APPLICATION PROCESS

Commercial Small Businesses:  Small businesses that are not corporations or national brands.

Commercial Corporations or National Brands: Businesses that are Corporations or National Brands.

*If you have any questions regarding what type of vendor you are please contact the Street Fair team at streetfair@ncazaleafestival.org or at 910.794.2893.

VENDOR BOOTH FEES

*Early sign-ups will receive the early registration discount of $25.00 per booth.  To receive the early registration discount, a complete application must be received by July 31^st and full booth/electricity payment must be received by August 15th or within 2 weeks of approval if approved after July 31st. (DOES NOT APPLY TO 501C3 BOOTHS OR STREET FAIR ZONE BUSINESSES)

501C3 NON-PROFIT BOOTHS

All non-profit booths are required to submit a 501-c 3 form with the application, along with a mission statement. All non-profit booths will be required to pay the Booth Fee of $100, no exceptions. Non-profit booths must adhere to the Street Fair policy, including schedule, display requirements, no pets allowed, and no selling food of any kind.

SCHEDULE

All applicants, including non-profits, must occupy their booths at all times during Festival Street Fair operating hours. Participants who fail to continually occupy their booth(s) will be prohibited from participating in future North Carolina Azalea Festival events.

Operating Hours:

• Friday 6pm-10pm (optional for Arts & Commercial Vendors)
• Saturday, 10am – 10pm (6pm-10pm optional for Arts and Commercial Vendors)
• Sunday, 10am – 6pm
• Food Vendors must operate Friday 6pm-10pm, Saturday 10am- 10pm, and Sunday 10am-6pm 

ELECTRICITY (All Non-Food Vendors)

The Festival has a limited amount of electrical capacity.  Please review this section carefully to determine the correct amount of electricity that you need to secure your booth.  NOTE:  Maximum power per vendor booth is 50amps.   Power is NOT included with booth space.  Electrical power is available only in certain locations within the venue and is not guaranteed to be available to participants unless they specifically request it, pay the mandatory electrical fee of $50.00 with their application, and bring a 200 ft electrical cord and equipment.  Any vendor using or requesting electricity the day of the festival without prior approval will be charged a $75 fee. Electric may not be available however at that time as it is dependent on location and we can not move vendors on the day of set up as all booths will be full.  All cords and equipment must have grounds and must meet the approval of on-site electrician (capable of carrying the amperage needed for the specific appliance, no exposed wiring or tape, no overloading with multi-plug adapters, etc.).  Because power must be shared with other participants and temporary power loss at such events is not uncommon, participants should be prepared for occasional power issues including surges, outages, etc. and protect any sensitive equipment with surge protectors, etc.  No electrical cords or lights will be provided by the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc.  All (non)-food vendors using electrical devices and/or appliances must have a minimum of one 5lb (2A:5BC) portable fire extinguisher, with an inspection tag date of less than one year.  Commercial cooking operations shall comply with all local Fire Department regulations.

PARKING

Parking will be available to Arts and Commercial vendors in the city parking decks for a special event rate determined by the City of Wilmington.  Parking locations will be shown on the map provided to you in your vendor packet.  Due to health regulations, Food Vendors with refrigerator units will be provided with special parking in order to be in proximity to the Food Booths.  

FOOD & ALCOHOL SAMPLING

Any vendor selling food items who intend to provide samples must have a temporary health permit and be inspected by the New Hanover County Health Department.  Please review their website for an application and display your health permit at the festival.  The New Hanover County Health Department will inspect booths Friday at 6 pm and has the authority to shut down any booth that provides food samples without a permit.

Beer and Wine vendors are expected to have and must show proof of their ABC permits.  No liquor sampling is allowed.  Wine may only be sold by the bottle, not the glass and tasting is permitted to guests 21 and over.  Only pre-approved distributors with proper certifications will be permitted to sample or sell alcoholic beverages.  These vendors are also required to provide a current Certificate of Insurance naming the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. an Additional Insured, with at least a $2,000,000 liability.  Violators will be expelled and fees will not be returned.

