Good idea. You are going to have to investigate the legal side first. You might need a business license?? Not sure. Farmers markets might go by different rules but you surely do not want to get shut down so I would probably contact the local farmers market and ask questions.

advertisement can be done (free?) through your state or local agricultural paper if you have one. You might want to contact the local news as well and let them know what is going on.

Since this is a one day event I would probably also put an umbrella rider on my homeowners policy. I added one on mines last year, it covers any mishap that might I might be liable for up to $1 million and it only cost $20 extra a year. Of course I did not tell anyone I have this policy because you know people always find a way to capitalize on others.

Charges: you want to make sure the porta-potty fee is included in your charges. Keep track of the time you spend on getting everything set up. I would not charge more than the local flea markets charges for their spaces. In fact I would probably go a little lower if feasible but not much lower though.

Of course I would probably make the property as attractive as I could to draw interest. Might be a good time to do your barn rooster painting :-)

Make sure you find somone to come in and rent a space to do food, cotton candy, hotdogs, stuff like that.

You might want to also call one of these places that rent out their inflatable bounce houses or slides. I would not rent from them but I would charge them to rent a space. Things that can be seen from the road and look fun always attract curiosity and thus customers.

well I just wanted to bounce off a couple of ideas. Good luck!

Really good ideas! I will do the rooster painting first and probably very soon. I won't have the flea market until later summer so I have time to look into things like insurance.

I'm planning to do a lot of landscaping as soon as the ground thaws and early planting is done, with farm sales in mind.

I think it'll be a lot of fun and make a good penny too, as well as introducing us to the community.

Rules are different in every section of any country but one thing is the same. you need to have insurance, probaly a one day event liability policy. Anything goes wrong yopu could be wiped out.

Insurance is a good idea. I'm going to look into what it will cost for one day.

Good idea, and the advice you've been given here is sound. You mentioned that you live near a busy intersection, which is great for business. Be sure to advertise on a signboard well in advance of the intersection so people will be prepared to turn into your market.
Have you checked with the local or state police about traffic? If you are generating a lot of turn-off traffic, they may want to be aware of the situation. When our church has its yearly fair, we always notify the police so they know there will be more traffic than usual, and that the traffic flow will be different.

plan
insurance
aesthetics
advertising
organize
police awareness
food
fun
jog to the bank
that's your checklist.

Thanks for the advice everyone! What do you think of Labor Day Saturday when everyone in Toronto is going by to their last hurrah at the cottage before the kids return to school and it's close enough to Christmas?

hmmm, sounds ike a lot of work and planning. I'll be ready for it by the time it comes around. I'll have to get busy and make some soap and paint and decorate all those grapevine wreaths I made last fall...

I hope to have so much money I won't be able to jog to the bank. I'll have to take it in the truck.

Thought for the week: "Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes!"

you will do fine