Renegade Craft Fair

While I used to LOVE going to Renegade the past few years I’ve been in SF, I’m beginning to find the fair a bit monotonous for my tastes and not too many notable changes in their offerings.
The majority of the fair seems to be jewelry at this point… not something I shop for more than once a year, if that. The 2013 fair seemed to be a lot more eclectic with more vendors from other states and other wares (more pottery, clothing, housewares, etc.) that were unique.
The food and cocktail offerings also seem to be the same every time — Four Barrel coffee, empanada truck, tacos/​salads inside. Boring.
Not sure if I’ll be attending the next two scheduled in 2016 unless I see a big change in the vendors attending.

This review is regarding the application process and the inconvenience Renegade Craft Fair gives to applicants who are denied. Renegade charged me $ 300 upfront, paid through my credit card. I was aware that in case I do not get accepted, they keep a $ 35 «judging fee» and will refund the rest. However, I was not ready for the headache in order to get my money back.
It’s a general fact nowadays that refunds are sent to the original form of payment, in this case my CC. I received an email almost a week after the denial from Paypal saying my refund has went though. I checked all my accounts and found nothing. What is going on?
They had sent my money to a Paypal guest account and I had to go through the hassle of calling my CC company, then Paypal, telling them what happened and now wait to see whether my bank will accept their transfer to my account. I have to prepare to wait longer if it doesn’t go through. I wouldn’t have minded as much if I was aware of this method of refunding. However, shame on Renegade Craft Fair for keeping this in the dark and giving such inconvenience to individuals applying to their fair.

This was SO MUCH FUN yesterday.
I went with two of my good friends to check out some local artists here at this local craft fair. Not knowing much about the event or the venue, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of all of the vendors. Also, time spent in the Presidio on a beautiful Sunday afternoon is just pleasant.
Pros: Beautiful handcrafted items. Everything from jewelry to wall hangings to cool journals made with old recycled book covers. I felt like I was walking around Etsy. Good cocktails and wine/​beer selection (I opted for a «Crafty Mule»). We ate before we came so didn’t get a chance to try the food, but it looked and smelled amazing.
Cons: Parking is a pain in the rear. Gets crowded (like all SF events in general) so get there early if you can. Also, a lot of the jewelry looked very similar to me. Lots of geometric shapes, very small. I like my jewelry big and dramatic so I didn’t find much for me there. Also, everything is fairly expensive. Maybe to the big bucks techies walking around SF it’s not so bad, but I didn’t want to spend $ 60 for the worlds smallest ring, even if it was handcrafted.

Beautiful handmade goods can be found at Renegade — jewelry, ceramics, cloths, prints, soaps, food, candles, etc.
Food trucks outside typically have delicious options for lunch — cocktails inside in the back where you can watch the madness that is Renegade from above.
This craft fair is getting a bit ridiculous in size… the summer one was more bearable as it was broken up into two buildings –this helped with flow of the fair overall.
Prices are pretty steep — but it is also nice knowing you are supporting a small business — too bad my pocket book just can’t support them all!
Much of the jewelry is similar — this year most was very simple and geometric — definitely shop around and don’t settle on the first item you see as you may find something that is more reasonably priced that you like better!
Over the years I have found some of my favorite jewelry and prints at Renegade and definitely make sure to check it out every time it comes to SF.

This review reveals behind the scenes how Renegade Fair treats artists.
If it were possible to give NO STARS, then that would be appropriate.
1. The application process requires money up front, in my case this was $ 500 dollars, which Renegade conveniently holds in THEIR account for over a month, while they take their time to let you know if they want you in their fair or not. How many applicants, how many thousands of dollars sitting in THEIR account accruing interest while you wait?
2. If you are NOT selected for the fair they PROMISE to refund your money to you back on to the card you used online minus $ 25.00 which they keep as an «application fee».
3. When you receive the rejection notice from them, do they do the right thing and refund YOUR money to you immediately? No! They hold onto your money for days more before issuing electronically a refund. But wait a minute!
4. Do you think that they would refund your money to you as promised back onto your card? No! What do they do? They refund the money thru PayPal to a «GUEST ACCOUNT» … and you guessed right … you can’t access the Guest PayPal account to get your money back.
5. Your next move has to be negotiating with PayPal to somehow get your money from an anonymous Guest Account to YOUR PayPal account, and then you have to figure out how to transfer the money to pay off the card you used!
Please don’t be fooled by the pretty and inexpensive handmade work you will see at the fair, because behind every piece of work is the sweat and struggle of an artist, completely undervalued, powerless and dishonorably used by entities such as the Renegade Fair.

