You could go here to keep track of all the hamfests:
http://www.arrl.org/hamfests.htmlBreeze Shooters Hamfest in June, held at the same location as the Butler ARC hamfest, is not affected by this action.
You said, "maybe they could pay their "volunteers" or pay someone else to keep it going". The point of the hamfest was to generate revenue for the club. Paying their club members or someone else to do the job defeats the whole purpose of having the hamfest generate revenue for the club. Dealers/vendors, especially indoor ones, need to know there will be support when they come to a hamfest to display their wares. Indoor dealer/vendors are a cash cow for hamfests. You keep them happy in all ways (the volunteer support, advertising, etc.) and they will continue to return. They generally are the ones who also supply, either free, or at great discount, all the door prizes. A hamfest has to sell a lot of $5 grass vendor space to make up for several inside or commercial vendors deciding not to participate. That's why a lot of hamfests are suffering today due to the lack of support for the inside and/or commercial vendors. Several hamfests in the Northeast are well known for lots of "tire-kicking" buyers which generally turns off most commercial and "regular" vendors which results in them not showing up the following year.
Also, another big revenue drainer for most hamfests, besides advertising, tickets, food concession, rent of location, etc., is liability insurance that most hamfest organizers have to acquire before they can open a hamfest for business.
The “old days” of hamfests are going in many areas and, most likely, will never return again. There is just too much revenue drain to make the average hamfest a good “bang for the buck” activity for the typical average club.
