Vendor Information
Thank you again for being a part of the Columbus Vegan Festival. We hope you are as excited about this year’s festival as we are. Through the support of vendors like you we are able to keep the Vegan Festival free to attend. There will be more than 80 vendors, food trucks and non-profits offering tasty plant-based food, crafts, products and information at the festival. In addition we have over a dozen speakers, yoga, meditation classes, and a kid’s area. All in all it should be a pretty amazing day!
Logistical Information
Location: Whetstone Community Center, 3923 North High Street Columbus, Ohio 43214. This is in the Clintonville area of town and is easily accessible from both Route 315 and I-71.
Parking: Please see the venue and parking maps. Vendor and volunteer parking will be in lot P-4 which is the Clintonville Women’s Club. We request that vendors unload at the community center and then move their vehicle next door to the Clintonville Women’s Club for the remainder of the day. We appreciate your assistance in freeing up the Community Center parking lots for festival attendees. If this lot is full of vendors, people will not come to the festival and that hurts all of us. After the festival, please feel free to move your vehicle back to the Community Center lot to tear down your booth.
Arrival: Vendor set-up starts at 8:15am sharp. When you arrive please check in at the vendor information table which will be set-up at the west entrance of the building next to the parking lot. Volunteers will take you to your assigned space. The festival will be open to the public from 11am to 6pm.
Emergency Contact: Eriyah Flynn – cell (740) 521-9091
Booth sizes:
• If you signed up as a Restaurant, your booth includes two chairs and two 8’ tables in an “L” shape – one customer facing and one to the side for prep station.
• If you signed up as an Inside vendor, your booth includes one 8’ table and two chairs.
• If you signed up as an Outside vendor, your booth includes a 10’ x 10’ area of grass on the east side of the building. It is your responsibility to bring tables, chairs, etc. whatever you need for your booth. Note: If you bring a canopy, it needs to include the flame retardant tag or the Fire Marshall will require you to take it down. Also the city requires that all pop-up canopies be secured in the event of high winds by either ballast or bucket filled with water or gravel/kitty litter to stabilize the tent. Again if your tent does not have this anchor, the fire inspector will make you take down your tent. You must bring your own ballast/water/gravel/kitty litter as we will not have any onsite.
• If you signed up as a double booth, then you have two 8’ tables giving you 16’ customer facing.
Food Vendors Signs – We encourage you to have signage with your menu to help attendees better see what you are selling. Most of the vendors in the Food Court will be able to tape (masking tape only – no duct tape) their signs to the wall behind their booth.
Vendor & Food License Information
A Transient Vendor License is required if vendors are selling retail items and do not have a permanent place of business in Franklin County. You may obtain the form at www.state.oh.us/tax. Contact the Ohio Department of Taxation at 1-800-282-1782 with questions. The fee is “one-time” and costs $25.
Food vendors will be inspected by Columbus Department of Public Health before the festival is open to the public.
• If you are cooking and selling food onsite you are required to have a temporary food license if you do not already have a mobile food license.
• Please be aware that we have been told that vendors selling packaged food that is temperature sensitive, such as ice cream or dip and cheeses, and cold beverages with ice, are required to have a temporary food license.
• If you have any questions, please direct them to Julian Perler, RS at the Health Department at (614) 645-6741 or [email protected] . He has been amazing to work with, knows about our event and will be happy to answer your questions.
• As per the vendor agreement, if you do not pass this inspection you will not be allowed to participate in the festival. No refunds will be given for those who fail this inspection. We have attached the application for your convenience.
Exceptions to temporary food license:
• If you are not selling food, and only passing out samples, you do not
need to have the temporary food license.
• If you are selling prepackaged or shelf stable food you are not required to have a temporary license.
• If you are selling canned/bottled beverages you do not need a permit.
As a reminder all products/services promoted at the event must be free of animal ingredients or materials (including animal based dairy, cheese or honey) and conform to requirements listed in the application form. Any vendor selling such items will be asked to remove them from their booth. Failure to comply with this request will result in your being asked to leave the festival without a refund of the booth fee.
Thanks for being part of the Columbus Vegan Festival!