In one of the huge dock buildings at Fort Mason, Renegade is home to plenty of vendors to keep your craft needs covered. There’s definitely a lot of overlap in what’s being sold, but if you walk through each aisle you’ll be sure to find some unique pieces for yourself or gifts for others.

I was expecting more I guess, but what it comes down to, the main booths are, jewelry and prints. There were other booths that had clothes, bags etc. But the majority of the booths were prints and jewelry. Prices range from $ 3 – 200 per item. Lots of women walking around and crowding booths, just try to be patient and eventually we all will move.
The building was the last one all the way to the right. Free admission. We were lucky it was such a beautiful day outside. Bathrooms for the ladies was decent, some of the stalls were missing TP, only one soap dispenser worked for hand washing. I just wish that the renegade craft fair had more items within my price range, because I had brought two shopping bags with me that virtually left empty. :(

I usually attend the Renegade Craft Fair annually and the 2014 one at Fort Mason was «okay». I like the location that its a Fort Mason, but it this year the vendors seemed to be a bit similar with pretty steep pricing.
Definitely I give the vendors props for their creativity, amazing creative pieces for sure. Yes, attendance is free, but I looked around and it didn’t seem like anyone was purchasing anything.

Went to my first ever Renegade Craft Fair in July 2014 and it was everything I had hoped for!
I love supporting local artisans (near and far; many were from Portland!), seeing all of their work & craftsmanship, and loved that I didn’t have to browse online on Etsy to see it firsthand. There were a lot of exciting stuff like:
— stationary
— art/​print/​photos
— jewelry of all kinds: necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, cuff links, etc
— bags & purses for men and women
— candles
— food
— clothing
— weird knick knacks and more!
I got there in the late afternoon but was still able to spend 3 hours browsing through all 200+ vendors. I managed my time well enough to revisit a few vendors that drew me back. I did leave with a few items on hand, a couple of photos from the Magnolia Photobooth, and a ton of business cards to sort through later. I also liked how the space was dog-​friendly and booze friendly. Made it more tolerable for BFs who were dragged to this event ;)
The only gripe I had were the $$$ prices. For example, a beautiful porcelain pendant necklace was selling for $ 128 –_​_​_​– It was gorgeous but not worth breaking the bank for. A few other things felt marked-​up, which made for less impulse purchases. (Of course, I still hoped each vendor got some good sales & made some profit because it was still a great event).
All and all, I was like a kid in a candy store oohing and aahing at everything I saw. What a great event to come to the city for. I’d definitely come back to future craft fair events! Oh and best part of all? Admission is FREE ^_​_​^

We showed up late on the first day, with our dog, and were told that it was closing and to check back tomorrow, so we came back in the morning, again with our dog, and were not let inside.
The man at the door stopped us and asked «what service does your animal provide»?
Um, cuddles?
Obviously he was trying to say service animals only, but his awkward wording was rather confusing.
So why didn’t the guy at the door the night before warn us about not letting dogs in?
Also, why are you outright asking me what service my animal provides? If you ask dog owners this, and one actually does have a service animal, you are essentially asking them to reveal their disability. Isn’t that illegal? Wouldn’t it just be easier to state that only service animals are allowed and we can proceed if our dog is one?
«When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited inquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform. Staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.» [
I continued to be shocked by how anti dog a city with more dogs than children is.

I went to this event a few years ago. This was a great fair to visit if you want to get great craft ideas or just see creative or impressive handiwork.
There is a wide variety of arts and craft artist at this fair, but there is also a lot of vendors who sell generic novelty accessories and clothing. This makes for a nice mix if you want to browse the more expensive and original goods, but buy the cheaper stuff.
As mentioned by others, the workshops available are not especially exciting, but would be fun for children.