New Hanover County Health Department permits application costs and rules website.  http://health.nhcgov.com/permits-and-rules

FOOD VENDORS (Power & Water)

Power and water hook-ups will be provided to Food vendors ONLY. No electrical cords or lights will be provided by the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. The Festival requests a twist lock connection cord to hook up to the generator.  All cords and equipment must have grounds and must meet the approval of on-site electrician (capable of carrying the amperage needed for the specific appliance, no exposed wiring or tape, no overloading with multi-plug adapters, etc.).  Before arriving, you should have a professional electrician inspect your set up and wiring and put a stamp or sticker of approval on it.  Anyone who does not come properly prepared may not be accepted back the following year and may be asked to leave with our refund. 

Because power must be shared with other participants and temporary power loss at such events is not uncommon, participants should be prepared for occasional power issues including surges, outages, etc. and protect any sensitive equipment with surge protectors, etc. Commercial cooking operations shall comply with all local Fire Department regulations.  For questions on power and water hookups please contact the office and request to speak with Food Vendor Chair Steve Henderson

VENDOR LICENSE

Approved vendors will receive a Vendor License that must be displayed on the outside of the tent, in the upper right front corner of your booth clearly visible from the street, at all times.  Vendor Licenses will be provided at check-in on Friday.

ACCEPTANCE / SPACE ASSIGNMENTS

For the benefit of our participants and attendees, we will make every effort to limit excessive duplication of items offered for sale; however, we do not guarantee exclusivity.  The North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. reserves the right to reject any application due to any reason, including duplication.  Digitally reproduced items or reproductions of works already created are prohibited. The North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. reserves the discretion to not allow items to be sold which are different than what was listed on the original application, as well as the discretion to limit commercially manufactured work.

You will be notified after review of your application to advise whether you have been tentatively accepted or denied a space at the Street Fair.  No application will be considered fully accepted until the full amount due is received, along with the other requirements listed above. Space assignments will be determined solely by the North Carolina Azalea Festival Street Fair Committee.  Once space assignments are assigned, they cannot be changed, no exceptions. Space assignment, unloading permit with designated unloading time, final site map, directions to the Street Fair and participant parking areas will be provided to you within two weeks of the event.  In order to ensure a well-balanced, aesthetically-pleasing and interesting Street Fair, the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. has full discretion concerning vendor placement and reserves the right to limit the number of spaces for any one particular type of products/services and reserves the right to change or substitute participant spaces, maintaining diversity and quality of the Street Fair.  The Festival also reserves the right to reassign vendor spaces throughout the Festival weekend.  Booths moved without permission of the Street Fair Committee will result in vendors being asked to immediately leave the Festival and the loss of future participation in the Festival.

SET-UP & CHECK-IN

All Vendors: Setup will be on Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

All vendors must be checked in on Friday by 5:00 pm or your space will be reassigned by the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. with no refund. Committee volunteers will be stationed at each block to assist with proper location setup.  You may want to ask a friend to accompany you to the set-up phase, to either park your vehicle or to stay with your equipment and merchandise while you park.  All participants MUST have their delivery vehicles off the street no later than 5:00 pm on Friday. 

Tents are required for all spaces.  Participants are responsible for providing their own tent/table/chair set-up, all other materials, and for setting up their own displays. The North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. only provides the booth space.  Vendors are encouraged to bring handcarts to transport the additional product to their booth during the weekend.  No vehicles will be allowed on the streets after 5 pm on Friday until takedown Sunday at 6:00 pm. 

Vendors must indicate on the application the vehicle type needed for a parking permit.  Oversize vehicle parking is limited and will only be allowed in designated lots.  Parking passes must be displayed in all vehicles or they will be towed.  Public parking decks will not honor any parking passes.

SECURITY

Overnight security will be provided to monitor the venue, but participant property is left at the participant’s risk.  Participants are encouraged to secure display and booth set-ups and remove valuable items when they tear down each evening.  The North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. and the City of Wilmington assume no liability for lost, stolen or damaged property.

INCIDENT REPORTS

Volunteers will have incident reports on hand.  Find a volunteer to fill one out if there are any incidents.  There are volunteers at every street barricade and there will be volunteers walking the Street Fair as well as stationed at the Command Center located in the Coast Guard Lot on the corner of Water and Princess St.

