As henna body art grows in popularity, it is becoming a common sight at fairs and festivals everywhere. Almost anyone can set up a henna booth at a fair, but the challenge is doing it well so that you provide excellent quality to your customers, stand out in the crowd of competitors, and make enough money so that you can continue your work in the future.

Below, I have broken down the various aspects of fair and festival henna work into four categories and outlined what I have learned from my seven years of experience in this field. I am always learning, so feel free to email me with any ideas, suggestions or questions. Happy hennaing!

1. Where to find fairs/festivals. The process of finding fairs and festivals at which you can do henna takes time so don’t count on doing a lot of fairs the first year

• check the local paper or websites to find events in your area; you may be too late to sign up for some events (usually they send out applications 2-3 months in advance) but talk to other vendors at these events and find out what events are coming up and who to contact about them; if you miss out on an event this year, find out how to get in on it next year
• contact schools (private and public), churches, organizations and clubs to see if they sponsor events; they use these events for fundraising and are usually eager for more vendors; you might have more luck with organizations which have an affinity for henna (e.g., South Asian or Arab groups)
• if you are too late to apply for an event this year, see if you can find another vendor who will share their space with you (for a percentage of the booth fee); try to find someone selling something that goes well with henna, and also leaves you room to set up to do henna
• contact specialty organizations like religious organizations, your local SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) or renaissance fairs for information on how to be a vendor at one of their events
• remember, henna is not just for hot weather; seek out fairs that take place in the fall or winter like Oktoberfest, Halloween, Christmas, Hannukah or New Year’s; also find out if there are events for the celebration of Diwali (the Hindu festival of lights) or Eid (a muslim celebration of which there are several throughout the year)
• because henna is a service that is limited by the amount of time available to do it (unlike a vendor who can sell as much as he has in inventory) you can often secure a lower booth fee; many fairs have lower rates for arts or crafts; don't be shy about asking for it and explaining why; many fair organizers are looking for interesting services to offer, so ask for your special rate with that in mind
• ask the organizer to put you in a space that is not too close to any loud music since you need to be able to speak to your clients; you should also know the neighborhood where the event will be held and know which part of it would be a good location for you; some organizers let you request a particular location; you also have the right to ask that you not be placed near another henna artist

2. Display/Booth and Personnel issues. Henna is difficult to market visually, so you will want to attract people with other things that may or may not be henna-related; below are some suggestions:

