Festival Guidelines

Click here to read the Festival Guidelines

Business Info

Contact Info

Onsite Manager Contact Info

This information is only required if different from above

Food - Menu List & Pricing

We are a German festival and priority will be given to vendors providing food with clear German heritage. We attract approximately 100,000 participants over the course of 2 1⁄2 days so you must be prepared for a high volume event. Please take careful note that you will not be allowed to close early, leave early or stop serving at any point during the event.

Please list ALL items you wish to sell. Please include the price range for each item (PRICE MIN & PRICE MAX).
Additions or changes are strongly discouraged after application is submitted and must be approved in advance of the festival. Please see food vendor guidelines.

Examples:

Hamburger: $3.00 - $4.00
Hotdog: $2.50
Fries: $2.00 - $3.00

Food - Handcrafted Beverage List & Pricing

All vendors who wish to sell beverages (including bottled water) must sell Pepsi products, UNLESS the Festival deems the vendor’s handcrafted drink is a specialty beverage (e.g. lemonade, snow cones, etc.) Please include the price range for each item (PRICE MIN & PRICE MAX)

Examples:

Cherry Lemonade: $3 - $5
Snow Cone: $2.50

Food - Specialty

Please describe thoroughly - this is your time to get us excited about what you do!

What do you do really well? What is your specialty? What do people rave about? What items make you stand out from other operations like yours?

Food - Vending Experience

1. Please list your Previous Festival/Event Vending experiences. We require sincere experience so please be thorough.

2. Include the name, location, year, estimated attendance, and estimated crowd size.

For example:

1) NC State Fair / Raleigh, NC / 2017 / 1,000,000
2) Hickory Oktoberfest / Hickory. NC / 2016 / 90,000
3) National Folk Festival / Salisbury, MD / 2018 / 150,000

3. Oktoberfest can draw approximately 100,000 people over 2½ days. At peak times, how many entrees can your operation serve in a one-hour period?

4. How many people would be working on site

5. In your operation, what is the typical time from when an order is taken to when that order is served?

Food - Operation Description

1. How do you set up your food operation? Please describe thoroughly.

2. How long does it take you to set up, from arrival to service ready?

3. How long does it take you to break down, from service to load out?

4. Oktoberfest aims to minimize its environmental impact by striving towards a minimal-waste event. Vendors are encouraged to recycle and utilize products that have minimal environmental impact. Styrofoam is strongly discouraged. Please describe how your business implements programs to use recyclable or compostable products in the serving of festival foods to the public.

Food - Service and Size Specifications

Food vendor space is allocated by the frontage foot. Standard booth spaces are 10 frontage feet and 20 frontage feet. Standard vendor spaces are 12’ deep. For food trucks, the frontage foot allocation is based on the bumper to bumper length. For trailers, frontage foot allocation is the total length including tongue.

Please make sure you measure accurately. If you arrive needing more frontage feet, we may not be able to accommodate you based on the space required between each food vendor by the Fire Department.

Unique space requirements? Contact us at: info@downtownhickory.com

1. How many feet long is the front of your space, as measured on the side from which you serve? (Remember: Trucks – measure from bumper to bumper. Trailers – measure from back of trailer to nose of hitch). List length in feet.

2. Please list the maximum height of your set-up (tent, trailer or truck). List height in feet

3. What side of the trailer or truck do you serve from? (if applicable)

4. Do you have multiple service windows available? If so, please describe.

5. Do you have an awning or condiment table that extends beyond your serving line? If yes, please describe thoroughly.

Food - Operating Needs

We assume you use propane. Do you use anything else?

Food - Electricity

Electrical hookup fee will include one 20 Amp, 110 VAC connection. No 220 Volt Hookups are available. All vendors must supply their own #10 or #12 power cords. Please don’t show up with a #16 or #14 cord or one not in good repair, the inspector will not let you hook up in this case.

Plan NOT to use quartz lights. This will ensure we have enough electrical capacity for everyone.

Gasoline or diesel generators are not allowed.

How many 20 amp lines will your operation require? No 220 Volt service will be available.

Food - Additional Information

Is there any additional information about your business and/or product that you would like the review committee to know?

Food - Disclaimer

Disclaimer I agree to abide by the 2023 Food Vendor Application Guidelines and all policies and guidelines developed by Hickory's Oktoberfest Festival planning committee. Further, I understand that failure to follow these regulations can mean expulsion from this year's or future Festivals.

I hereby release and agree to hold harmless all indemnified parties from any damage to my property or any personal injury which I or my helpers may sustain while participating in the Hickory's Oktoberfest Festival October 13th, 14th and 15th, 2023.

Confirm the above by typing your full name and date in the spaces below.

Certificate of Insurance

If accepted as a Vendor for Oktoberfest, we will need a certificate of insurance provided to Oktoberfest producers, Hickory Downtown Development Association, within two weeks of acceptance. The Certificate of Insurance must name:

HDDA Oktoberfest 2023 - as additionally insured.

All Food Vendors attending Oktoberfest will need to complete an Application for Temporary Food Establishment Permit and submit the paperwork and fees. Please make sure they have time to arrive through the mail at least two weeks prior to the festival, by September 25th. The links below are for your convenience.