I may have to remove myself from the Bay Area when the summer show comes back into town. I had way too much fun, spent way too much time, and way too much money at the winter show in December. The products and vendors here are amazing! I cannot believe how creative people are — it just blows me away. There were crafts, clothing, food items, home goods, and more for everybody. I purchased more than half of my holiday gifts here.
I came on Saturday and honestly had to keep myself busy all day on Sunday so that I wouldn’t go back. Beautiful scarves, fun t-​shirts, awesome air plants in terrariums ugh! I wish this was every weekend.
It felt like I was in Etsy in real life.

The recent Renegade Craft Fair was held at the Concourse Exhibition Center. I felt like the amount of vendors was more than in previous years. The selection of stuff was pretty good yet at the same time all I saw was silk screened prints, knit ware, personal hygeine products, jewelry and home accessories — over and over again. It’s not bad if that’s what you’re looking for but it starts to look the same after fifteen minutes.
There were some booths with snacks and treats but nothing too amazeballs. Since it was held at the Concourse instead of Fort Mason it made it feel like the crowds were twice as big. Female ratio is about 75% and it shows in the goods. You could barely walk down some aisles. I’m pretty much done with retail shopping. I think online is the way to go especially since you can already find 90% of the Renegade Craft Fair merchants online. Those shipping costs are worth it.
I’d still recommend going if you can’t make it to any other similar craft festivals during the rest of the year.

I am a huge crafts fan and I love supporting local businesses but I found that many of these products were all super super high end. Everything cost more during the winter show but I can guess that it’s only because of the upcoming holidays.
I went to the one over summer as well as the winter one and I must say I enjoyed the one at fort mason much more. The people are always nice but many of the vendors sell similar overpriced items. I’m sorry but $ 80 for such simple things that I have made at home is a little ridiculous for some people. Wish there was a larger variety of crafts to buy from but regardless these fairs are more than fun.
Talking to people and really understanding the story behind their product is something you can’t do everyday. It’s also free so why wouldn’t you go?

When I left this place for the 2^nd time a girl sitting on the corner was surrounded by her bags bragging about having started and finished her Christmas shopping here. Jealous anyone? Despite all the pleading in the world though, I can’t convince my 18-​year old son that he should be wanting a crochet neckerchief or laser-​cut wood earrings. Still, I found some «selfies» (gifts for moi) and a few gifts for others amongst the long rows of goods by contemporary indie-​craft artists. So you get an idea of the excellent quality and variety of goods for sale, here’s a recap of my purchases:
* Skipjack Cowl Scarf (about $ 45 from Victory Garden Yarn) — Basically, crochet ropes that wrap around your neck like a big, groovy muffler. Crocheted goods were pretty prevalent this year. Crochet neck ropes were very prevalent.
* 2 handmade graphic leather belts decorated with a choice of original, inspired art (about $ 75 each, by
)
* A gift certificate for a custom portrait inspired by a favorite photograph ($ 50) — Really a great idea; Emmie Bean (find her on etsy) was the only purveyor offering this unique gift item.
* Marinated cherry tomatoes (can’t recall the purveyor, about $ 12), delicious and original and perfect for brightening up a Bloody Mary.
To get a better idea of the volume and quality of goods, check out the list of artists who participated in San Francisco, at the «holiday market»:
Other things worth knowing:
* This fair travels around to other cities. I attended the «holiday market» in San Francisco, in December.
* Free admission.
* ATMs on-​site but both were out of cash when I tried.
* Food and booze for sale but it’s not really a place you want to hang in once you’ve shopped.
* Parking is a nightmare. You’ll likely have to pay.
* If you hate to shop, this won’t change you.
* The «holiday market» was crazy-​packed with people. Go early or late and the crowds may be less.
* If you see something you like, act. Vendors only have so much stock. Many vendors of food products had closed up shop by day 2 as they were sold out of product.
* Dogs allowed.
* Get on their mailing list to receive advance notice of future fairs.

