With stifling crowds and high costs, why do convention boothers still continue setting up shop?
Why would thousands of visitors willingly brave a shoulder-to-shoulder crush, dodging strollers and enduring anonymous glares, just for a chance to buy something? Well, these incidents happened to the many people who attended Public Garden: a marketplace that was held this Sept.
Such conventions and markets are prevalent in the second half of the year and draw in the festive crowds. However, despite their popularity, they often receive a bad reputation due to overcrowded crowds and seemingly frequent management lapses.
As a frequent convention goer myself, these unorganised large crowds leave me uncomfortable and sticky with sweat, and oftentimes my first thought is to get out of the crowd as fast as possible instead of taking the time to enjoy the event and browse through.
This leaves me to wonder: If crowds like the ones at Public Garden are unenjoyable to visitors, how would it affect boothers and organisers? Vulcan Post spoke with a group of local artists and event organisers to find out how challenging it is to participate in conventions like this.
Overcrowding isn’t just a safety hazard, it also costs boothers and organisers
Maria Manlapaz, who’s also known in the Anime, Comic, and Game (ACG) convention scene as ‘Blake’ and has been booth-ing for nine years, shared that crowd crushes were commonplace before the COVID-19 pandemic and immediately after due to the events boom in Singapore.
However, she pointed out that the hype surrounding events had since cooled down, making it less likely for conventions and expos to experience crowd crushes—not because of demand, but due to oversights in planning.
“I feel like with the hype of events dying down, there really is no reason why your event should have a crowd crush except for poor floor plan management. It’s just not a very enjoyable thing.”
Sheryl Tan, a local illustrator and artist, added that it’s physically taxing for boothers when attending conventions. “We were lifting heavy merch, talking the whole day. Lozanges and Salonpas are your best friends.”
Add a crowd crush into the mix, and it becomes a warzone that can be mentally detrimental.
Another Singaporean convention artist, who only wanted to be identified as Anna, recounted a traumatic experience she had at an event she attended last year. Although she declined to reveal the name of the event, she claimed that the organisers stated there would be a large number of volunteers present for crowd control.
But when she got there, she realised that there was an insufficient number of staff to manage the crowd, and the venue had only one exit, making the entire event a fire hazard.
“It was a highly unsafe environment at that time. Even the vendors had to allow customers to go through their lanes, which you’re not supposed to, but it was so crowded. I couldn’t breathe. It was terrible.”
One might argue that having bigger crowds results in more sales. However, Jeremy Tee, founder of event organising company Atomic Events, shared that there is a fine line when it comes to getting the right amount of crowd as an event organiser.
“Too little crowd, boothers don’t get sales. Too much of a crowd, they cannot get sales as well.”
He explained that when there is an overwhelming crowd in an event space, the convention area will start to feel warm, and too many people will clog the path at the front. Instead of taking their time to peruse each stall, shoppers would often leave booths without making a purchase, and the stores fail to make sales.
The Public Garden wasn’t the first trade show to draw ire for its mood-dampening crowds. Local weekend market, Big Farm Fair, came under fire in 2023 for its poor layout, crowd management, and safety issues, leading the event to cancel its second week of events.
Many artists and performers took to social media to share how the disorganisation and oversights from the organisers have affected their sales, with some stating that they planned to seek refunds as they could not break even.
“It was a huge disappointment because when the artists arrived at the venue, there was no space to place their luggage, the tables were joined together, and there was no walking room,” Blake explained. “It was like one of the biggest things that really showed that artists weren’t being respected.”
Having organised smaller, 20-table events and determined to provide a safer and optimal event for local artists to showcase and sell their art, Blake co-founded Art Riot in 2023, which has since evolved into a Renfaire-themed Art Market that has housed 100 tables with 191 artists in this year’s edition.
“We hope it makes it easier for people to feel like they can participate [and] it’s less intimidating for them,” she added.
The struggle to keep these events accessible yet financially sustainable
Table costs have increased over the years, and artists have to be more selective about the events they go to.
According to boother and jewellery maker Alicia Khoo, a table would cost about S$250 in the past, but the price has doubled to between S$450 and S$500. “[Singapore Comic Con] went from S$800 two years ago to S$1,000 something now for one table.”
As such, boothers have to ensure that their products are priced high enough to cover the costs and at least break even. However, some hauls can reach hundreds of dollars—in fact, my haul from Art Riot 2025 was slightly more than S$120, which raises questions about whether the prices are justified.
Blake shared that she determines the price of the products by considering the production cost and prices offered at other ACG events. For example, a plush badge costs about S$2 to make and would sell at around S$6 or S$8, as they are similar to what artists offer.
Many artists I have spoken to, including those I have also consulted, added that they often check in with their peers to match prices.
But some, including Alicia, do not always follow the market rate. One of her necklaces retails at S$60, which includes the cost of materials, as well as the time and effort required to make it. A single string of pearls costs S$22, and she has to hand-drill them to create the final product.
“But I try not to go too insane because I know most of my customers are between 18 and early 20s,” she clarified. “I don’t care as much to compete with sales. I just care about at least breaking even.”
Another concern is that boothers are unable to get a sense of the types of products that will be sold until they set up at the event venue.
