Let me just start by saying—I might’ve been a little crazy.
I signed up for the 4 Days of Aloha Festival to officially launch my new Hanafooda cards, and at the time, all I had was… the cards. That’s it. Just the deck! No booth, no setup, no other products—just one awesome idea and a big leap of faith.
When I filled out the vendor application, I knew I’d need more than one item to fill a booth, so I did what any mildly panicked but overly optimistic person would do: I googled “common items sold at Hawaiian festivals” and then told the organizers I’d be bringing ALL of that. Spoiler: I hadn’t made any of it yet. And the festival was only 5 months away.
That decision kicked off a whirlwind of product designing, late-night brainstorming, and lots of trial-and-error. But in the end, after 4 months of furious preparation, I’m just about ready.
Lucky for me I rented the 10×10 tent and 6 ft tables directly from the festival organizers, so I didn’t need to purchase those things. Besides that, Here are the top three things I bought to get ready for my first event—and my criteria was it had to be professional, but also fit in a suitcase, be easy to travel with.
This post includes affiliate links to products I personally used and recommend. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
1. Peace of Mind – Back Up Portable Charger!
This is a game-changer: the SABANI Portable Charger 35000mAh Power Bank. What makes it stand apart from the competition…I comes with 4 built in cables. Yeah, so no more searching around for a cable! It’s compact, powerful, and compatibility with iPhones, Samsung, Androids, and more, it kept my devices charged all day. An absolute essential for vendors relying on phones and card readers. After much research, why did I ultimately go with this one? Having the cables built in to the charger so it would be one less thing to worry about…AND…extremely high ratings on Amazon from thousands of consumers.
2. Table Cloth Dilemma – Fitted Cloth vs. Fitted Spandex. A tough choice for a newbie like me.
I bought two different styles. I originally got the fitted cotton blend sheet because I wanted the lower part of the table to be cancelled. I plan on hiding my overflow items and packaging supplies under the table and I wanted to hide all that stuff. But when the table cloths came, I found that even though it was advertised as wrinkle free, it still seemed like it wasn’t the case. So I went back and bought the stretchy spandex one. I’ll update the blog as to the performance, but so far, it arrived and shows no signs of any wrinkles. This is especially important since I’ll be traveling to my festival event. There are so many to choose from online, but I went with this specific spandex table cloth brand because it had high Amazon reviews. I typically don’t buy or recommend anything that has fewer than 4.5 star ratings. Plus, for any product, I make sure the number of reviews are at least a couple hundred reviews or more and not just a few people promoting the product. That way I feel the rating is more accurate.
3. Standing Wooden Pegboard – A Rustic Look
I’ve got mixed feelings on this. I Love the look of it, it’s a gorgeous and solid table top pegboard display. It is heavy, and that can be scene as a pro or a con depending on if you have to lug it around very far, but that also means it’s more stable. The hardware that was included in this fit the holes perfectly. My issue was the joints to slide the pieces together were a little tight. And maybe this is a good thing, as it’s not going to be easy for it to fall apart at all. But get ready to put a little elbow grease into it when assembling/taking apart. I did love how all the pieces break apart and I can travel with it flat in my suitcase. The company that made this also made a foldable 3 panel pegboard display that I almost went with. I really wanted to get a revolving one like this one, but I thought that traveling with something like that would take up too much space in my suitcase.
Final Thoughts
Your first vendor event doesn’t have to be perfect, but being prepared helps you enjoy it more. I know this is true for me. These five essentials gave me some piece of mind that my setup will be professional looking and let me focus on connecting with customers. Whether you’re selling handmade goods, art, or food, having your basics dialed in makes a huge difference.
If you’re prepping for your first market, you’ve got this!
Have questions or want my full checklist? Drop a comment below or message me on Instagram or tiktok @hanafoodashop