1st festival - need help

Buckscent · Apr 18, 2011

I got in my first festival. It is a Friday and Saturday and has 10K-15K people the last 2 years and they only allow 4 food vendors. My question - Is there a % you go by to figure out how much food? How many people do you think I will get from that many people??? Thanks

LostNation · Apr 18, 2011

I think we need more information. What are you selling? what are the other vender's selling? What type of festival is it? What type of people are these 10K-15K potential customers?

expatpig · Apr 18, 2011

I'm not a caterer,or a vendor, I have the utmost respect for those that do it well. I don't want to sound negative, but don't you think that you might of had a plan before you threw your hat into the ring?

kurtsara · Apr 18, 2011

expatpig said:
I'm not a caterer,or a vendor, I have the utmost respect for those that do it well. I don't want to sound negative, but don't you think that you might of had a plan before you threw your hat into the ring?

What he said

Sammy · Apr 18, 2011

Just buy all you can cook and afford. I'm sure it will all sale :thumb:

Buckscent · Apr 24, 2011

Sorry, I guess I did not make alot of things clear. I have been doing bbq for a couple of years out of my trailer just not a large crowd at a festival. I have thought everything out and asked the promoter a ton of questions. There are 4 vendors 1 being the boy scouts doing burgers. One is a sweets vendor one is a new vendor this year that does philly cheese steak and a couple other things. In an event like this I will be doing pulled pork sandwiches and burgers and combos with chips and can drink. My questions if for a festival with 10K - 12K people how many people can you figure you will go to your booth and how many butts would you project you would have to smoke? This is a Friday and Saturday event. I will smoke butts Thursday for Friday and smoke Friday for Saturday. This is my rig:

Big_Alvin · Apr 24, 2011

Nice rig. having not vended yet and only done 2 small (30 people) caterings i am by no means qualified to offer anything other than an opinion. Here it is - i'd stick with the bbq pp sandwhiches and not worry about the burgers. My rationale is that the boy scouts are doing burgers and they're probably going to be pretty cheap. Best of luck. i dream of one day owning a rig like yours. you have any inside photo's and pix of the smoker to view?

SmokeOCD · Apr 24, 2011

Forget the burgers - the scouts will kill ya on price. Of course yours is better, but price will definitely be a factor. Smoke during the event to create draw to your place. Don't believe the numbers they quote you.
To the naysayers - you gotta get your feet wet somewhere/sometime. Show up with too much food. Serve huge portions. Break even is your goal -- you're building a reputation now for the big shows.

expatpig · Apr 25, 2011

Nice outfit, If I saw that next to scouts selling hockey pucks it would be a no brainer. You are going to have a long line waiting for food. Get all you can and sell it out.

timzcardz · Apr 25, 2011

expatpig said:
Nice outfit, If I saw that next to scouts selling hockey pucks it would be a no brainer. You are going to have a long line waiting for food. Get all you can and sell it out.

That would only be true of the scouts well selling hockey pucks. I wouldn't be so quick to underestimate them, as they surely will Be Prepared!

smoke it if ya got it · Apr 25, 2011

SmokeOCD said:
Forget the burgers - the scouts will kill ya on price. Of course yours is better, but price will definitely be a factor. Smoke during the event to create draw to your place. Don't believe the numbers they quote you.
To the naysayers - you gotta get your feet wet somewhere/sometime. Show up with too much food. Serve huge portions. Break even is your goal -- you're building a reputation now for the big shows.

I would at the very least cook 25-30 butts friday night and that gives you a referance point for the next day I.E. more or less. It helps to know what profit margin your trying to hit. :thumb:

1st festival - need help

Buckscent

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LostNation

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kurtsara

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Sammy

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Buckscent

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Big_Alvin

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SmokeOCD

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