---
title: "Food festival ticketing questions answered"
description: "Get straight answers to 21 questions food festival organizers ask, from what your buyers pay and when your ticket money reaches you to how your team runs the day."
canonical: "https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions/food-festivals/questions"
---

1. [Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/)
2. [Solutions](https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions)
3. [Food festivals](https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions/food-festivals)
4. Food festival ticketing: your questions answered

# Food festival ticketing: your questions answered

  [Get started free](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome?utm_source=compare&utm_campaign=solutions-food-festivals-questions) [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo)

- **21** questions answered
- **18** pages that show you how

Here you can find out what food festival ticketing costs you and your guests, how day tickets, tasting tokens and wristbands sell in one checkout, and when your ticket money reaches you. You can also see how you choose food vendors, plan their pitches and power, collect their certificates and invoice your share of their takings, all on the same event where you sell your tickets.

1. [Who pays the booking fee on my food festival tickets?](#who-pays-the-booking-fee-on-my-food-festival-tickets)
2. [When does my ticket money reach me?](#when-does-my-ticket-money-reach-me)
3. [Can I sell a tasting wristband or token card with the ticket?](#can-i-sell-a-tasting-wristband-or-token-card-with-the-ticket)
4. [Can I limit how many guests are on site at once?](#can-i-limit-how-many-guests-are-on-site-at-once)
5. [Can I sell chef demonstrations and a long-table lunch separately?](#can-i-sell-chef-demonstrations-and-a-long-table-lunch-separately)
6. [Does Fai decide which food vendors to approve?](#does-fai-decide-which-food-vendors-to-approve)
7. [Which certificates can I ask food vendors for?](#which-certificates-can-i-ask-food-vendors-for)
8. [Do food vendors' staff need tickets?](#do-food-vendors-staff-need-tickets)
9. [How do I plan where every food truck goes?](#how-do-i-plan-where-every-food-truck-goes)
10. [Can my electrician see every vendor's power needs?](#can-my-electrician-see-every-vendor-s-power-needs)
11. [Can I run a monthly street food market with the same vendors?](#can-i-run-a-monthly-street-food-market-with-the-same-vendors)
12. [Can I take a percentage of what each food vendor sells?](#can-i-take-a-percentage-of-what-each-food-vendor-sells)
13. [What can vendors send to back up their takings?](#what-can-vendors-send-to-back-up-their-takings)
14. [Will guests see my vendors' phone numbers or emails in the directory?](#will-guests-see-my-vendors-phone-numbers-or-emails-in-the-directory)
15. [Can a sponsor or food magazine hand out its own tickets?](#can-a-sponsor-or-food-magazine-hand-out-its-own-tickets)
16. [Can my guests earn money back for bringing friends to my food festival?](#can-my-guests-earn-money-back-for-bringing-friends-to-my-food-festival)
17. [Can volunteers apply to staff my gates, bins and info tent?](#can-volunteers-apply-to-staff-my-gates-bins-and-info-tent)
18. [Can I check ages at the gate if my food festival has a bar?](#can-i-check-ages-at-the-gate-if-my-food-festival-has-a-bar)
19. [Can my gate team scan tickets without a phone signal?](#can-my-gate-team-scan-tickets-without-a-phone-signal)
20. [Can I see the weather forecast for my festival site?](#can-i-see-the-weather-forecast-for-my-festival-site)
21. [What happens to tickets if I have to postpone or cancel my food festival?](#what-happens-to-tickets-if-i-have-to-postpone-or-cancel-my-food-festival)

## Who pays the booking fee on my food festival tickets?

You choose, once for each event, before you create your first ticket type. With Added, guests pay the fee on top and you receive the full ticket price. With Absorbed, guests pay exactly the price on your poster and the fee comes out of what you receive.

On your event, you select Tickets and choose a card under Booking Fees on the Inventory tab. Added is the default on a new event. Added Later shows the ticket price on your event page and the fee at checkout, and is not offered for events in Australia, the United Kingdom or the United States.

The fee falls as a percentage as your prices rise, with a small minimum on low prices, and free tickets carry none, so a free-entry street food market costs you nothing to ticket. The same choice covers every ticket type and add-on on the event, including your token cards and wristbands.

[Choose who pays the booking fee on your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/set-who-pays-the-fees)

## When does my ticket money reach me?

You choose when you set up your brand. With Paid out after your event, Ticket Fairy takes the card payments and pays you 10 to 15 business days after the festival finishes. With Before your event, as tickets sell, guests pay into your own payment processing account, so you get paid daily.

