MAKERS FAQs
November 2025
SET UP LOGISTICS
Opening Hours:
The hours are 10:30-4pm for Friday 14th November - Sunday 16th November.
Preview Night hours are 6pm-9pm on Thursday 13th November.
When can I set up?
In the mornings between 8am - 10am. And depending on your day(s), in the evenings (please read on further for those details).
All Makers must be set up and ready to welcome visitors by 10am each day.
Makers attending the Preview Night must set up from 12noon on Thursday 13th and be ready to welcome visitors by 5pm.
Stall Set Up:
Every Maker will be issued with a standard trestle table (6x 2’6”), a chair and a white table cloth.
Most table have enough room in front for a print browser
Every table will have access to one power point.
We only allow use of the venue hanging system (STAS) for item on the wall or blue-tac.
If you require no table as you have an alternative set up, please contact Louise(events@elmsliehouse@gmail.com) directly
SET UP LOGISTICS:
For Makers who are attending Thursday Night preview + the whole weekend, Thursday, Friday & Saturday and Thursday & Friday: you must set up on Thursday 13th from 12noon and be ready by 5pm.
For Makers with a Saturday & Sunday slot and Saturday only slot: you are welcome to drop off/set up on Friday 14th (5pm-6pm) and/or Saturday 15th (8am-10am).
For Makers with a Sunday only slot you are welcome to set up/drop off on Saturday 15th between the hours of 5pm-6pm and/or Sunday 16th (8am-10am).
For ALL MAKERS: when your day is done, please make sure you clear up and load out between the hours of 4pm-5pm.
Please Note: You do not have to clear up/load out if you are staying multiple days. This is only when you are entirely done for the weekend.
Daily Timings:
Thursday 13th November (Preview Night):
For Makers who are attending Whole Weekend + Thursday Night, Thursday + Friday + Saturday Makers and Thursday & Friday Makers: You will all need to set up for the whole fair on Thursday 13th.
You will be able to set up from 12noon on Thursday 13th November and all stalls need to be ready by 5pm.
Our doors will be open from 6-9pm
Friday 14th November - Sunday 23rd November:
8am-10am: Maker set up
10:30am: Doors Open
4pm: Doors Close
4pm-5pm: Makers clear up & load out
5pm- 6pm: Makers drop off/set up or clear out (last day).
When can I leave?
The fair is open until 4pm daily and then, once the fair has ‘officially’ closed, you are free to pack up, and there’ll be a certain amount of change happening overnight with makers swapping over on the Saturday night.
What’s parking like?
There is unfortunately no parking at the house at all. The drive must be kept clear except at loading in/loading out times. We would ask that your car is re-located after unloading ASAP to allow others to also unload
If you are located in the main hall, please load into first door on the left hand side of the driveway to the main house.
If you are located in our downstairs space, please load in through our garden entrance located on Albert Road South.
*Locations will be emailed at a later date.
There is usually lots of free parking in the roads adjacent to the house, and if all else fails there is both a large and small council Pay & Display car park, literally around the corner on Priory Road (opposite Malvern Splash) - but do try Albert Road South and anywhere around Elmslie House first.
What time do I need to have my stall ready by?
Aim to have everything ready to welcome visitors by 10am. We often have a queue and will be opening the doors at 10.30 sharp.
Preview Night Makers will need to have their stall ready by 5pm.
Is there WIFI?
Yes, Wifi is provided and you will received login information in your Maker pack upon arrival.
Sales & Price Points:
As the ongoing cost of living crisis continues to hit everyone this year, we wanted to acknowledge that it may affects general sales for all involved in our Craft communities. We will be doing our utmost to get as many people to attend this year's fair as we can; so you all have as much chance for sales as possible. We have noticed this year that sales are starting to be effect by this, more than we have seen in past years. This seems to be across the whole industry currently.
To help enhance your sales further, we would encourage you all to have a wide range of prices points. Obviously, do not compromise your bottom line but if you can have low priced items to high priced items; we do feel this will help everyone have higher sales overall.
Advertising in the BM Brochure:
We will be producing our BM event brochure for our public guests again and are offering Makers the chance to buy advertisement space. Artwork Specs can be found in the Important Documents section.
1/4 page will cost £25
1/2 page will cost £50
Full page will cost £100
Please contact me on events@elmsliehouse.co.uk if you are interested in having an advert.
The Deadline for artwork will be Friday 17th October by 5pm.
FEES & PAYMENTS
How much is my pitch per day?
The cost of the market is £60.00 per day.
Makers will be invoiced directly to the email provided and we accept payment by BACS transfer only.
For each day, you will receive 1 voucher for a hot drink and 1 voucher for a piece of cake and one wristband for the guest of your choice. You will receive these on arrival.
We will not be charging Makers for the Preview Night this year
Invoices will be issued in the first week of October.
Maker Sales Transactions:
We ask that all Makers arrange & manage their own electronic sales transactions.
There are lots of affordable platforms available from SumUp, izettle or Paypal for you to do this, and in our experience people are less likely to be paying in cash, so now is a good time to invest in this equipment if you haven’t already.
How is my makers fee spent?
Staff wages, digital marketing, adverts, posters, running costs of the house. The entry fee for visitors also contributes to the running costs of the fairs. If we make a profit (which is generally from tea room sales) this gets fed back into the next the Blue Magpie event!
PHOTOGRAPHY POLICY
We have an event photographer, Amanda Jackson, who takes all our amazing photos at each craft fair. She will be doing so again in November; so please take the time to read our photography policy which is in the Maker’s Area on the website.
We will also require each Maker to sign & return a photo release form (downloadable from our website) which covers Amanda’s photos but also any photos/videos we use for our social media over the weekend. *If you do not want to be photographed at all or have a specific request (eg. Stall is fine but not my person, etc) please let us know by email*.
MARKETING
Social Media:
Please follow the Blue Magpie Instagram & Facebook accounts.
You can find them here: www.facebook.com/ bluemagpie.co.uk/ and http://www.instagram.com/ bluemagpiecraft
Please repost and share our posts about the event with your followers. Especially, look out for the individual makers’s posts we will be posting in the lead up to the market; engagement with these posts helps showcase everyone who will be in attendance.
Feel free to post your own content about what you are planning for the market.
CANCELLATION POLICY
If you cancel within 2 weeks in the lead up – and if we can re-allocate your pitch – you will receive a full refund.
If you cancel 24 hours or less; we will not be able to issue a refund.
The Cafe & The Cake
The Lawnside cafe will be open for November; serving soup, cake, scones, tea & coffee to you and the public; you will be able to order and take food/drink back to your table. This is where you will be able to use your maker vouchers.
Please note that there are not any shops or cafes, that close to Elmslie - certainly not in nipping out distance. So please prepare accordingly.