Bellingham Veg Fest is an all-vegan festival taking place on Sunday, September 20th at Barkley Village showcasing local small businesses and nonprofits who offer intentionally vegan products or services. This event is a safe place for every race, country of origin, sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, ability, religion, size/shape, and class. Participation in Bellingham Veg Fest, including all signage, materials, and conduct, must reflect these values, and failure to comply will result in immediate removal from the event.
1. Date and Hours of Festival: Sunday September, 20th from 11am-3pm at the Barkley Village Green, 2215 Rimland Dr, Bellingham, WA 98225. Bellingham Veg Fest will happen rain or shine. Should extreme weather or any other unpredictable event outside of the organizer’s control prevent the holding of the festival, Bellingham Veg Fest is in no way liable to vendors.
2. Application: All vendors must complete, sign, and submit an application to Bellingham Veg Fest by September 1st, 2026.
3. Selection of Vendors: Bellingham Veg Fest has a limited capacity for total number of vendors and vendors per category. Because of this, priority must be given to our local Whatcom county businesses and organizations, especialy those who choose to have products or services that are intentionally vegan. We are excited to open up for other businesses with additional space available after this priority allocation of spots. At this time, we are not accepting applicants for MLM or independent consultant businesses.
4. This event is 100% Vegan.
- All items sold, sampled, distributed, given away (prizes, etc), and/or displayed at Bellingham Veg Fest must be vegan. This means that they cannot contain meat from animals, eggs from animals, gelatin, collagen, dairy, fish, honey, sugar processed with bone char, whey, isinglass, wool, silk, leather, beeswax, fur, shells, or any other products that are derived from animals.
- All products must be free of animal testing.
- All promotional materials and signage (including menus both displayed and distributed) must exclude references to animal-derived ingredients and/or products.
- Prior to the start of the event, a Bellingham Veg Fest representative will visit each booth to ensure the above policies have been followed.
- These rules are non-negotiable and failure to comply will result in dismissal from the event. Bellingham Veg Fest reserves the right to exclude any items that are non-compliant for this event, and you will be asked to remove them immediately by a representative.
5. Participation Options: All fees, if applicable, will be collected upon approval of your application.
- Non-Profits: $0 (5 scholarships available)
- All Vendors: $100
- Power Needed: Additional $25
6. Non-Profits: We want to make this event as successful as possible for you and increase your visibility to help promote and raise money for your cause. In order to help do that, in addition to providing an interactive activity, we are requiring at least two promotional social media posts tagging our account as well prior to the event, one by 8/31 and the second by 9/20 (post can be reused). If you need help with graphics, wording, or anything else, we are happy to help!
7. “Toward Zero Waste” Event
- This means that we strive to send 0% of the supplies used at this event to the landfill.
- Beverages cannot be sold in single use plastic containers. Drinks must be sold/served in compostable, aluminum, or reusable containers.
- Food must be sold/served in compostable or reusable packaging.
- No foil, plastic wrap, or styrofoam allowed.
- All vendors will need to ensure all products used on site are properly recycled or composted into the proper bins. Bellingham Veg Fest will provide the bins for the event.
- Bellingham Veg Fest will have a Toward Zero Waste team of volunteers in place to be of assistance to vendors and patrons.
- We recognize that due to the nature of your business, there may be certain products that you need which come in non-recyclable/compostable containers. Please note that we have VERY limited trash can space, so we kindly ask that if you have any of these items, that you take them with you to be thrown away somewhere outside of the event venue.
8. Booth Space:
- All vendors must arrive between 8-10 am
- All vehicles must be removed from the load/unload area by 10:15 am.
- Vendors must be completely set up by 10:45 am.
- Every vendor is provided with a 10ft x 10ft area.
- Vendors are responsible for providing their own tables, tents, chairs, tent weights, etc. No tarps or make-shift tents.
- The event area can be windy. You must have tent anchors such as cinder blocks, water weights, buckets, and/or sandbags for every corner of your tent and tables per the Whatcom County Fire Marshal. When you arrive at the event, you will be asked to confirm that you have this and will not be allowed to set up without them. You cannot use anything that needs to be anchored in to the ground, like stakes.
- Booths must stay up and be staffed for the entirety of the event, even if you sell out.
- Vendors are responsible for setting up and breaking down their exhibits.
- Breakdown begins at 3pm.
- No balloons of any kind allowed.
- Music, recordings, or other audio must not interfere with neighboring booths.
9. Unloading and Loading: All vendors are required to use a specific area for loading and unloading regardless of location within the market. In some cases, your unloading area may be a bit of a walk from your booth space. If you anticipate needing support to move your belongings, a member of our team is happy to help! Please let us know when filling out the application. Unloading is from 8am-10am with all vehicles removed from the load/unload area by 10:15am. All vendors are required to be set-up and ready to interact with the public by 11am. Please remove all vehicles immediately (excluding food trucks) after unloading (and before you begin to set up) and park in the designated area. A map will be provided closer to the event date with your unloading and vendor parking locations. Volunteers will be on site to direct you as well. No vehicles are permitted to load until 3pm.
10. Taxes, Licenses, Inspections, Cottage Food Laws: All vendors are required to secure proper licenses, permits, and inspections for their products. Vendors are responsible for collecting and reporting sales tax as required by Washington State. Vendors are responsible for following all State of Washington rules and regulations regarding the sale of their products, and ensuring the products are safe.
11. Food Vendors: Please visit the Whatcom County Health Department website (https://www.whatcomcounty.us/3232/Food-Safety) for information on their temporary food service applications. They request the permit applications be submitted to their office at least two weeks prior to events to allow sufficient time for processing. Questions regarding temporary event permits can be directed to HL_FoodSafetyProgram@co.whatcom.wa.us.
12. Insurance: All vendors are required to provide a current Certificate of Insurance for general liability and product insurance. Please submit this by September 8th, 2026.
13. Promotional Materials: All exhibitors agree to give permission for Bellingham Veg Fest volunteers to take and publish photos and videos during and after the event of your booth space, including, but not limited to, staff/volunteers, products, and displays.
14. Smoking/Drugs/Alcohol: No alcohol, drugs, or smoking/vaping of any kind is permitted to be sold or consumed in or around the festival.
15. COVID-19/Masks: All vendors will be required to comply with any mask mandates that may be in place on the event day. If there are none, wearing a mask will be optional.
16. Dogs: Dogs are welcome, but we advise against bringing them due to the nature of the event and how busy you will be. Please note that all dogs must be kept on a leash and never left unattended. This is a crowded event, and not all dogs are comfortable in that environment, so please use your best judgment before bringing them along.