Allowance intact after festival

I went to the Brisbane Waters Oyster Festival at Ettalong this year.

Now, I'm just an average customer when it comes to buying stuff.

But, on the other hand, I have been an owner of some retail stores and a manufacturing business and, from my experience, I have something to say to all the stall holders and organisers.

I walked past every stall in the festival with money in my purse, ready to buy something that attracted me at a reasonable price.

Note I say reasonable, not cheap.

To further encourage me to spend, I was with family members who created an interest in items that would normally mean a walk past for me.

I was happy to be there celebrating our own seafood harvest time.

It's good for the local community to host events like the Oyster Festival.

But please, let's leave our visitors with a satisfied smile and a pleasant memory of the day.

Many stalls had very decent displays but some looked raggedy and old or just plain messy.

Big items hid the smaller treasures at the back.

Some stalls had so much stuff crammed along the table that it was a headache trying to find anything.

Then there were the minimalists.

Give me a bit of variety.

If you are only selling one product, team up with someone who has something to complement it, or display all the different ways I can use your product.

I saw one coffee stall that was charging $4 for a coffee - please!

I can sit comfortably at one of the cafes around Ettalong, pay less and get a pretty decent coffee too.

The Oyster Festival is about oysters, right?

So where were all the stalls to sell me some oysters?

The few that were there had queues till kingdom come.

The festival spirit certainly got to the crowd through the entertainment, not a half bad job, but a little more polish please.

To those entertainers who did their practice and came up with a polished presentation - well done, you are a credit to us and I am proud to brag about you to others.

And to those stall holders who made the effort and took pride in their displays and kept prices sensible, a big thank you.

All in all, it was a pleasant day just simply looking, listening and wading through the crowd.

However, even though I saw many things of interest in the stalls, on the way home when I looked into my purse, my start out allowance was, perhaps unfortunately, still intact.

Email, 11 Nov 2013

Heather Tavitian, Woy Woy