PLEASE READ AND ACKNOWLEDGE THE FOLLOWING FESTIVAL RULES AND GUIDELINES:

 

VENDOR RULES & REGULATIONS

Hours of Operation – Vendors are required to be open and present during ALL hours of operation. Vendors who fail to keep their booth open may be subject to removal from future participation. Loading out early is forbidden. Festival Hours: April 17th 10:00 AM-9:00 PM; April 18th,10:00 AM-9:00 PM; April 19th, 10:00 AM-6:00 PM.

STANDARD BOOTHS: Standard booths include ONLY the booth footprint and professionally-built canopy. Vendors are responsible for providing their own clip on sidewalls, lighting, and furnishings. Electricity and water are available for purchase for an additional charge. Since access to power and water are dependent on proximity to those utilities, these services must be ordered in advance and are not available to add on show site.

PREMIUM BOOTHS: Premium booths offer premium placement within festival grounds and INCLUDE a professionally built shade canopy with sidewalls, lighting, 8 foot table, 2 folding chairs, and 500 watts of 120V power.

Parking and Vehicular Access – ALL vehicles must be removed from the event site 60 minutes prior to opening. At load out, no vehicles may enter the festival space until we have received authorization from the Police Department. Any vendor who violates these rules may forfeit their space, without refund. Vendors may only park in legal, designated parking areas. Festival management will not be responsible for parking fines or towing fees for illegally parked vehicles. Please place your vendor parking pass on the dash of your vehicle and write your phone number on pass, should an issue arise and/or the need to reach you regarding your vehicle.

Goods for Sale – Vendors may only sell goods and services as described in the initial application. Vendors may not sell the following: alcoholic beverages, controlled substances, counterfeit products, weapons, or any products that may be lewd, offensive, discriminatory, vulgar, dangerous or that festival management deems “Not suitable for a family friendly environment”. Vendors may not sell or solicit customers in any area outside of their purchased booth space. It is the vendor's responsibility to protect their merchandise from theft, weather conditions, and/or minor patrons.

Signage – Vendors are encouraged to use attractive signage for their booth. However, signage may only be placed inside the booth or attached to the vendor tent/trailer/truck. All signage shall be secured in such a manner to protect from high winds or other weather conditions. Festival management reserves the right to remove signage that is deemed not secured or presents a danger to patrons.

Pets – Food vendors may not bring pets to the festival. However, guests are allowed to bring friendly pets on a leash into the festival.

Insurance – Vendors are required to have public liability and property damage insurance naming the City of Ennis as co-insured in amount not less than $1 Million US Dollars per occurrence, $1 Million aggregate.

Subleasing – Vendors may not sublease any portion of their space to other merchants.

Permits, Licenses, Taxes – It is the vendor's responsibility to collect any applicable sales taxes and to secure any permits or licenses required by any authority having jurisdiction. The current Sales Tax rate for Ennis is 8.25%. Food Vendors must submit an application for a Temporary Event Permit to the Ennis Health Department and pass the on-site Health Inspection prior to opening.

Tents – TENTS/CANOPIES: STANDARD & PREMIUM BOOTHS include professionally built canopies. STANDARD BOOTHS do not include sidewalls and vendors must bring their own if desired. Sidewalls should be the clip on type to attach to the rope that runs around the top of the canopy. Vendor supplied tents must be properly secured to protect from wind gusts. Engineered tent weights, concrete, sand bags and water barrels are suitable tent weights. Gas cans, ice chests, and objects that can easily come loose are not acceptable. Tents may NOT be secured to trees, buildings, benches, or any other private or public property. Management reserves the right to remove any canopy deemed unsafe. Vendors who provide their own
canopy assume full responsibility for injury or damage in the event their canopy securement fails for any reason.

Overnight Security – The festival will provide overnight security during festival dates. However, vendors are solely responsible for securing their assets when not present in their booth. Please make sure your space is secured before leaving each evening. In the event of overnight inclement weather, the security team will NOT be able to protect your assets.

Water – Non-potable water, if purchased, will be located within 150 feet of your booth space. Vendors are responsible for supplying their own hoses. Vendors must collect used water and contain it within the booth. Any vendor that allows used water to drain onto the street or into the storm drains will have their water service terminated, without refund, and may be liable for cleaning or environmental fees.

Power – Vendors should bring a 50-foot heavy duty extension cord and a power strip for connections in their booth. Vendors who exceed the power allocation they have purchased will be asked to unplug items until their demand is at, or below, the power allocation they have purchased. To determine how much power you need look at the Ratings Label attached to your appliances/electrical equipment. This label should indicate a required 120V and 500W. Next, add each Wattage number to determine the total power allocation needed.

In the event the label does not list Watts, but instead shows 120V and 15A, Vendor should multiply 120 by the Amps. (For instance, if your fan is 120V 0.6A, then your watts would be 120 x 0.6 = 72 Watts). Please be advised that the National Electrical Code requires outdoor outlets to utilize GFCI outlets, and during rain, vendor power may be adversely affected. No refunds will be provided in the event electrical power is affected by weather conditions. Vendors are responsible to check compressors and specialty equipment compatible with GFCI breakers prior to load in. Vendor power will ONLY be available starting two (2) hours prior to festival doors opening and shutting down one hour after festival closes. Vendor power should NOT be used to protect perishables overnight. Generators are not allowed, without prior written authorization from festival management.

 

Surface Protection – Vendors are responsible for preventing wax, paint, grease, oil, and any other byproduct coming into contact with the sidewalk or street. Festival management may require Vendor provide a protective tarp and/or a plywood floor to protect the underlying surface. Vendor will be responsible for total clean up and/or any cleaning fee incurred by the City cleaning up the booth area. This fee includes stains caused by oil or grease or food dyes.