• signage: your sign should convey, either directly or indirectly, what you are doing/selling; you can convey it with words or images or a combination of both; it should stand out either because of the color or design or size; advertise what makes you different from the other henna booths (i.e., 100% natural, Indian style, etc.)
• music, dancers, tea, sweets: these are tasty little extras that could either attract passers-by or keep browsers around long enough to interest them in getting henna done; this type of attraction is one more thing that makes your booth unique and attractive; tea and sweets require an investment on your part, but it might pay off in the end; you could hire a musician, drummer or dancer to perform in front of your booth, or you could find someone who will do it for tips or a percentage of your profits; find someone whose music or dancing fits with the theme of your booth (i.e., a belly dancer, a sitar or kora player etc.)
• other products for sale: because henna is difficult to visually market, it is often useful to sell something else at your booth, especially something that has more visual impact from afar; if you don’t sell anything else, consider sharing your booth space with someone who does, specifically something that complements your henna services, such as ethnic jewelry, textiles etc.; if you sell henna-related items, such as books, henna kits, spa kits, etc., these will enhance the look and draw of your booth; try to display these products in a way that draws the eye to various parts of your booth: your henna books tend to be flat on a table, so display products higher up, hanging from the top of the booth, or lower down in baskets on the ground; do the same with henna images: hang some up around your booth so that people will see them no matter where they are looking
• partners/money: having someone to work with when doing fairs and festivals can be wonderful since you can share the work and keep each other company; if things aren't planned well and agreed upon in advance, a partnership can turn into a nightmare; even if your henna partner is your best friend since infancy, plan and write things out and agree on the details of your plan so that minor disagreements don't ruin a good friendship or a business partnership; clearly spell out the duties and how they will be shared, keep track of expenses and make sure that everyone gets paid back quickly, decide who will be responsible for transportation and storage of the booth and all its accoutrements, keep receipts for every purchase made for the booth or the business, write out how the money made at the fair will be split, write up a detailed list of responsibilities for the booth assistant and what they will be paid, talk about how disputes will be managed, etc.; if you and your partner are equals in terms of skill and speed, you can probably go with a 50/50 split (after all expenses are paid) but if one artist is slower than the other, it might be necessary for each artist to keep what he/she makes and then each person pays their portion of the expenses; plan it all out and you will have fewer regrets in the end
• assistant/schmoozer/booth boy/babe: call it what you will, this could be a friend who helps you out or someone you hire, but it is essential to have someone else working your booth with you; he or she can answer questions, talk to people about henna, help them choose designs, give prices for designs, explain aftercare etc.; if it is your style, you can get someone who will act like a barker proclaiming your services to the general public; a good assistant allows you to concentrate on your henna work while still creating a welcoming and informative environment for the potential client; educate your assistant about henna (write up something to which they can refer so they don’t have to disturb you to ask) and also inform them of your philosophy on henna, on selling, on dealing with people; everyone working in your booth should be on the same page about what kind of image to portray and how to talk about henna
• compensating your assistant: write up a list of responsibilities for your
  booth assistant so that there won't be any question as to who does what
  when you are in the thick of a rush; those responsibilities will depend on
  the person you choose and what they are capable of; you will also want to decide how you will reimburse your assistant for his/her work; you could pay them a flat fee for the day, a percentage of what you make, an hourly rate or a combination of any of these; we usually pay our assistant a daily rate and give him extra if we have a good day... it usually comes out to about 10% of what we gross for the day; it might help to encourage your assistant with a payment based on how much business you do; your relationship with your assistant is an important one, so treat him/her well, giving breaks, encouragement and a timely paycheck
• hennaing someone in front of the booth: this is the magic bullet; nothing attracts customers quite like doing henna on someone in front of the booth; for those who know what henna is, they will come running, and for those who are unfamiliar with henna, they will have a live demonstration, and your assistant can talk to the gathering crowd, hand out business cards and invite people into the booth to pick out designs; have a couple of friends stop by throughout the day to sit for henna; if business seems slow, henna someone for free (a friend, your assistant, a client) and you will soon have a line in front of your booth; if you can henna them on an unlikely body part or with an outrageous design, you will really increase the crowd and a crowd draws more people to it
• booth: while you CAN simply set up a table at most fairs having a defined space helps draw people to you; you can make a tent of your own out of anything (bamboo poles, plastic sheeting, conduit pipes) but keep in mind that easy set-up and breakdown are important issues, as well as the possibility that you may be doing it alone; many discount stores have gazebos for $30-40 which are lightweight and easy to put up, though they can be a little flimsy especially in poor weather; I usually attach weights (bricks, or gallon water bottles filled with water or sand) to the feet to keep it from flying away; EZ UP and other companies make booths which open and set up easily and quickly; the price can range from $200 to $500; tents like these can be found at better prices through Ebay and Costco; also try www.craftcanopy.com which sells a kit that allows you to create your own booth using conduit piping; the most important elements of a booth are protection from sun, protection from rain and protection from theft
• henna examples: try to have henna designs on your skin in various stages of development: paste drying, paste flaking off, a design at peak color and a design that is fading; these examples can be on you or on your assistant; they help illustrate the information you are telling them about henna; at least one of your books should contain photos of henna with a good selection of paste-on and paste-off photos
• hygiene issues: most countries don't have established hygiene standards for henna artists, but the public is often sensitized about it, so it's not only good for everyone's health but also good for business to follow basic hygiene guidelines; keep your space clean and neat, with a designated trash bag; offer something to your clients to clean up with before hennaing (e.g., handi-wipe, alcohol wipe, hand sanitizer) and use the same yourself often; while it may not be possible to transmit disease via your henna tool, it's a good idea to keep the tip of your bottle/cone clean, if only for appearance's sake; at the very least, wipe the henna off the tip, and if possible, wipe the tip with an alcohol wipe between clients
  

3. Pricing. Be clear about your pricing, if only in your own mind; clients don’t want to feel that you are making up prices or altering the price because of them (even if you are!).