Paid out after your event needs nothing set up before you publish. Being paid as tickets sell needs your own payment processing account, and that account has to be Active before your tickets go on sale. That suits a festival paying pitch, marquee and generator deposits before the gates open.

Ticket Fairy pays you for a postponed festival after it takes place, and pending refund requests and chargebacks extend the wait. It is worth checking Payout Details under your brand's Details before the festival ends, because a payout already sent to an old account has to be recalled.

[Choose how and when you get paid](https://www.ticketfairy.com/features/payments-and-payouts/payment-accounts-fees-and-payouts)

## Can I sell a tasting wristband or token card with the ticket?

Yes. Each is an add-on with its own price and stock, sold in the same checkout. You choose which ticket types it goes with, so buyers see only the extras that belong with their ticket.

On your event, you select Tickets, scroll to Add-Ons and select Create Add-On. You enter what the guest gets, such as Token card of 10 or Tasting wristband, its price and its stock. With Limit to Certain Ticket Types Only on and the day tickets it goes with picked, a guest only sees the extras that belong with their ticket.

When the last token card sells, it shows as sold out in checkout and your day tickets stay on sale. When you raise the stock, it goes straight back on sale. At a collection point, your team scans the add-on's own code, so the guest's ticket stays ready for entry.

[Sell tokens, wristbands and parking with your tickets](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-add-ons-with-your-tickets)

## Can I limit how many guests are on site at once?

Yes. Your day ticket can have time slots, each with the number of guests your site holds at once. Each slot sells out on its own count, and a full slot shows greyed out on your event page while the other times stay on sale.

Ticket Fairy can turn on time slots for the festival. You then create the ticket type, turn on This ticket type has time slots and select Generate time slots. You choose the dates, the weekdays you open, the first and last entry time, the slot length, the price and Max sales per slot, and Ticket Fairy lays out every slot for you.

Edit Time Slot on any slot gives a busy lunchtime its own price or capacity. On the day, the Ticket Type tab on Check-In groups arrivals by date, then by time, then by ticket type.

[Sell timed-entry tickets for your food festival](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-timed-entry-tickets)

## Can I sell chef demonstrations and a long-table lunch separately?

Yes. Each one can be its own ticket type with its own price and allocation, beside your day tickets. When the long-table lunch is full, it sells out and your day tickets stay on sale.

With the demonstration time and the chef in each ticket type's description, guests choose before they buy. A guest who buys a day ticket and a lunch gets both in one order.

When the lunch is only for guests who already hold a day ticket, it can sell as an add-on instead, with the seats at the table as its stock and limited to your day ticket types.

[Set up your ticket types](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/set-up-ticket-types)

## Does Fai decide which food vendors to approve?

No. Fai ranks applications against the menu you describe, with plain reasons, and your team approves, waitlists or declines each vendor.

On the event, you select Operations, then Traders, and select Set up. You enter The mix you want in plain words, such as no more than two pizza vans and plenty of vegan dishes. With Rank with Fai, she marks each application Strong fit, Possible fit or Weak fit with her reasons. Best fit first puts the strongest at the top.

On a vendor, you choose their pitch and pitch fee, then select Approve, Waiting list or Decline and check the email before you confirm. Approving raises their invoice from the pitch fee and extras and can email it with a link to pay by card. A declined vendor can still be approved or put on the waiting list later.

[Take food vendor applications for your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/take-trader-applications-for-your-event)

## Which certificates can I ask food vendors for?

Any file you need, such as a food hygiene rating, public liability insurance or a gas safety certificate. Fai reads each expiry date for you to check, and vendors who have not sent theirs yet get a reminder.

In Traders, Set up lists the Certificates every trader must upload on the application page. Vendors upload each file on their own trader page. A date Fai read shows Read by Fai, and you select Confirm date if it is right or Change date if it is not.

With Remind about what is missing, the vendor gets an email listing what is still missing with a new link to their page. You also find every certificate in Licenses and certificates under the vendor, beside your outside teams' paperwork, and the vendor gets a reminder before an accepted one expires.

[Get your food vendors ready for the day](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/get-your-traders-ready-for-show-day)

## Do food vendors' staff need tickets?

No. A pitch fee can include staff passes, and each vendor names the staff they bring. An extra on the pitch fee adds more passes.

You set the number in Staff passes included on each pitch fee and extra under Fees in the trader set-up. With no number set, there is no limit. Each vendor names the staff they bring on their own trader page, up to the number their pitch fee and extras allow.

An extra such as Extra staff pass can have its own price, and a vendor who brings a bigger team buys it when they apply.

[Set your pitch fees, extras and staff passes](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/take-trader-applications-for-your-event)

## How do I plan where every food truck goes?

You enter your pitch rules the way you would say them, such as the two coffee vans at least 25 meters apart or the fire lane clear of pitches. Fai plans pitches for the vendors still without one, and nothing moves until you place them.

