2 Things a Festival Planner Should Never Do

A festival succeeds on happy attendees, smooth logistics, and vendors who feel the event was worth their time and money. Vendors pay fees, prep inventory, bring staff, follow health rules, and take on the risk of showing up. Don’t undercut the people you worked hard to recruit.

Two things every festival planner should avoid.

1. Don’t Give Away What Your Vendors Are Selling

Simple rule: if vendors paid to be at your event, nobody else — sponsor, booth, organization — should be handing out free meals, snacks, drinks, or desserts that compete with their sales.

Even small giveaways hurt. A vendor sinks hundreds or thousands of dollars into prepping for your event, counting on the crowd to buy from them. Free competition takes that money straight out of their pocket.

Sponsors can still show up — coupons, non-competing samples, branded items, games, prizes. Free food and drinks just need to stay off the table.

2. Don’t Mix Chains Into the Mobile Vendor Lineup

People come to a festival for something different from their everyday options — that’s not what a national chain offers. Mobile vendors bring the personality and local flavor that make a festival a festival, often building their menus around the event itself.

Chains also bring bigger budgets and built-in brand recognition mobile vendors don’t have. Set them up side by side and the food area stops feeling like an event and starts feeling like a food court.

The Bottom Line

Vendors who do well at your event come back. They tell other vendors. They build your reputation for you.

Don’t give away what they’re trying to sell. Don’t make them compete with chains. Keep the food area fair, festive, and built around the vendors who make it unique.