NOISE LEVELS: Some vendors want to be placed in a quieter area of the festival grounds in order to better communicate with customers, while other vendors want to be next to the stage where noise levels are substantially higher. Festival management will do our best to accommodate your requests during the booth assignments exercise, but unfortunately cannot make changes on site once the festival has begun loading in. It is really your preference on where you want to be, there are pros and cons to both sides. Next to the stage is loud at 2PM in the afternoon and you may strain your voice shouting all day. However, at 8PM at night the main stage is the center of activity and the most heavily congested area of the festival. If you have a preference, let us know in advance and we will do our best to suit you.

Trash- Vendors are responsible for collecting trash in and around booth area, into heavy duty trash bags, and placing trash bags in the designated areas. Vendors will be subject to cleaning fees for any food left overnight in their booth. At load out, Vendor is responsible for complete clean out of the booth. This includes cable ties from signage.

Vendor Dispute Resolution- Any disagreements that arise between Vendors must be reported immediately to festival management.

FAMILY FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT: The Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival is designed to be a fun, family friendly environment for all ages. Therefore, vendors are expected to maintain a booth presentation, attitude, and behaviors that support this theme. Lewd behaviour, inappropriate language, violence, threats,
intoxication and other behaviors deemed undesireable for the festival environment will be grounds for vendor expulsion without refund.No smoking is permitted on festival grounds.

FESTIVAL LOAD IN & LOAD OUT: Vendors may NOT bring vehicles into the event boundary for load out until the ALL CLEAR is provided by Police after close of the event on April 13th. 

 

Tips and Tricks for a Successful Event Festivals can be fun, but they can also be stressful. Here are some key tips, tricks, and a punch list of things to remember:

 

§ Be Inviting and Engaging! – a well-lit, well signed booth, with a smiling face and a friendly salutation is the best way to get customers to notice your booth and engage in conversation.

§ If you act interested in people, they will become interested in you.

§ Do not sit behind your table, staring down at your phone for half the day, and then come to the management office and complain about slow sales.

§ Dress- Hot afternoons can turn into cold evenings, so be sure to dress for the weather and bring a jacket for later.

§ Hydration- Be sure to drink water throughout the day to prevent dehydration and early fatigue.

§ Here is a list of things to remember to bring with you:

o Bug Spray

o Phone Charger

o Cable Ties

o Chair

o Tarp in case of rain and Rope (for the tarp)

o Extension Cord and Power Strip (if you ordered electricity)

o Change (Management cannot make change on site)

o Your Smile

Health and Fire Regulations – Cooking without an overhead canopy is prohibited, and cooking with an open flame under a canopy is prohibited. BBQ grills must be protected from access by children. All food vendors are required to schedule an inspection and obtain a Health Permit from the City of Ennis Public Health Department. This application INCLUDES your Temporary Food Service Permit application and fee to the Ennis Health Department. As a reminder, your food truck or tent must be equipped with a suitable fire extinguisher and propane tanks must be secured to prevent falling over. At no time may propane tanks be used for securing your canopy or signage.

 

§ TCS (Time/Temperature Control for Safety) foods (hot dogs, hamburgers, chili, mashed potatoes, potato salad, cooked greens, eggs, cut melons, cut tomatoes, etc.) must be kept either cold below 41F or held hot above 135F.

§ If any TCS foods are being conveyed to the public, a metal stem thermometer reading from 0F to 220F must be provided on-site in order to frequently check temperatures.

§ Hand washing facilities must be present. Soap, paper towels, and a make shift gravity flow temporary hand wash station are acceptable. Bare hand contact with any ready to eat foods is prohibited.

§ All food must be properly covered and protected from potential contamination.

§ All gray water must be properly collected and held. Do not discharge gray water on festival grounds.

§ Aprons and hair restraints are required for all staff handling food.

§ A supply of extra utensils must be provided, with a new set every four hours, or a 3-part utensil washing system consisting of wash, rinse, sanitize is acceptable. (Chlorine/Bleach 50-100ppm, Quaternary ammonia 200ppm)

§ Vendor must provide proper test strips for checking sanitizer strength.

§ All food must be kept 6 inches or more from floor.

§ All trash cans must have liners and lids.

§ If using an open flame grill, you must maintain a minimum of 10 feet in all directions from combustible materials.

§ Home preparation or storage of foods is NOT allowed except for approved Cottage Food Operations.

§ At least one person in the booth at all times must hold a valid state approved food handlers permit.

VENDOR AGREEMENT

I hereby make application to exhibit at the Bluebonnet Trails & Festival presented by the City of Ennis, April 17-19, 2026, in Ennis, Texas. I understand that my application is subject to approval from the Festival management team, and that my participation is not guaranteed until I receive a signed acceptance letter from the City of Ennis. If accepted, I agree to adhere to the Vendor Rules and Regulations aforementioned. I understand that failure to comply with the rules and regulations may result in my expulsion from the festival and disqualify me from participating in future events. I acknowledge that my payment will be deposited upon acceptance, and I will receive a vendor packet by mail including a receipt, booth selection, credentials and parking passes.

 I certify that my goods and services are as represented, and I will not sell counterfeit merchandise, or goods that are used, remanufactured, B-stock, or factory seconds without disclosing them as such.

 I agree to collect sales tax as applicable and to submit those taxes as per the Texas Comptroller. I will display my Sales Tax Permit in my booth at all times. I understand this is an outdoor festival and will be held rain or shine. In the event of inclement weather, festival hours may be modified or cancelled and there will be no refunds.

 I certify that all facts in this application are true and correct and that my food establishment will be maintained and operated in accordance with City Ordinance Section 10, Article VI, Food Service and the Texas Food Establishment Rules as adopted by the City of Ennis.