Food festival event management plan: what to cover

Food festivals multiply the usual event paperwork by the number of traders. Your event management plan has to show the council two things: that the site works as an event, and that every vendor on it is legitimate, insured and safe.

The vendor file: the heart of a food festival plan

Reviewers will expect you to hold, for every trader:

• Food business registration — traders must be registered with a local authority (registration is free and required at least 28 days before trading starts, so no legitimate trader lacks it).
• Food hygiene rating and the authority that issued it.
• Public liability insurance — check the expiry date actually covers your event date.
• A risk assessment for their unit — ideally specific to your event, not a generic one. Point traders at our mobile catering guide.
• Gas safety — an in-date gas safety record for LPG installations, issued by a suitably registered engineer.
• Electrical safety — inspection and test records for equipment (PAT), and details of what they need to plug in.

Chase this file early. The traders who are slow to send paperwork are the ones the council will ask about.

Site layout: think in queues

Food events fail at the pinch points. Popular stalls build queues that block walkways; walkways narrow at gates, corners and generator positions. In your site plan:

• Give the busiest traders frontage onto the widest routes, and depth for queues to fold into.
• Keep emergency access routes clear and marked — agree them with the council and emergency services and defend them on the day.
• Separate back-of-house: gas cylinders, generators and restock vehicles belong behind the stalls, away from the public.
• Put hand-washing and bins where people finish eating, not where it was easy to plumb.

Licensing: alcohol, music and late food

Selling alcohol, providing regulated entertainment, or serving hot food and drink after 11pm are licensable activities under the Licensing Act 2003. For smaller events a Temporary Event Notice covers this — given to the council at least ten working days ahead, capped at 499 people on site at once. Bigger events need a premises licence or an event on already-licensed land. Your plan should state which route you're using and who holds the licence or notice.

Noise, neighbours and the end of the night

Food festivals sit in the awkward middle of the noise spectrum: not a music event, but generators, PA announcements, a covers band and two thousand people talking. If you're near housing, your plan should say what time amplified sound stops, who monitors it, and a contact number a resident can actually reach on the day — councils weigh the complaints history of a site when the next application arrives.

The end of the event deserves a paragraph too: traders breaking down in the dark, vehicles coming onto a site that still has stragglers, and a site sweep for gas cylinders, waste oil and anything else that shouldn't be there when the park reopens at 8am.

The unglamorous sections that reviewers actually read

• Waste — food events generate startling amounts. Say who collects, how often, and where the skips sit.
• Water — traders need potable water and somewhere to dispose of grey water that isn't the nearest drain.
• Fire — LPG and fryers concentrated in temporary structures is the classic food-event risk. Spacing between units, extinguishers and fire blankets per stall, cylinder storage, and a no-smoking rule behind the stalls all belong in the plan.
• Weather — gazebo ballast, and a decision point for high wind.
• First aid and lost children — proportionate cover, findable locations.

The general structure of an EMP is covered in our template guide — the sections above are what get extra scrutiny when food is the point of the event.

Common questions

How many toilets does a food festival need?

It depends on attendance, duration and how much drinking is involved — industry guidance (such as the events industry's Purple Guide) publishes ratios, and many councils reference them. Whatever number you land on, show your working in the plan; 'we've ordered some portaloos' invites questions.

Do I need to check every trader's paperwork myself?

Yes — or appoint someone who does. 'The trader said they were registered' isn't a defence you want to rely on. Collect documents before the event, check dates and names match, and keep the file available on the day.

What about allergens at a festival with dozens of traders?

Each food business is responsible for its own allergen information, but organisers increasingly require traders to display it clearly as a condition of trading. Putting that condition in your trader agreement — and in the plan — shows the council you've thought about it.