Once your site plan is uploaded, you open Operations, select Site map and select Rules and plan. Each rule goes in New rule. Fai shows you each rule the way Pitch check will apply it, and a rule she could not read is marked Needs you until you say what it does.

Under Fai's pitch plan, you select Plan pitches with Fai. She places up to 150 approved vendors on free pitches without breaking a rule, and says why for each one. You untick anyone you do not want placed, then select the button that counts them. Pitch check says Nothing to fix when every pitch keeps your rules.

[Set pitch rules and let Fai plan your pitches](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/set-pitch-rules-and-let-fai-plan-your-trader-pitches)

## Can my electrician see every vendor's power needs?

Yes. A power sheet link for one zone or every zone goes to your electrician. It lists each pitch with its vendor, the amps they need and whether they need water, with the totals at the top and no sign-in.

Under Operations, you select Traders, then Pitches. Under Power sheets, you choose the Zone and how long the Link works for, from 3 to 60 days, then select Make link and Copy link.

The sheet always shows the pitches and power as they are now, so a vendor you move shows on their new pitch the next time your electrician opens it. It never shows a vendor's contact details, and the link shows how many times it was opened.

[Share a power sheet with your electrician](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/share-a-power-sheet-with-your-electrician)

## Can I run a monthly street food market with the same vendors?

Yes. One application covers every date of a market season, and you approve or decline each date on its own. A vendor who cannot make a date releases the pitch for a waiting-list vendor.

On the application page set-up, you tick the other dates of your season under Market dates and select Save dates. Each market date is one of your brand's other upcoming events. The application page then asks Which dates do you want to trade?, and Ticket Fairy adds an application to that date's event for each date a vendor chooses.

On a vendor, Other dates lists each date with Approve and Decline. The vendor gets an email for each date you decide. On their trader page, they say when they cannot trade on a date, which releases their pitch for a vendor on your waiting list.

[Take one application for every market date](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/take-trader-applications-for-your-event)

## Can I take a percentage of what each food vendor sells?

Yes. You set a percentage on the pitch fee, with a minimum and a maximum if you want them. After the festival, vendors enter their takings with their till reports, Fai checks the reports against the figure, and each vendor gets an invoice for your share.

In the trader set-up, under Fees, you change the pitch fee and enter its Share of sales (%), with a minimum and a maximum if you want them. The share is the percentage of the takings, raised to the minimum or lowered to the maximum. An empty field means no limit.

After the festival, you open Traders and select Takings. Each vendor shows Reports match, Reports differ or Reports unclear. When you select Accept, then Raise the share-of-sales invoice, the vendor gets an invoice by email with a link to pay. The Invoices view shows what is paid and what is still to pay.

[Check vendor takings and invoice your share](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/check-trader-takings-and-invoice-a-share-of-sales)

## What can vendors send to back up their takings?

Up to 5 till or card reports, each a PDF, photo or spreadsheet of up to 25 MB. The takings must be in the pitch fee's currency, and the vendor can split the total into card and cash.

The vendor enters their takings under Your takings on their trader page, splits them into card and cash if they want and selects Send takings. The page shows what their share of sales would be. They can send takings up to 5 times a day, and once you accept the figure they cannot send it again.

When a figure does not add up, you select Ask about it and say what is wrong. The vendor enters the takings again, and the old figure stays in their panel marked Replaced.

[Read the reports vendors send with their takings](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/check-trader-takings-and-invoice-a-share-of-sales)

## Will guests see my vendors' phone numbers or emails in the directory?

No. A listing shows only the name, what they sell, the kind of vendor, the words guests filter by, a website and an Instagram name.

Each vendor enters their own listing on their trader page and sends it for review. Under Traders, Directory lets you check each listing, change it if you need to and select Publish. Only approved vendors can be in the directory, and a vendor you cancel leaves it at once.

Copy embed code gives you the code to paste into the page of your website where the list goes. Guests filter the directory by kind of vendor and by the words you added, such as vegan or gluten free.

[Show your vendors in a directory on your website](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/show-your-traders-in-a-directory-on-your-website)

## Can a sponsor or food magazine hand out its own tickets?

Yes. You create a delegation for the partner with the ticket types and the number they can hand out. They open one access link and add their own guests, up to the limit you set, and never see your sales or your buyers.

On the event, you open Delegations and select Create Delegation. You name it after the partner, select Add Ticket for each ticket type with its quantity, and add the person who holds it with Add User. When you save, Ticket Fairy emails them their invitation once your event is published.

