Stall at someone else’s event
- Outdoor: weather matters
Also called: Join an existing event instead of running your own (stall, float or collection)
Book a stall at an event someone else organises. Choose a market, A&P show, fireworks night or parade gathering, and check the organiser’s terms.
Typically raises
$800
$100–3,000 per eventest.
About $76 per organiser hour
Based on one stall for 4-6 hours
Is it right for us?
- Money
- $500–2,000
- Work
- A few evenings
- Helpers
- 3–6 people
- Lead time
- 1–2 months
- Red tape
- Light
Fairly common: stalls at others' events are familiar and low-effort
- People
- 4-10 across shifts (estimate)
- Organiser time
- 6-15 hours: application, stock, roster and banking (estimate)
- Lead time
- 4-12 weeks: parade float entries close about 5-6 weeks out (Browns Bay: 31 October for a December parade); festival stall applications often close 2-4 months out (estimate)
- Up-front cost
- $150. Stall fee $0 to a few hundred dollars: free at Te Toi Ahurea 2026 in Whanganui, $400 + GST for a not-for-profit stall at Wellington's Pasifika Festival, and $4,250-7,225 for a charitable food stall at the BNZ Auckland Lantern Festival 2026 (Auckland Unlimited). Community float entry in many Christmas parades is free (Browns Bay, Feilding). Plus stock, float and gazebo.
- Risk
- Low: the main exposure is the stall fee and unsold stock. Avoid high-fee stalls at big festivals unless you are confident of volume.
How it works
The scorecard and money example describe one version of this fundraiser. Other versions have different costs, helpers and results. Choose a version below before making your budget.
The money, as an example sum
Take about $950, pay about $150 of costs, and you keep about $800 per event: the typical result for one stall for 4-6 hours.
From the typical figure on this page. Your result will differ.
Where the money figure comes from
No NZ benchmark found. Estimate from a single fundraising food or raffle stall at a busy community event over 4-6 hours, less the stall fee. Compare: a group sausage sizzle at a busy store commonly raises $400-900.
Last checked October 2026. Ran this? Tell us what you raised and we’ll use real results to improve the figures.
Ways to run it
- Market day
- Book a stall at an established market. Check fees, permissions and what other stalls will sell.
- Parade end
- Ask the parade organiser about a food or sales stall where families gather afterwards.
- Guy Fawkes stall
- Book a food, drink or glow-stick stall at an existing display. Confirm the stall fee, permissions, power and cancellation terms.
- Stall or food stand at an A&P show
- Book a food or trade site at your local A&P show and sell food, drinks or goods to a big rural and family crowd over one to three days.
Step by step
- List events in your area for the next 12 months: Christmas and Anzac parades, Matariki and summer festivals, A&P shows, school galas, Santa parades and weekend markets. Note who runs each and when applications close.
- Pick events whose crowd fits what you sell: families for food and kids' games, gardeners for plants, an evening crowd for hot food.
- Ask the host for the stallholder pack: fee, size, power, food rules, raffle rules, cancellation and refund policy, and whether a not-for-profit rate applies.
- Do the maths before applying: stall fee plus stock against realistic sales; walk away from high-fee stalls (thousands at large city festivals) unless volume is proven.
- Apply early with your group's name, charity or society number, and food exemption details; for a float, return the entry form and indemnity by the closing date.
- For a float: build on a road-legal truck or trailer, recruit safety walkers, fit handholds, and add your group's name and a QR code for donations (within the host's branding rules).
- Ask the host whether you can collect along the route or at the gate; if so, check whether a council street appeal permit is needed and who holds it.
- Plan the stall: simple menu or product, card and cash, gazebo with weights, signage saying what the money is for.
- Roster 2-3 shifts with clear roles and brief everyone on the host's safety and food rules.
- On the day, arrive at the set-up time, follow the marshals, keep the stall clean, and take all rubbish if the host asks.
- Count takings in pairs, bank them, and record results per event so next year you only go back to the ones that paid.
- Thank the host publicly and ask to be on next year's list early.
Plan your chosen version
These notes come from the October 2026 research. Figures describe separate examples, not extra money to add to the headline amount.
Stall or food stand at an A&P show
Book a food or trade site at your local A&P show and sell food, drinks or goods to a big rural and family crowd over one to three days.
Separate example: $1,500 per event after costs (estimate). one food stall at a local A&P show
No NZ benchmark found for a fundraising stall at an A&P show. Crowd sizes for context: Lake Hayes A&P Show expects over 6,000 people (Lake Hayes); the Canterbury A&P Show draws over 70,000 over three days (theshow.co.nz). Figures are estimates for a food stall after site fees, from small one-day shows to a two- or three-day regional show.
Helpers: 6-15 per day in shifts (cooks, servers, cashier) (estimate). Lead time: 2-6 months; applications open early, e.g. Lake Hayes (January show) closed expressions of interest on 30 September, and Northern A&P food sites were already full. Cash risk: Medium: site fee and stock are paid upfront; heat, rain or a quiet day leaves food unsold.
- List A&P shows within reach and their dates; check each show's trade or stallholder page for application windows.
- Pick a menu the show lacks: ask the secretary which food types are already full.
- Apply early with photos and a menu; pay fees by the deadline.
- Confirm site size, power and water, and whether reusable dishware is included (Lake Hayes includes it).
- Check with your council whether a food stall permit is needed for the event.