Reason for visit: I don’t need a reason for a craft sale!
Visit date: December 16, 2012
First time? No.
Renegade keeps getting bigger! It’s always a crazy time with all the people, and I always manage to find awesome things to take home. No need to bring your heavy coat in with you; the body heat and moving around will keep you cozy. Bring a reusable bag to hold your goods, and maybe bring some snacks or a cold beverage. Plan to stay for a good three hours if you want to explore both levels. Also, leave time for the complimentary photobooth.
Today’s fun buys: initial ring, guitar strap

I still love this event, and I will continue to go every year, BUT…
It was so crazy busy it actually made it hard to get in front of all the booths and see everything. (I also noticed lines for the bathroom were LONG.)
We did go at a different time of day than we usually do (maybe that had something to do with the massive crowd?) Although, everyone we talked to agreed this was the busiest year they’ve had.
I’m glad the event is doing so well, and I’m happy people are finding out about it and buying unique handmade goods. It’s an incredible event, and obviously takes a lot of time, effort, and massive organization to pull it off. The quality keeps going up each year.
We do a large chunk of our holiday shopping here every year, as well as buying a few things for ourselves. (We actually wait to go other places for holiday gifts until after Renegade Craft Faire.)
I was happy to see some of my favorite vendors from previous years, and also enjoyed the crafts brought by the new vendors.
Maybe Renegade has grown out of this venue?
Regardless of the crowds, if you haven’t been, I highly encourage you to go. Everyone knows I hate most chains, and this event is the perfect reason not to shop at the box stores.

I’ve gone to this event about 4 years in a row.
I’ve enjoyed the vendors (some are definitely on ETSY), at Fort Mason. Plentiful bathrooms. Lots of space.
Concourse Exhibit Center is smaller, darker, and just too jam packed for any browsing. :-(I wanted to spend more time at the booths but there were too many people milling around to spend much time looking at anything. Sigh.
Free admission. But it costs to bring anything home. Except for the photo booth, which is always free and fun too!
Some nice people, some quirky people, and a few people bordering on crazy…
Parking at both locations are a nightmare. *shrugs
Overall, I’ll attend this event again, if it’s at Fort Mason.

There were a lot of vendors, and no entrance fee, but if you go to these types of fairs on a regular basis, you probably won’t be impressed. If you go once a year, then this event is great.
There were several variations of the same kinds of jewelry, journals and wall decorations, more marked up than I have seen at other fairs. It’s worth checking out, but after you get about ¹⁄₃ of the way through, you may feel some deja vu.

Some would describe this craft fair event as «hipster heaven» but everyone is welcome, including non-​hipsters like me. This is the 3^rd year of this local craft fair, held in several cities around the country to allow crafters to showcase their products. SF is one of the few cities (the other is Chicago) that has 2 such events per year: summer (at Fort Mason Center)
and Xmas (at Concourse Exhibition Center). People come here to find TONS of handmade clothing and accessories,
jewelry, one of a kind items, home décor stuff, letterpress printed materials, and collectible items like old posters, etc.
This is a well organized event, all the vendors I saw were very friendly and welcoming. Everything is hand crafted therefore don’t expect to see bargain prices, this is not a flea market.
You can see the effort and love that the vendors put in making their products. Some even dress up in coordinating outfits and makeup to make the best impression possible. If I were a vendor I’d rate it 5 stars because of the invaluable exposure u get.
About food — there are only 2 choices inside: Neeto’s Café
(sandwiches, burgers, and hot dogs for $ 5-​$ 8, same owners as the downtown shop) and a Falafel counter
(wraps $ 7, potato-​spinach knish $ 4.50), hidden inside a room. The tent outside is their kitchen, no sales only cooking.
About parking last weekend — it’s very easy to find parking along the Marina facing the ocean. I saw many cars stubbornly driving in circles in the parking lot because they didn’t know any better. They didn’t realize that Fort Mason Center is packed with many other visitors on weekends:
— diners of Greens restaurant
— people who attend classes at FMC
— people who work at FMC
— shoppers at Barney’s NY Warehouse sale (Herbst Pavillion)
— attendees to the nearby West Coast Country Music Festival