As long as we're on the subject of workshops, I'll throw in some exhibition prices...
When I lived in SoCal, usually the exhibitions were all free. In fact, for the Bonsaiathon at the Huntington Gardens (where public admission is normally $29 on weekends) club members would get into the gardens for free that day. At the big GSBF shows, the vendor area and exhibition hall were free, but if you wanted to do anything else (workshops, banquet, auction) you would have to pay a show registration fee (that was around $50(?)). Now that I live in North Carolina, the only east coast show I have yet to attend is the Winter Silhouette show - and it has always been free.
For workshops, it depends on the material and the instruction. The most I've paid for a workshop was $500, for a workshop with Harry Hirao where I worked on a large California juniper. The usual price is $200 or so... again depending on the material. For no material, the fee is lower. I remember back in the mid 1990's it was $100 for a "bring your own tree" event with Ben Oki that was limited to 10 people.
(A fun photo from 2007 with Peter Macasieb (
@maria kapra ) helping me with deadwood carving at the California juniper workshop)
The primary reason why exhibitions are free is, of course, to bring new people into the hobby. The Huntington likes the Bonsaiathon because, as a benefit to members, every year they have a children's bonsai workshop in the greenhouses near the exhibition. The event is organized by a local club, and each table has a club member to help a child work on their first bonsai tree.
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