Food Festivals

That would be a long answer.

To many factors involved but figure feeding 5-10% of that number.
If you can cook, hold and serve that many you should be able to handle it.
If you only have done small catering gigs i'm guessing you never been thru a HD inspection so lots to learn.
Check this forum for lots of good threads on these subjects. :biggrin:

Depends.
How many vendors?
How many BBQ vendors?
Like i said, theres a thousand if's. Best bet is to read whats already here and keep asking questions. :biggrin:

I did 3 large events this summer. Broke even on 1. Made money on 2. Learned a TON so i'll be ready for the next time.

Vending at fairs is like playing russian roulette. :roll:

Find out who has vended this event before and contact them. You may be able to get a better feel for what needs to be done!

Many "taste of" events are charity findraisers where the organizer charges attendees a flat fee and you are simply providing marketing samples of your food or one where the attendees is selling $amount tickets that attendees can use at your booth and you turn those tickets for 80 cents on the $ or so. Either way they are more of a event for your to market yourself to your target audience rather than make a lot of money.

The other question is what size smoker you are using to turn out the Q. The weather is a huge factor on turn-out / potential Customers. Make sure you do a spreadsheet with costs on one side (include not only product cost but roll in all costs including lodgeing, space charges, $1M Bonding Insurance, gas, etc against proofit prodictions and break even product sales. Once you see product to meet break even, see if 5% of last years attendance is high enough to make your profit margin.

There are so many variables, it truely is a roll of the dice, but good planning and selecting only profital potential festivals shifts the odds in your favor.

Good Luck