Community festival or fair on a park or reserve: checklist
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Before Get council permission to use the public space. The rules Apply for the council permit, leaving several weeks for it to come through. The rules Register for food safety before you start selling. The rules Apply for a special liquor licence at least 20 working days ahead. The rules Check the prizes and ticket sales fit the Class 1 or 2 limits, and write down what the money is for. The rules Prepare a formal health and safety plan for the council or landowner. The rules Arrange a first aider and a stocked first aid kit. Arrange public liability insurance (venues and councils often ask for it). Set the purpose, size and budget first: expected crowd, number of stalls, whether there is alcohol, and the break-even point. Alcohol, rides and road closures each push you into a bigger permit category and cost bracket (Auckland Council). Pick a park with toilets, power, vehicle access and a hard area for food trucks; ask the council's events team 4-8 months out about availability, the permit category, fees and what extra plans they will want. Apply for funding early: council or local board events funding, community trusts, and the Creative Communities Scheme if the festival is arts-centred (it funds projects that encourage participation, support diversity or enable under-18s to take part; Creative New Zealand funds councils to run it). Lodge the event permit with a site map, run sheet and health and safety plan, plus a rain date. Add insurance, waste plan and security plan when asked (Auckland Council). If selling alcohol, partner with a licensed operator or apply for a special licence with a certified manager; fence the bar area, have food and water available, and plan for no-sale to minors (estimate). On the day Brief the helpers: who does what, when, and where the cash box and first aid kit are. Count the float with two people before you open, and write the total down. First aider on site, and everyone knows where the kit is. Open stallholder applications 3-4 months out with fees, sizes, power options and rules. Require food stall applicants to send their notice of registration or fundraising exemption details; check them against the MPI register (Auckland Council). Book contractors with signed quotes: toilets, security, first aid, waste and recycling, marquees, stage and PA, fencing and generators. Ask each for a community rate or sponsorship in kind. Write the waste plan: bin stations with recycling and compost at every food zone, volunteers on each station, and a rule that food vendors use compostable or recyclable packaging (estimate). Write the health and safety and crowd plan: hazards (crowd, vehicles in the site during set-up, weather, electrics, cash, lost children), emergency access lane, first aid point, lost-children point, and who can stop the event. Build the programme and promote it 6-8 weeks out: stage line-up, kids' zone, Facebook event, community pages, posters, local radio and What's On listings; tell neighbours by letter drop if asked. Watch out for Underestimating toilets, security and waste: they are the bulk of the bill and councils can make them a permit condition (estimate). Adding alcohol late: a special licence needs time, a certified manager and objections time for public notice (Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012). Letting unregistered commercial food trucks trade; the organiser is responsible for checking (Auckland Council). Booking a stage and PA before checking noise rules and hours. Council event permit and park booking (Auckland community fee $104-390); special licence only if alcohol is sold ($63.25-$575 by class); organiser must check outside food stalls are registered. Traffic management only if a road is closed or parking altered.
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