Music Festival Food and Beverage Vendor Contracts and Payment Schedules.

Food and beverage vendors are an essential part of every music festival irrespective of their size. These vendors provide essential services for festival-goers and at the same time give organisers a lucrative revenue stream. What steps do organisers need to consider when agreeing contracts and payment terms with vendors that satisfies all parties involved.

Festival-goers regularly comment on social media about the standard of food and beverages on offer at a festival with pricing often being a focus too. An analysis of social media sentiment by festival-goers can indicate to organisers how well received their chosen vendors were and provides useful data for future vendor planning. A good selection of vendors with a wide range of price options can go a long way to enhancing the overall festival-goer experience. Organisers and vendors aim to offer quality food and beverages at reasonable prices and both parties should be open to creating clear and legally robust contracts and payment terms that are fair and achieve a win win situation.

Planning.
The size of a music festival and the number of expected festival-goers will always determine the number of food and beverage vendors that will be required and is a key part of the planning process. Once the number of vendors required is determined the site layout plan allows organisers to allocate pitch spaces zoned in a logical way where key infrastructure like electricity and water suppliers can easily be connected. Further detailed planning will help determine the pitch space size and the appropriate fees that will be charged allowing organisers to estimate potential fee revenue. In addition, a more detail analysis of potential vendors payment plans and deals can provide a forecast of expected incremental revenue that can be earned form vendors.

Applications.
After the planning process has determined the number of vendor pitch spaces available and their corresponding fees organisers will open an application process for potential vendors with popular festivals often being oversubscribed. The objective for organisers when assessing potential food and beverage vendors is to select those with previous event experience plus a consideration for menu options and pricing to account for all tastes and budgets. The entire vendor application and management process can be streamlined on a good event management software system (like Festival Pro) which is ideal if hundreds of vendors are required.

Contracts.
An agreement in principle is usually made with the selected vendors and organisers will often issue their standard food and beverage vendor contract which may include minor amendments that are specific to each vendor. The contract will include essential information like the pitch size, location, electricity and water supplies plus agreed menu options with proposed pricing structure for festival-goers. There will be details of load in and load out schedules with access pass issuance instructions and the required vendor operating hours for this event. The contract will also specify what insurance coverage is required and the supporting evidence that will need to be submitted plus additional requirements for health and safety compliance and relevant food hygiene certifications for example. The fees agreed and payment terms will be specified which may be a fixed fee or an alternative revenue share deal along with due dates for deposits and balances. Additional terms may be specified for appropriate waste disposal and sustainability initiatives like no single use plastics.

Fees and Payment Schedules.
In a simple scenario organisers agree a fixed pitch space fee and charge the vendor a deposit with a balance due on a later date. However, terms are never always this simple and additional charges may be required for electricity and water supplies to be connected to a pitch space. Normal practice is for 50% of the agreed costs to be paid at initial confirmation as a non-refundable deposit with the remaining balance to be paid usually 30 to 60 days before the event dates. A common practice for food and beverage vendors at music festivals is for organisers to demand some kind of revenue share deal where the organisers take between 10% and 30% of the gross sales revenue earned by the vendor. The revenue share deal can be easily implemented where the event is using cashless RFID wristbands and digital POS tracking enabling the organiser to deduct their share at the point of sale and the vendor receives the balance. If a manual process is being used a reconciliation of sales revenue will be required after the event where an organiser would typically demand payment settlement within 2- or 3-weeks post event. In some instances, organisers may get a deal with a drinks sponsor who is willing to provide their product to vendors at a reduced cost or provide monetary incentives for higher sales volumes.

For festival organisers planning their next event using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics including a dedicated vendor module. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, site planning, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Image by Kate Trysh via Pexels

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