- Plan quantities from the expected crowd and source donated or wholesale stock.
- Roster shifts over the full show hours, including set-up the evening before.
- Bring a float, a tap-to-pay device and a chiller; keep raw and cooked food separate.
- Bank takings daily and note what sold out for next year.
Rules to check for this version
- Food Act 2014: no registration needed if you sell food to fundraise fewer than 20 times a year, but food must be safe and suitable (MPI).
- Some shows and councils still require a food stall permit: Nelson's Richmond Park says any stall selling food of any type needs a council Food Stall permit (Richmond Park).
- Show terms and conditions apply, e.g. Canterbury requires photos of food stalls in the application and fees paid by a deadline (theshow.co.nz).
- Selling alcohol needs a special licence under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012; most shows control this themselves (estimate).
- If the group has employees it is a PCBU under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (WorkSafe); a volunteer-only association is not, but gas BBQs and hot oil still need a safety plan.
Tips for this version
- Rural shows reward hearty, quick food (pies, steak sandwiches, coffee) and early opening for exhibitors (estimate).
- Ask about community rates; some shows price community sites below commercial ones (estimate; ask the show).
- Pair a stall with the show's paid gate or parking roster to double your income from one weekend (see ‘Event parking, gate or marshalling crew’).
Watch out for
- Applying late: popular shows fill food sites months ahead (Northern A&P food sites were full).
- Under-staffing a long show day burns out volunteers.
- Overbuying perishables for an uncertain weather day.
Sources: lakehayesshow.com, northernaandp.co.nz, theshow.co.nz, theshow.co.nz, richmondpark.nz, mpi.govt.nz
Guy Fawkes stall
Ask an existing display organiser for a stall site. Confirm the fee, power, food permissions and any share of takings.
Running your own fireworks display is a different job. High fixed costs, specialist operators, permissions, weather and cancellation risk make it unsuitable for most small groups.
Your own display is rarely viable for a small group: high fixed cost, strict licensing and weather risk. Dependence on one pyrotechnician: Tomarata's 15-year partner withdrew at short notice and the event was cancelled (Tomarata School). Fire bans in dry regions can be declared close to the date (Fire and Emergency).
Getting the word out
Even a well-run plan fails if nobody hears about it. There are two asks, and the first one goes out first.
- Ask for help
- Families to bake, give stock or take a shift on the stall.
- Ask people to buy
- People to come and buy on the day.
- When to start
- Ask for helpers first, as soon as the date is set. Start the public ask about 3–4 weeks out, and book newsletter and paper notices before that: small newsletters close early.
Where to put it
- School, club and church newslettersYour own newsletter is free and read by the families most likely to say yes. Check when it closes.
- PostersPosters at the school gate, the clubrooms and shop windows, with the date, place, price and how to pay.
- Local Facebook pages and community groupsPost in your town’s community page and local groups (check their rules), and share from your group’s own page.
- Billboards and roadside signsYour school’s or club’s own sign by the road, a banner on the fence, or a sandwich board on the day for passers-by.
The full guide to getting the word out: every channel from flyers to the evening news, with lead times and costs.
What you’ll need
- Place
- NeededA public space (park, street, beach)
- Landowner’s permission
- Not needed
- Council permit
- Not needed
- Food rules
- CheckNo registration if you sell food to fundraise for a good cause up to 20 times a calendar year. It must still be safe and suitable, and your council may need a stall permit
- Alcohol
- Not neededNo alcohol sold
- Gambling rules
- Not neededNot gambling
- Health and safety
- CheckA simple risk check and briefing
- Insurance
- CheckCheck your cover
The host holds the event permit, road closure, traffic management and toilets. Your stall uses the Food Act fundraising exemption (counts toward 20 a year); street bucket collections may need a council street appeal permit.
Make more from it
Raffle sold at your stall or float
$200-1,000 (estimate)
a big crowd and a visible cause
QR code donations on the float and stall
$50-500 (estimate)
costs nothing to add
Take pre-orders for meat packs at the stall
$100-500 margin (estimate)
turns a one-day crowd into later sales
Stack it: on its own, about $800. With the 2 priced add-ons above, roughly
$1,700est.
What you can get donated
Stock from a butcher, bakery or supermarket; a member's ute, truck or trailer for a float; a gazebo and signage lent by a sponsor.
Tips
- A float or marching group costs little but builds profile; pair it with a stall or collection to turn the crowd into money (estimate).
- Ask hosts for the not-for-profit or charity rate; several festivals have one (BNZ Auckland Lantern Festival lists charitable food stall prices).
- Offer to run a job for the host (gate, car park, rubbish) in return for a free stall or a koha (estimate).
- Bring tap-to-pay; event crowds often carry no cash (estimate).
Watch out for
- Paying a big-festival stall fee without a sales estimate; a charitable food stall at one Auckland festival started at $4,250 (Auckland Unlimited).
- Using up the Food Act fundraising exemption with too many small events (fewer than 20 times a year; MPI).
- Collecting in the street without the host's or council's OK.
Stall at someone else’s event: checklist
0 of 17 done
Before
On the day
After
The host holds the event permit, road closure, traffic management and toilets. Your stall uses the Food Act fundraising exemption (counts toward 20 a year); street bucket collections may need a council street appeal permit.
* General fundraising information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Money figures are examples and estimates, not promises. Check current official requirements before you commit. About this guide