A guide to attending a festival as a food vendor

So, you’ve followed the steps in our guide to starting your own street food business, and now you’re ready to take your business to the next level. The next step for any street food vendor is landing a pitch at one of the UK’s major festivals. This is the holy grail for food truck owners, and it’s easy to see why: festival-goers spent approximately £1.01 billion during independent festivals from 2010 to 2014 (including the price of the tickets), according to research from the Association of Independent Music Festivals. In short, there’s a lot of money to be made from festivals, and most full-time food truck owners make most of their money over the festival period. To help you take your street food business to the next level and make the most of this golden opportunity, we’ve put together this guide. Read on to find out: What food sells best at festivals How to choose the right festival to attend How to become a food vendor at festivals How to make the most of your festival pitch How to perform a post-festival analysis While it’s impossible to say whether you’re going to be a hit if you pay for a pitch at a festival, it’s important you have a good idea before you put down the money for a pitch. So, the question that you’re probably wondering is: what food sells best at festivals? The honest answer is that it depends on the festival. At smaller festivals where there’s only going to be a few vendors, your Vietnamese street food isn’t going to do very well, as people will be going for the classics like burger, hog roast, and pizza. However, at a popular festival attended by people with lots of disposable income (think Glastonbury), the basics will already be covered. You’re therefore more likely to stand out if you offer something a bit unique. The same applies to dedicated food festivals, where vendors are going to want to try new and exotic foods. So, while burger vans are always going to take the lion’s share of the profits at any festival, you might be better off going for something a bit different if you’re planning on pitching up at a larger event.

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