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Finding The Fairgrounds
In a town the size of Canton, you'd be pretty hard pressed to miss the Trade Days Park, which starts a few blocks from the town square. Keep an eye out for signs advertising the event or follow the aroma of freshly fried funnel cakes.
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Times and Timing
Canton's First Monday Trade Days runs the three-day weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) before the first Monday of every month. (It's a moveable feast. Take out your calendar and do the math.)
Operating hours usually follow the sun, with stalls opening a few hours after dawn (let's say 8:00 a.m.) and shutting down about sundown.
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Traffic
The key word here is GRIDLOCK. Once you get off Interstate 20, expect to spend a lot of time waiting for Canton's few traffic lights to change. The primary traffic arteries (mostly two-lane) block up pretty quickly, especially during the peak traffic hours of mid-morning and dusk. When a small town swells to 20 times its usual size, the resulting logjam makes the Dallas rush hour look like the flag drop at Talledega.
Since you'll probably be spending some good time watching tail-lights, you might want to revisit some of those old childhood highway games to minimize the damage of mind-crushing boredom. ("I spy with my little eye. ...")
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Parking
During Trade Days, vehicle storage becomes the town's second biggest industry, and every piece of land in metropolitan Van Zandt County becomes a makeshift parking lot. You can expect to pay about $3 per day for parking (without in-and-out privileges). The prime lots are situated right opposite the main fairground gates, especially if you're shopping for heavy and/or bulky items. Midway through a half-mile walk, a 25-cent anvil doesn't seem nearly as good a deal as when you bought it.
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Hotels
Shoppers interested in making First Monday a multi-day project will probably find neon NO VACANCY signs lit up all over East Texas. If it's possible to do a little advanced planning, try to book a room in nearby Terrell or Tyler, since the rooms in Canton are pretty much occupied until the next Ice Age. If you actually do find a room at the inn, expect to pay full pop for the privilege, since canny moteliers generally suspend discounts during First Monday Weekend. What good is a captive audience if you can't milk 'em for all they're worth?
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Miscellaneous
Weather: A quick spring shower can instantly turn dusty aisles into mud pits, so it's best to keep an eye trained on the five-day forecasts and plan accordingly. There's only so much room in the handicraft pavilions, and it fills mighty quick in a thunderstorm. If you're caught flat-footed by a frontal system, you can usually find an enterprising concessionaire hollering "Plastic ponchos! Getcher ponchos! Two for twenty!"
Carriages: Several vendors rent two-wheeled metal laundry carts for your carting and hauling pleasure -- carts just like the ones you'll see professionals pulling around the grounds. Daily rental usually runs about $5 plus deposit, or $20 will buy you one outright.
Maps: Pick up a Trade Days map (usually available around the fairgrounds) and use it to keep track of where you've been. These handy charts can keep you from crossing your own tracks -- pretty damn important if you want to see everything at least once.
Still More Shops: If you manage to exhaust the possibilities of all thousands of acres of fairgrounds, check out some of Canton's alternate market areas -- cavernous aluminum buildings packed with additional rummage that you won't find at that other market. Actually, it's pretty close to the same stuff you'd find at Market Days, but in a different place. Will the opportunities never cease?
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