How to Set Up a Craft Fair in a Gym

To set up a craft fair in a gym, start with the usable floor once the bleachers are pushed back, then protect the floor, find the outlets and keep every fire exit clear. Put a single row of vendors along each long wall, where the power is, and one or two back-to-back rows down the center, with aisles of about 10 ft between them as a planning assumption. Decide early between 6 ft or 8 ft table spaces and 10x10 spaces, because that sets how many vendors fit. This guide covers each step and works through a vendor count for an example school gym.

Measure the Usable Floor

The basketball court is not the whole gym, and the whole gym is not all usable. As an example, a high school basketball court is 84 ft x 50 ft, and many gyms have a few feet of floor around it. What you can actually use depends on:

• Bleachers. Retracted bleachers still take a few feet along the wall, and pulled-out bleachers take far more. Ask facilities which position they will be in.
• Doors and exits. Gyms have several exit doors, often in the middle of the long walls. Each one needs a clear path.
• Wall equipment: fire extinguishers, alarm pull stations, scoreboard controls, padded walls and folded tables or mats stored along the edges.
• Hoops and divider curtains. Ask for hoops to be raised and divider curtains to be up, so they don't split your rows.

Measure wall to wall in both directions and draw the gym to scale, marking each of these. A tape measure and an hour in the empty gym are worth more than any estimate.

Protect the Gym Floor

Gym floors are expensive to refinish, and protecting them is the first condition most schools set. Ask the athletic director or facilities manager for the rules in writing, then pass them to vendors in the vendor packet. Common requirements:

• Floor covering under vendor spaces or across the whole floor. Some schools own tarps or rubber covering; others require the organizer to rent it.
• Rubber feet or caps on table legs, display racks, grid walls and chair legs.
• Carry, don't drag. Tables and heavy displays are lifted into place, never slid.
• Soft-wheeled carts only, and no hand trucks with hard wheels.
• No tape on the finish. If you need to mark spaces, ask which tape is allowed or tape onto the floor covering instead.
• No food or drink on the bare floor, and no open flames such as candles being lit for display.

Some schools also ask that people wear clean, non-marking shoes on the court. Put the rules on the application so vendors accept them before they pay.

Choose Table Spaces or 10x10 Spaces

Most school gym craft fairs sell tables. Some sell open spaces for vendors who bring their own displays.

• 6 ft table spaces. Plan on about 8 ft of row length and 6 to 8 ft of depth per vendor. Good for jewelry, cards, baked goods and small crafts.
• 8 ft table spaces. About 10 ft of row length. Suit vendors with more stock.
• 10x10 spaces. Suit vendors with grid walls, racks or shelving. Many schools and fire marshals don't allow pop-up canopies indoors, so ask before you sell 10x10 spaces as tent spaces.
• Mixed. Tables in the center rows and 10x10 spaces along the walls is a common split, since wall spaces can take taller displays without blocking sight lines.

Decide whether the school supplies tables or vendors bring their own. If vendors bring tables, publish the maximum size so an 8 ft table doesn't show up in a 6 ft space.

Use Perimeter and Center Rows

The simplest gym craft show table layout has three parts:

• Perimeter rows along the long walls, with vendors' backs to the wall. These spaces get the outlets and can take taller displays.
• Center rows, one or two lines of spaces back to back down the middle of the court, with shoppers walking on both sides.
• Cross aisles at each end, so shoppers can loop from one side to the other without a dead end.

Keep the short walls for the entrance, check-in, a raffle or bake sale table and the exits. For more on row patterns, aisle widths and mixing vendor categories, see our guide to craft fair layout.

Worked Example: How Many Vendors Fit in a Gym

This example uses round numbers to show the method. The gym is an example, not a real school, and aisle widths are planning assumptions that your fire marshal may change.

