I was excited to return to Lawrenceville for Free Comic Book Day, having attended their first one in 2023! It was a well run show by the city, and I had initially heard about it through the organizers themselves. After they saw my booth at Marietta the Gathering, I was asked if I’d be interested vending at the first ever FCBD. And of course, I said yes!
I took a break in 2024 since I already had plans to visit the Renaissance Faire with friends, one of the inconveniences of Georgia spring shows! So I was looking forward to seeing how much FCBD had grown. I kept an eye out on Eventeny, applied for an indoor booth in January and got my acceptance within a few days. The booth price had gone up from about 20 to 35 dollars, but that’s within expectations as an event gets bigger. There was also an option to pay an additional fee for a provided lunch. I didn’t go for it but appreciated the thought. Then about a week before the event we received an email with a vendor map, instructions for load-in, and directions on free parking.
As the weekend drew closer, there was a bit of worry as the forecast warned of rain and thunderstorms. While many activities would be in the Lawrenceville Arts Center, a significant amount of attractions were also slated to be outside along with a whole layout of outdoor vendor booths! The event was also meant to take over the downtown area, with multiple small businesses counting on foot traffic to come in from the uncovered sidewalks.
Lawrenceville made last minute accommodations to prepare for the incremental weather. All outdoor booth vendors were relocated to a covered parking garage, which, oh my. I felt very fortunate for my indoor space. As good as it was to have a backup plan, parking garages are always a challenging venue to sell in. Throughout the day, I heard from a few outdoor vendors that traffic was slow but sales were better than they’d expected. Overall, I think everyone was relieved to be spared from the rain.
Attendees leaned heavily towards families and younger folks overall. The amount of children stood out compared to my other events this year, which makes sense since Lawrenceville markets FCBD as a family-friendly event. This did mean some confusion from kids on whether or not my items were free to take, but overall parents and adults were great about reigning them in and fielding the answers that no, this lady is selling her things. Just lots of polite parents all around and a very wholesome atmosphere. I don’t recall if it was like this in 2023, but something about the crowd vibes really stood out as positive to me this year.
Sales were busiest from 11-2 pm, with a drop off in the crowd once the rain hit around mid afternoon. My best sellers were vinyl stickers and I sold a good amount of buttons as well, which tracks since smaller items do very well with younger audiences. Every single mystery button capsule spin was bought for children, if I recall correctly. I was also excited to bust out my new mannequin for the first time! I’d saved her from Forever 21, and she was able to bring a lot more attention to my shirts. In the end, I was able to beat out my recorded revenue for 2023, so I’ll take that as a success!
Given that the crowds had died down and the forecast predicted torrential rain within the next hour, staff came by to remind us we were free to pack up 30 minutes before closing if we’d like. I opted to do this since I had places to be, the Solara opening reception, and did have a few parts of my display that weren’t water proof! In spite of a certain parking garage elevator’s best efforts, I was able to pack my car with time to spare on my journey to Buckhead!
Billie’s Vendor Rating
I really enjoy Free Comic Book Day and hope it’ll remain a regular amongst my Gwinnett County events. May is a tricky month since it conflicts with my personal love for the Georgia Renaissance Faire, but FCBD is certainly worth it if you’re a local nerdy vendor!
| Free Comics | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Foot Traffic | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Attendee Vibes | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Restrooms | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Pokémon GO | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Organization | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
UPDATE: I’ve learned in a follow-up email that FCBD had an estimated 12,500 attendance! Wow! My guess is this number must’ve been added up from different buildings, because while the LAC was crowded I wouldn’t have ever guessed it to be 5 digits crowded! Still, a great sign of growth for the event.
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