Organiser of weekend market apologises to vendors after complaints of cramped spaces
The organiser of a weekend creative market in Singapore has apologised to vendors after a raft of complaints about cramped layout and poor organisation following the first of the event’s two weekends.
In a statement on Wednesday night, Big Farm, which is running The Everything Fair at Selegie Arts Centre on June 3, 4, 10 and 11, pledged to have an improved experience for vendors ahead of the market’s second weekend. It also posted an apology on Instagram on Thursday morning.
Big Farm told The Straits Times it plans to reduce the number of vendors per floor, create more space for customers, as well as pre-cool the venue before the event for optimal ventilation. It will also limit the number of people manning each booth.
The Everything Fair features 120 vendors selling home decor, lifestyle and fashion products, as well as crafts and stationery.
Big Farm did not respond to queries on the number of people who attended the fair on Saturday and Sunday.
According to an e-mail to vendors seen by ST, booth types at the fair ranged from $250 per weekend for a regular table and one chair to $430 per weekend for a long table and two chairs. The promised space for each table area was 1.2m by 1m and 1.8m by 0.8m, respectively.
However, after the market’s first weekend, some vendors took to social media to criticise the cramped set-up of booths, which they said affected customer traffic and their sales.
One vendor, who wanted to be known only as S, said feedback was collated from other vendors through a Google form and many raised concerns regarding the layout and ventilation, using terms like “horrendous” and “terrible”.
Some who provided feedback on condition of anonymity said vendors were charged $7 for an extra chair. They also mentioned that the layout they were shown did not display pillars between the booths, but they were present onsite and affected their sales.
Others also said they would seek refunds as they were not able to break even.
Another vendor, Ms Jong Li Han, 23, told ST the layout that all vendors were shown before the event, such as 1.8m for long tables and 1.2m for regular tables, was not accurate.
Ms Jong, who sells handmade resin items, said: “The corners of tables were only a forearm’s length away from touching one another, and creators could only walk sideways to get in and out.”
Her booth partner, who wanted to be known only as Coco, said the width of her booth area was a lot shorter than expected. Many booths also had to be moved to the corridor as there was not enough space, the 21-year-old undergraduate added.
Ms Coco, who sells handmade beaded accessories, said she could not stand properly to attend to her customers as she was too cramped against the wall.
“I also could not move my table forward (to create) space because it would block the creator beside me, who had her table perpendicular to mine, and it would have been unfair to her,” she added.
In its statement, Big Farm acknowledged it had “made a mistake in space allocation”.
“This is the first time our team has organised the fair at such a scale, and we had overestimated the event space available. We sincerely apologise and promise to do better this coming weekend,” said Big Farm, noting that the Selegie Arts Centre “may not have been suitable for the event”.
ST has contacted the Photographic Society of Singapore, which manages the Selegie Arts Centre, for more information.
Big Farm previously organised a weekend-long Christmas market in December 2022, which had over 3,000 attendees.
It added that its intention was for The Everything Fair to bring together artists, creators and designers to celebrate the local arts scene.
“We recognise the struggles of small businesses and in no way want to add on to them,” it said.
Despite the experience on Saturday and Sunday, S, a 26-year-old illustrator, hopes people will continue visiting the event to support creators who have rented a table.
“The creators are innocent in this situation and people should still go down to support them regardless,” S said.
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