I am afraid that nobody is going to come out as a real winner under this scenario. I have spoke to several other vendors who have been attending the shows for the past couple of years and I know of three who will be staying at home for both of the weekends in question. By diluting the potential attendance by say 30 to 40% of either show, a vendor like ourselves has to make a decision on the risk vs reward of making a seven plus hour drive one way to attend. If it was only a one or two hour drive, that would be different.
Unfortunately, under the current situation, both sides will most probably see a drop in attendance across the board. It is very difficult to regain this loss and will only continue to go down unless both groups can come to a compromise for the benefit of all parties. Hopefully, those in charge are able to see the issues and will work to resolve the problems. Would be a shame to see all of the efforts from the many previous years be tossed away over egos or hard feelings.
