Fundraiser Event - Help??

Ok,

So I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew LOL

Heard through the grapevine about an arts society doing their big fundraiser of the year. It's a fairly large, heavy metal type event. They're looking for facepainters, so I messaged the organizer.

Well he had one volunteer... but she wasn't very "artsy" (his words) and has since flaked out. He came down to the market today and REALLY liked my stuff.

So... I kinda volunteered to "take over" and organize the facepainting portion.

They are expecting 400-600 people at the event. It's all ages, but the target group is probably 15-30. It IS heavy metal, so I'm thinking lots of gothic/tribal type designs.

So I have a few problems. One: where can I get paint shipped from, in Canada, that'll be here before July 1st? How much should I buy? I don't know exactly how popular the facepainting is going to be...

I was thinking some snaz palettes, but considering the crowd I think maybe the "blingy" colors might be more popular? Can I get away with maybe buying I dunno a dozen or so cakes in different colors and then building my designs from that??? He hasn't given me a budget, I figure I'll figure out where is going to be best to order from and go from there.

How many Volunteers should I recruit? I figure I'll do a bit of a jam before hand, teach them some basic techniques and keep the designs pretty simple.

This isn't just about face painting for me, this is giving my time to a cause that I really feel is a great one, and I love organizing stuff :p I will be allowed to put out a tip jar, as well as have cards on hand.

Myabe I should come up with a design sheet and go from there... OMG I feel so lost!! HAHA

Any help or comments would be great, looking for Canadian companies if possible, too much risk of something getting hung up at the border at this point, and with the rotating canada post strikes it is going to be sketchy enough as it is!

Trina

Where in Canada are you?

I'm in Prince george BC

Don's Hobby in Calgary will ship on Greyhound which is WAY faster and more dependable than mail or courier, especially up here.

And I've always had good service from Dotsy's in Ontario but shipping is a nightmare.

The only problem with UPS and Fedex is their RIDICULOUS customs fees... $75 brokerage fee's on the last couple things I ordered and had shipped through them.

I'll check out Don's Hobbies though too

Ah ok, my local (Toronto) sources don't help that much then for pick up!

Not saying don't buy Canadian, but I don't know that you will have an easier time with Canada Post if the border isn't involved - I wouldn't rule out sources in the US.