A separate delegation for each partner shows you who took what. Guest tickets a partner already issued stay valid if you delete the delegation later.

[Let a partner hand out their own tickets](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/let-a-partner-hand-out-their-own-tickets)

## Can my guests earn money back for bringing friends to my food festival?

Yes. Everyone who buys an eligible paid ticket gets their own referral link by email and on their order page, and earns back part of their ticket price as friends buy through it. A new event starts at 10% back after 2 referred sales, 30% after 5 and the full price after 8.

On your event, under Tickets, then Settings, Disable Rewards System stays turned off under Rewards System. You set each of the three targets from 1 to 10 referred sales and the share of the ticket price each one earns back. With Show referral rewards upsell on, guests see what they can earn before they check out.

The targets are best set before your first sale, because the terms guests saw when they bought stay fixed. The Influencers report lists each person's link clicks, referred sales, revenue and the reward they earned, so you can weigh what the rewards cost against the tickets they brought in.

[Reward buyers who bring friends to your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/reward-buyers-for-referrals)

## Can volunteers apply to staff my gates, bins and info tent?

Yes. A volunteer application form lists the roles you need, and people apply from their phone with no account. Fai gives you her reading of each person, and you accept, waitlist, decline or shortlist them in batches.

Under Operations, you select Volunteers, then Open applications. You add the Roles you need, or select Use your rota teams to copy your rota's teams as the roles. The form always asks for name, email, phone, days, emergency contact and consent, and you can add your own questions and a minimum age.

Copy application link gives you a link to share on your website and social pages. Each person you accept gets a private page to pick shifts, ask to swap one and read their day sheet.

[Recruit volunteers for your food festival](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/recruit-volunteers-for-your-event)

## Can I check ages at the gate if my food festival has a bar?

Yes. You set the youngest age you admit, and buyers enter their date of birth at checkout. Your gate team sees each guest's age status as they scan and marks ID checked on the wristband, so your bar serves without asking again.

With the youngest age you admit set in Minimum age on the event's Details page, checkout asks each buyer for their date of birth. Checkout works out the buyer's age on the day your event starts and tells a buyer who is too young before they pay.

Checkout checks the buyer's age, not each guest in their group, so the check at the gate matters. As they scan each ticket, your gate team sees the guest's age status, and when a guest shows their ID they mark ID checked on the wristband, so the bar serves without asking again.

[Check ages once at the gate](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-operating-system/front-of-house/box-office-and-door)

## Can my gate team scan tickets without a phone signal?

No. The Entry Fairy app needs an internet connection to scan tickets, so check the connection at each gate before you open.

Before the gates open, a test ticket scanned on every phone confirms each one is ready. The first phone admits it, and every other phone shows it as already checked in with the time and who scanned it. A phone that shows neither is not signed in or has no connection.

Everyone who scans joins as Door Staff, so each person has their own login and opens the scanning app and nothing else in your dashboard. Every admission then shows who scanned it.

[Prepare your gate team for the day](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/prepare-your-door-team)

## Can I see the weather forecast for my festival site?

Yes. Once your festival is a week away, you see the forecast for your site on your Performance page beside your ticket sales, with your festival days marked.

Each day shows the high and low, the chance of rain, the wind, and sunrise and sunset at your site. While the festival is further away, Historical shows what the first day is usually like there.

A severe-weather warning shows above the forecast, so you can plan shade, cover, water and messages to ticket holders in good time.

[Check the weather for your festival](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/check-your-event-weather)

## What happens to tickets if I have to postpone or cancel my food festival?

If you postpone, ticket holders keep their tickets for the new date, and Ticket Fairy emails every one of them when you confirm. If you cancel, each buyer gets an email as their own refund goes through.

Postpone from Event Details whenever a later date is possible, because a postponed event can still be canceled later and a canceled one is hard to bring back. You can postpone or cancel until the event ends or its funds are paid out.

Your own message can go out the same day, and the event description can tell anyone who reaches the page what happened. A message from you to your vendors means they hear about the new date before load-in.

[Change the date or call off your festival](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/change-or-call-off-an-event)

[Ticket Fairy for food festivals](https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions/food-festivals)

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---

This page is on Ticket Fairy, a ticketing, marketing and operations platform for live events and the venues that host them: festivals, club nights, concerts, conferences and tours, and night clubs, beach clubs and concert venues. It grows revenue with fan rewards that turn an audience into a sales channel, and runs the money side with payments and payouts, Vault business banking, and working capital advanced against ticket sales. [How Ticket Fairy ticketing works](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing) · [Ticket Fairy for AI assistants](https://www.ticketfairy.com/llms.txt)