Such as longwood gardens. Idk what the entrance fee is, but I'm willing to fork it up for that

You can call me Bob

quiltergal · #6 02-11-2011, 02:01 PM

We hold our show at the county fairgrounds indoors. There isn't anything else going on at the fairgrounds at that time. We have struggled with venues for a while. The fairgrounds is becoming unafforable, but other locations that we can afford are too small. We had been charging $3/per person entry fee with unlimited returns. The show runs for 2 days. Recently we decided to up the fee to $4, so we'll see what happens. Our other problem is many of our vendors are either going out of business, retiring, or just not interested in traveling. We only have 3 coming this year. Our show is later than usual, and it seems like plants are blooming earlier. We're a bit worried there won't be anything in bloom by April!