Alicia shared that for one art market she boothed at, 70% of the vendors were selling jewellery, saturating her niche and making it challenging to break even. While she ended up doing so, the experience emphasised the need for organisers to be transparent about the types of attendees who will be at the event.
“These stats would be good just to let us know, ‘Hey, you got a lot of competition. Do you want to risk it or not?’” she added.
Sheryl and fellow illustrator Elizabeth Lim shared that they grossly overestimated the number of prints and merchandise to produce for their first booth at the Singapore Comic Con (SGCC) in 2022, which resulted in them spending too much on printing. “I’m still trying to sell them out,” Sheryl said dryly.
As Hobbies Fair aims to spotlight many hobbies in Singapore, Jeremy and his team at Atomic Events had to cast a wide net to ensure diversity. However, convincing other businesses and hobby groups, such as Taekwondo academies and 3D printing enthusiasts—many of whom are not familiar with boothing—to join was an obstacle.
“Many had to weigh whether it would be worth it for their business after factoring in things like additional manpower and transportation. Some hobby shops also get their main crowd on weekends, which meant they had to consider if they should close their store to take part in the event.”
Both Art Riot and Hobbies Fair offer free entry tickets to their conventions, with venue and furniture rental, as well as manpower and marketing expenses, remaining the main costs of their events. As a result, they rely heavily on booth table sales to sustain.
Jeremy revealed that the first Hobbies Fair incurred a loss of approximately S$20,000 to S$30,000, and barely broke even for this year’s fair.
Blake shared that the prices are set to cover the costs of running the convention and that they highly encourage sharing their tables with up to three people each, which is an increase from the standard two offered for most conventions.
“It’s very important to make it as affordable as we can. But the bottom line is that the expenses of the event do dictate the booth price more often than not.”
So…why do they still do it?
For many of these artists and vendors, these conventions and fairs go beyond monetary reasons—they use it as a way to network with other boothers and customers.
Alicia uses an old-school yet effective method: name cards for attendees to take, even if they didn’t purchase her product. “My returns are [that] I get following, I get eyeballs. I get to befriend other people who are like-minded.”
Elizabeth Lim, another local illustrator who participates in conventions with Sheryl, shared that despite the physical toll, booth-hopping allows them to connect with like-minded individuals, and the “con high” keeps them motivated.
“People walking around the event will stop at the booth whenever we have fan art that catches their eye, and it is always very fun to talk and connect with them over shared interests. Most of the time, they will follow us on our social media to stay updated with new works we will post,” she shared.
Singaporean cosplayer Sera Woo has been participating in Art Riot as an emcee and performer for two years, adding that the fair stands out in the ACG community as one that encourages more opportunities for open and like-minded individuals to form new friendships and connections.
“If I’m a cosplayer and I’m talking to an artist, there’s a greater likelihood of us having a more extended conversation as opposed to a normal anime fan art convention where I just go there, I buy the merch, and then that’s it.”
To navigate the high booth costs, many boothers share tables, often reaching out to friends or joining Discord channels set up by the event organisers to find someone to booth with. “You split the price and the table so it’s easier to break even,” added Alicia.
Elizabeth and Sheryl also learnt to decorate their booths and introduce interactive activities to engage with their audience and stand out from the other vendors.
“Last year at SGCC, we had a gacha card machine with abs printed on it, and we got people who were buying our fan art to rub on the abs for good luck,” joked Elizabeth.
For Art Riot, Blake shared that their tables are larger, which can accommodate up to three booths, and highly encourages sharing to bring down the individual booth costs. She added that a portion of the booths is also reserved for students and first-timers, as their choices of events are often limited.
Blake also shared that when it comes to curating artists and businesses, she and her team strive to balance the proportions of product categories and fandoms to ensure the event offers a diverse range of offerings.
Jeremy also follows a similar ethos, having personally visited potential shops to explain the concept and reassure them about the experience, even offering first-time discounts and complimentary booths to non-commercial interest groups.
The company has also introduced interactive zones for more active hobbies such as foam blasting and mini races, as well as a stage and workshop space for them to demonstrate and share their hobby and allow attendees to personally try them out.
Hobbies Fair saw a strong turnout of nearly 700 visitors, with approximately 20% of the total number of attendees stating that they discovered a new hobby through the event.
Jeremy also shared that most of their vendors appreciated how its diverse range of booths and activities exposed them to audiences beyond their usual circles, and the pacing of the event allowed them to interact with them in a relaxed environment.
To ensure the event becomes profitable and can operate in the long term, Atomic Events is looking to convert its event into a paid-ticketed event. By doing so, they would not need to increase booth table prices, and in turn, the risk of not recovering the cost would be reduced.
However, Jeremy pointed out that organisers will need to increase the value of the ticket to continue enticing attendees through activations like carnival game tokens and participating in lucky draws.
“There are different ways that you can manage the expectations of the crowd so that it doesn’t feel that they are paying for entry and not getting anything back in return. For example, you go to a club, you pay S$20 [to enter], but they give you a free drink, so it’s something similar,” he explained.
Featured Image Credit: Alicia Khoo, Hobbies Fair
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