• Usable floor: 90 ft x 60 ft (a court plus a few feet of runoff, bleachers retracted), or 5,400 sq ft.
• 10x10 spaces across the 60 ft width: perimeter row (10 ft) + aisle (10 ft) + double center row (20 ft) + aisle (10 ft) + perimeter row (10 ft) = 60 ft.
• Perimeter rows: 90 ft of wall fits 9 spaces, minus 2 for an exit door and the check-in end, leaving 7 per wall, or 14.
• Center row: 90 ft minus a 10 ft cross aisle at each end leaves 70 ft, or 7 spaces on each side, or 14.
• Total in 10x10 spaces: about 28 vendors.
• 6 ft table spaces (8 ft wide x 8 ft deep): the same three rows take 52 ft of width, leaving 8 ft to widen the aisles. Perimeter rows fit 11 spaces per wall, minus 2 for the exit and the check-in end, so 9 per wall, or 18. The 70 ft center row fits 8 per side, so 16.
• Total in table spaces: about 34 vendors.

Check the estimate by placing every space on the drawing, because doors, extinguishers and a bake sale table always cost a space or two. The booth capacity calculator runs this estimate for other space sizes and aisle widths. If you need more vendors than the gym holds, the cafeteria or a wide hallway can take a second section, as long as it doesn't narrow an exit route.

Plan Power

Gyms have few outlets, and they are almost always on the walls. Most crafters don't need power, but a few will: vendors with lights, card readers that need charging, slow cookers or a warming tray.

1. Ask on the application who needs power and what they will plug in.
2. Map the working outlets and ask facilities which circuits they share.
3. Sell powered spaces as a separate option along the walls, priced above standard spaces.
4. Keep center rows unpowered, or run covered cords only where the school and fire marshal allow it.
5. Ban extension cords running across aisles without a cable cover.

Keep Fire Exits and Safety Equipment Clear

The fire marshal or the school district sets the occupancy limit for the gym and the rules for exits and aisles. Ask whether they need to approve your layout, and plan on:

• A clear path to every exit door, with no vendor space in front of it and no displays leaning into the path.
• Clear access to fire extinguishers, alarm pull stations and electrical panels.
• No storage behind exit doors, including vendor boxes and empty bins.
• A headcount plan if you expect a crowd near the occupancy limit, such as a volunteer counting at the door.

Plan Load-In and the Rest of the School

Vendors usually unload through the gym's outside doors or a loading area. Give each vendor an arrival time by row so the doors don't jam, and have volunteers with carts ready if carts are allowed. Then plan the rest of the building:

• Check-in at the main entrance or lobby, outside the gym.
• Restrooms that are open and signed, with an accessible option.
• Food: a concession stand, the cafeteria or a booster club bake sale, kept away from the craft rows.
• Accessible entrance that is close to the gym and clearly signed.
• Vendor parking in a separate area from shopper parking, if the lot allows it.

Collect all of this, along with floor rules, table size and power options, on a single craft fair vendor application, so vendors agree to the gym's rules before they are accepted.

Number the Spaces and Share the Map

Number every space, put the numbers on the floor covering or on table tents, and send each vendor a map with their space marked. A to-scale map answers most questions vendors ask before the fair: how big the space is, whether it has power and where the nearest door is. An interactive floor plan lets vendors see open spaces and their prices, and lets shoppers find their favorite makers on the day. With vendor fair software, vendors can also pick and pay for their space from that map.

Gym Craft Fair Setup Checklist

1. Usable floor measured with bleachers, doors and wall equipment marked
2. Floor protection rules from the school, shared with vendors
3. Table or 10x10 spaces chosen, and canopy rules confirmed
4. Perimeter rows, center rows and cross aisles drawn
5. Vendor count checked on the drawing
6. Outlets mapped and powered spaces sold separately
7. Exit paths and safety equipment kept clear
8. Layout approved by the school or fire marshal if required
9. Load-in times assigned by row
10. Check-in, restrooms, food and accessible entrance signed
11. Spaces numbered and the map sent to every vendor