Fees and Accounting: There is no fee for food vendors. All vendors will retain income from sales and are responsible for their own tax reporting. Each food vendor is allowed to have two workers for free.  If you would like to bring additional helpers, you may purchase up to two extra tickets for $200 each (half price).

Food Service Licensing and Regulations: Food vendors are responsible for researching and complying with all applicable state and local laws regulating the sale of food in the state of Michigan and Montcalm County.

Booth Requirements (if you are not vending from a food truck): Each vendor spot is a 10x10. All vendors must have a 10x10 pop up canopy tent that includes 4 attachable walls that must be up after you close for the evening. Fern Fest will not provide tents or any displays so you must plan to bring everything you will need. All display equipment and goods for sale should remain within this footprint. All booths must be appropriately staked using heavy duty stakes/straps or weighted with 10lb weights on each leg (40lbs total) and please plan to bring tarps and whatever else you may need to protect your goods during any rain or stormy weather.

Parking and Camping: Vehicle parking and camping is allowed directly behind your booth and depending on space availability, RVs and trailers may also be allowed. Once parked on set-up day, please plan to stay parked in your designated spot until load-out on Sunday. 

Electricity/WIFI: There will be electricity provided for food vendors. You may also utilize supplemental power sources such as a generator if needed, however generators cannot be run overnight so please plan accordingly for refrigeration and food storage needs. There is no WIFi available and it’s best to plan to take credit cards while offline to process later in the event you don't have service. If you plan to stay open into the evening hours, battery operated lights will work well and portable phone charger packs are great for keeping your phone charged.

Hours/Location: Food vending will open on Tuesday at 12pm and close that evening at 8pm. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday the hours will be from 8am-10pm. We ask that you are open for a minimum of 8hrs a day, working straight through or broken up into two shifts depending on your offerings (breakfast, lunch and/or dinner – i.e. 10-2 and 3-7 etc.) Please post your hours outside of your truck or booth at all times so attendees can plan their meals.  A written visual menu is also required on the outside of your truck/booth to ensure accessibility for all attendees including deaf and hard of hearing.

Please remain present in your booth/truck during open hours, but you are you free to step away to eat or take restroom breaks as needed. Food vendors will be located in the “downtown” area of the festival. It will be close to the stage, community tent, other crafts vendors and all the activity. 

Security: Fern Fest does not provide any security overnight for the crafts area. It will be a highly visible area and we don’t anticipate having any problems. With that said, we encourage locking up valuables and money if you feel any concern. All booths are required to have 4 walls that are closed up and secured each evening. We feel trusting of our community but we cannot make guarantees or be held responsible for any loss.

Load In: Food Vendors can arrive on Monday, July 8th between 8am to 4pm. Please be completely ready to be open by 12pm on Tuesday unless other arrangements have been made with event organizers. 

Load out: Food vendors must load out on Sunday, July 14th, 2024. Everyone must be off the property by 2pm, no exceptions.