Christmas on the River - Savannah Riverfront 2027 (December 3-4-5) Rousakis Plaza

A juried outdoor art and fine craft market at Rousakis Plaza on Savannah's riverfront, listed on Zapplication as Christmas on the River, December 3–5, 2027. Artists, makers, and specialty vendors sell their work to residents and visitors. Emerging artists may apply. Eligible categories include mixed media, ceramics, digital art, drawing and printmaking, edibles, fiber, glass, handcraft, jewelry, metal, painting, photography, sculpture, and wood and furniture. The page also contains inconsistent Labor Day promotional text, festival hours, and load-in dates; applicants should confirm the operational schedule with the organizer.

Submit five images, including a required booth shot. Emerging artists are accepted. Application fee is $30, non-refundable. Standard booth: $500; double booth: $1,000, limited availability; corner upgrade: $75, limited availability; electricity: $100, limited availability. Purchase/confirmation deadline is October 26, 2027. Late applications may be accepted at the director's discretion for the waitlist. Jury review is closed; social media is considered.

Eligible categories are 2-D and 3-D mixed media, ceramics, digital art, drawing and printmaking, edibles, fiber, glass, handcraft, jewelry, metal, painting, photography, sculpture, and wood and furniture. Work must be original, handmade, and created by the exhibitor; buy/sell merchandise is prohibited. Reproductions must be clearly identified, original art must occupy at least 50% of the artist's space, browse bins must occupy minimal space without obstructing patrons, and all displayed artwork must be for sale. Artists may exhibit only in jury-approved categories. Prints must be signed and numbered; photocopies are prohibited. Fiber and glass categories prohibit embellishment of manufactured materials; wood excludes embellished manufactured items. Handcraft requires a complete description of items. Jewelry prohibits commercial molds/casts, requires at least 50% of organic materials used in the finished product to be produced by the artist, and prohibits jewelry made from more than 50% manufactured components. Other prohibited items include T-shirts and commercial clothing, posters, manufactured toys, commercially manufactured or reproduced resale items, and items using commercially available molds or patterns.

Edibles must be handmade, pre-packaged, and not prepared on-site. Food trucks and honey booths cannot be accepted. Food booths must successfully register with Savannah DPH and submit their business license and required DPH paperwork, starting no later than six weeks before the event and/or immediately upon acceptance.

The source requires a City of Savannah Business License costing $85 per calendar year, with the event address used as the business address, and states an exemption for artists living in counties immediately surrounding Chatham County. It also states that all selling artists must register even if they have a Georgia business license. The license can be obtained after acceptance, is not needed before application, and should allow at least two weeks for processing. Confirm the applicability of the stated exemption with the city. Artists are responsible for required permits, taxes, and sales-tax collection/reporting; the source lists a 7% sales-tax rate.

Artists must personally attend with their work throughout the festival; employees, representatives, commercial agents, dealers, and salespeople cannot operate their booths. Bring photo identification for check-in. Exhibitors supply their own displays and weighted white-top tents of EZ UP quality or higher; tailgating tents are prohibited. Rules require 10-by-10-foot tents, while booth information permits tents no larger than 10 by 11 feet. Assigned spaces are approximately 10 feet deep by 11 feet wide or greater, may be uneven, and all work must remain within the assigned space. Weight instructions conflict: rules require professional weights of 45–50 pounds on every tent leg, while booth/refund sections state a 40-pound minimum per leg. Confirm compliance requirements before attending. No staking or tying to trees or lamp posts. Permitted weights include sufficiently heavy tubes, cloth sandbags, concrete-filled buckets, stabilizer bars with sandbags, and weight plates/dumbbells; unweighted grid panels or stabilizer bars, raw concrete blocks/bricks, water containers, and plastic sandbags are prohibited. Missing required weights or a white-top tent can result in exclusion without reimbursement.

Setup is described as Friday beginning at 6:30 a.m., with booths open by 10 a.m.; another instruction lists load-in as September 3, 2027 despite the stated December 3–5 event dates. Festival-hour passages also give September and October dates. Confirm actual load-in, hours, and check-in cutoffs: the no-show policy states Friday 8 a.m., after which space and refunds are forfeited. This is a dolly/wagon-in event across cobblestones, with a 30-minute unloading period on River Street followed by immediate vehicle removal. Trailers park off-site at the convention center. Saturday walk-in setup is only for previously participating artists with advance approval. Display the parking pass on the vehicle dashboard. Monitor the Zapp communication email for load-in, load-out, and updates; no packets are mailed.

The event is rain or shine, with no rain date or weather refunds. Applications/administrative fees are non-refundable. The refund policy states cancellations up to 90 days before the event have fees applied to the next scheduled show, no refunds within 60 days, and no refunds for booth fees applied to a previously canceled show. Credits must be used within one calendar year, require a normal application and notice to the director, and must meet all deadlines; the page also says credits must be applied to the show for which they were given and cannot transfer to another show. Jury-exempt returning-artist fees are non-refundable. Pandemic cancellation/postponement may result in a future-show credit and Zapp code. Cancellation for weather, acts of government, or other listed causes, removal for rule violations, or arrival without required weights forfeits fees. Exhibitors are responsible for their own insurance needs; AFFPS disclaims responsibility for injury, damage, or loss. Credit-card submission constitutes acceptance of the event's terms, including its charge-dispute provisions.