DISPLAY REQUIREMENTS

In order to maintain the orderly movement of the crowd, merchandise may not project into walkways or neighboring display spaces.  All sales, conducting or demonstrations, distribution of written materials and any other commercial, promotional and charitable solicitation activities must be conducted within the participant’s pre-assigned display space.  All vendor booths will be checked on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for quality control.  Any vendor in violation will be asked to leave the Festival.

The North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. assumes no responsibility for items or displays. Merchandise should be displayed as tastefully as possible.  No stolen merchandise, designer knock-offs, secondhand or “swap meet” items or those with lewd or vulgar content, amplified music, microphones, drugs or drug paraphernalia, firearms, ammunition, knives, throwing stars, etc. are allowed at the Street Fair.  The North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. reserves the right to refuse booth space to inappropriate or controversial organizations or vendors, and to remove any participant any time before or during the Street Fair in cases where: the participant is guilty of improper conduct; merchandise or display items are improper for family viewing; a participant hinders or encumbers another display or another participant’s ability to properly exhibit. Participants are strictly prohibited from allowing any other vendors to sell or promote goods/services from their assigned space.

HOSPITALITY EXPECTATIONS

As a vendor in the North Carolina Azalea Festival Street Fair, it is the expectation of the Street Fair Committee, that every person working in your booth will do their best to serve every guest with honor, dignity, and respect.  In addition, we expect vendors to treat other vendors as well as volunteers and members of the Street Fair Committee in the same manner.  Our goal as a Committee is that you will join us to protect and build the long-term viability of the Festival. Failure to comply with our hospitality expectations can result in vendors being asked to leave and not to participate in future years.

If at any point you believe you have been handled in a way that does not reflect the spirit of this hospitality agreement or you have seen other vendors act in a manner detrimental to the spirit of this agreement, we ask that you send an email to streetfair@ncazaleafestival.org.  The Committee will review all submissions by the end of June.

ISSUE ADVERTISING

The Festival will not accept as a participant in either the Parade or Street Fair individuals or organizations that engage in “issue advertising.”  If we see that you are engaging in “issue advertising” we will ask you to leave and you may not be allowed to participate in future years.  Issue advertising includes without limiting the generality of the term: 

Political candidates or those groups who support political candidates; and, individuals or groups who support or oppose any question which could be the subject of a referendum or legislative, executive or judicial determination of a public question; and, individuals or groups who engage in or promote discrimination; and, active interpersonal solicitation for or promotion of specify religious/political beliefs, as opposed to general promotion of a religious based organization. 

Elected government officials, if invited, may participate in Festival events in their official capacity. 

CLEAN-UP

All safety and fire regulations must be observed.  Each participant is responsible for the clean-up of their space.  Trash that cannot fit inside standard trash cans provided may not be left onsite.  Dumping of any sort is prohibited, including oils, grease, coals, ice, trash, etc. onto streets, lots, sidewalks or drains.

REGULATIONS

The North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. reserves the right to remove any participant at any time before or during the Street Fair. There will be absolutely NO REFUNDS once you have been fully accepted as a participant, even in the event of rain or catastrophic event.  Each participant is responsible for their own insurance, licenses, and permits.  Sales tax collection and payment to the State of North Carolina is the responsibility of the participant.  Food vendors MUST enclose a copy of their current Health Department permit with their application. Absolutely NO pets are allowed in the Street Fair premises.

Participant hereby indemnifies and shall defend and hold harmless the City of Wilmington, the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc., its officers, employees and agents from and against any and all suits, actions, legal or administrative proceedings, claims, demands, damages, liabilities, monetary loss, interest, attorney’s fees, costs and expenses of whatsoever kind or nature arising out of the performance of their agreement, including those arising out of injury or death of participant’s employees or subcontractors, whether arising before, during or after completion of services hereunder and in any manner directly or indirectly caused, or contributed to in whole or in part, by reason of any act, omission, fault or negligence of participant or its employees, agents or subcontractors.

QUESTIONS

Please contact the North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. directly at 910.794.2893 or the Street Fair Committee Chairs: streetfair@ncazaleafestival.org

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