Indie Craft Parade community impact report shows an influx of cash and connections for artists
Friends and fellow creatives Erin Godbey, Jen Moreau, and Lib Ramos once gave themselves a challenge—name five favorite things they’d purchased from Indie Craft Parade, the popular festival they founded in 2010.
“It was so hard because there were so many things after so many years of collecting,” Ramos says.
While its start actually came from the idea of bringing artists and the community together under one roof—first at the Huguenot Mill and Loft, then at Furman University’s Timmons Arena, and now Judson Mill—“we always joke that we created this for ourselves so we could shop,” Godbey adds.
Multiplying their story by the more than 100,000 people who have attended ICP over the years reveals the festival’s impact. People come with their wallets in hand, bringing home hauls from the 100-plus makers freshly juried in each year.
“Maybe to them it feels like a small thing,” Godbey says, but when viewed together, attendees’ support of these small creative businesses is extraordinary. “It takes both—people are coming because the makers are there, and the makers are successful because they come and support.”
That is certainly true for Greenville native Katie Coston of Illyria Pottery (@illyriapottery), whose earliest supporters discovered her at ICP (she was part of the first festival). She’s gone on to have work in the Grand Bohemian Gallery and established a brick-and-mortar studio and gallery in England after moving there in 2012.
She’s carefully packaging and shipping hundreds of playful pieces “across the world just to be at this year’s event,” she says of being one of the 112 makers, including 36 first-time exhibitors and six emerging artists, purposefully placed in Judson Mill’s different sections.
“The organizers genuinely love the arts and the artists, and they pour a tremendous amount of work into making this a truly special event—not just for attendees, but also for those exhibiting. It shows,” Coston adds.
To better tell the story of ICP’s mission and work as a nonprofit, the founders released a first-ever community impact report earlier this year. Data historically has been collected through economic surveys, distributed entry stickers, ticket sale-collected zip codes, and exhibitors’ total weekend sales “to know how successful (ICP) is for our artists. Because we measure our success by their success,” Ramos says.
The report had been used for past grant applications, “but we’ve never publicly shared it,” she adds. “Last year we saw a significant decrease in grant funding and sponsorships. We realized to keep doing what we do, we wanted to provide more transparency about our organization, explain how important what we do is, and invite folks to be part of that.”
Indie Craft Parade economic impact
The 12-page report proves the festival’s power as an economic engine by looking at the 2025 festival, made possible by 16 community partners and what Ramos called “the small army” of 128 volunteers (their efforts totaled 384 hours).
“When our community comes out and volunteers, they are part of this really important community impact,” she says. “And this is a really big event for most of these makers.”
That’s because the 7,500 attendees—with an average age of 41 and traveling an average distance of 41.5 miles—spend $711,195 with the 121 participating exhibitors. Attendees’ total spending across Greenville during the weekend equated to $2 million.
Beyond the numbers, the organizers’ hope the festival fuels a greater appreciation for art and attendees’ own creative inspiration. They also want ICP to spur people to shop handmade throughout the year, whether at The Trove pop-up shop, Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery, or other local retailers.
Swamp Rabbit carries goods from several makers like felt and fiber artist Blake Leaphart. In the second year of exhibiting his St. Christopher Gardens felt flowers, “a Swamp Rabbit Cafe buyer came through and wanted to set up a full felt flower display. We’ve been going strong there ever since,” he says. “ICP has been pivotal to our career and small business.”
A Joyous Celebration
Part of Indie Craft Parade’s success lies in its from-the-beginning recognizability. When trying to decide what to call their first event, “we landed on parade, and it felt a little circus-like, a little bit exciting. That’s where the elephant and the colors came from,” Ramos says of the hand-drawn logo, the 1,500 linear feet of hand-sewn pennant flag garland used to decorate the event venue, and the brightly colored advertising that pops up around town.
“From the beginning, we wanted the vibe and the energy of the event to be recognizable, be part of our story,” Godbey says. “Every year, as soon as the garland goes up, that’s when we know it’s celebration time.”
Indie Craft Parade at Judson Mill, 701 Easley Bridge Rd., Greenville
Sept. 11, 5–9p.m.: First Dibs Party, $25 (all ages need tickets)
Sept. 12, 10a.m.–5p.m.: general admission, $10 (3–5 p.m. entry, $5)
Sept. 13, 10a.m.–4p.m.; general admission, $8 (2–4 p.m. entry, $5).
Weekend passes are $40 or $65 (with festival artist-filled goody bag). Ages 16 and under are free. For more info and tickets, visit indiecraftparade.com or follow @indiecraftparade.