• minimum price: I suggest setting a minimum price of $10 and explaining to potential clients that the prices go up from that point depending on the size and complexity of the design; this weeds out people who want tiny designs that often take as much aftercare as a more expensive design; this also weeds out little kids who tend to smudge the design which you then have to spend time redoing; use your judgment and decide if a particular kid can be allowed an exception (with dire warnings about the dangers of smudging); in my experience people tend to get $20-30 designs; I like to say to people, "if you can't decide on a design just tell us how much you want to spend..say $30...and we will make something original just for you" and people LOVE this idea
• marking prices in your books: I strongly suggest not putting your prices in your books as your prices may change; you may find that a particular design that you thought would be a $15 design takes you much longer to henna and thus should be priced at $20, whereas some designs may become easier with time and could be done for a lower price; you could have a separate sheet or sheets of $5 kids’ designs and some sheets of $10 designs for those who have a definite price limit; there are times when things are slow when you want to lower your prices to get business going, and other times when you need to raise your prices, for whatever reason
• speed: henna is not like tangible products that you can sell as much as you have in stock; you need time to do henna and can only do so much henna within any given time period; in order to make a profit at fairs and festivals you need to work fast so that you can do more henna during the time period of the fair; speed will come with practice and should not be sought after at the expense of quality
• design books: bring books of designs that you think will appeal to the clientele of the event you are working at; for example, if the event is African themed, bring African designs along with your regular designs, or if the event will attract a lot of kids, make sure you have a lot of inexpensive designs; putting your design pages into sheet protectors and binders will allow you to move the pages around or remove pages that you don’t need and the plastic sheet protectors will protect the pages from rain; books can be organized by style or price (from cheap to expensive) to help clients find what they want quickly
• miscellaneous: often clients will be overwhelmed with the number of designs to choose from; in those cases, I often ask them to let me create something for them and ask them for a price limit; if they have $20, I do something from my imagination that I would consider a $20 design; if you are unsure what kind of design to do, ask them to give you some ideas of what they like, for example, viney, geometric, flowers, etc.; I often find that the clients gets a better design when they choose this option because I create something unique and usually do something more complicated than the asking price

4. Recipes and Aftercare

• sugar/honey: putting sugar or honey in your paste helps keep the paste stuck to the skin and keeps it from drying out too quickly and flaking off, both of which will help the client get a nice dark stain
• storage: to keep your paste cool so that it doesn’t go past its peak staining abilities bring along a cooler or an insulated lunch bag that contains ice or a cold-pack
• aftercare: I personally prefer to use lemon-sugar as a fixative for those who are willing to stick around or come back for it; lemon sugar is a bit of an insect magnet which could be a problem at outdoor events; if the client wants lemon-sugar but can’t stay or come back in 10 minutes give the client a small Ziploc bag with a lemon-sugar soaked cotton ball in it; other fixative options are elmer's glue mixed with lemon juice, spray gel, liquid latex (ask the client about latex allergies before applying) or nothing at all; experiment and see what works best and is also convenient for street fairs; print up simple aftercare sheets with information you think is important for clients to remember and make sure every client gets one (including your contact information); it is also important that you or your assistant explain to them the basics of aftercare and answer any questions they may have

5. Henna kit necessities for fairs/festivals. The following items are important for doing henna at fairs and festivals. It will be helpful to have most of this contained in one place, such as an art kit or a tool box; the different compartments are great for organizing your things and you can close it all up and carry it easily by the handle. If you get a big enough kit you can put your lunch in there, along with an ice pack to keep your henna paste cool. If you organize everything in advance, all you will need to do the day of the fair is grab your kit and go; once you are at the fair and set up you can start hennaing right away, without searching for your tools and materials.

Doing henna at street fairs and festivals can be extremely exhausting so make sure you take care of yourself. Sleep well the night before, prepare everything you need in advance so that you can just leave the house without rushing around, bring food and drink so that you don't have an excuse for not getting nourishment, wear sunblock and set up something for the evening that involves you getting pampered. It's not all a big, long slog in the heat; fairs and festivals can be a lot of fun. I enjoy meeting a slice of New York City everytime I go out and connecting with interesting people, sharing my passion for henna with all of them. Even if the day is a financial bust, I try to remember that I made a lot of connections with live human beings, introduced them to henna and spread the word, if not also my business card. That effort will eventually come back to you, doubled, even tripled.