The first thing to do no matter what festival you want to be a festival vendor at is to find out who is in charge. Try to speak directly with them about signing up. If you are lucky you will just need to pay up front to reserve your spot and then show up on the first day of the festival. Sometimes you won’t have to sign up until the day of the festival, but most will require you to put down a deposit ahead of time. This means that even if you are signing up for a hot festival a year in advance you still might need to lay down a hefty deposit now. This also means that if you can’t make it at the last minute it you will probably lose your entire deposit. Unfortunately, this is just how things go in the festival circuit and if you want to become a festival vendor you will have to shell out some cash before you’ve made a penny.

If you have chosen to become a festival vendor at a more competitive show and there are no available spots left, then you can try a few things. You can always ask to share a space with an established vendor. This is an especially good move for a festival vendor that has a small set up or someone just starting out. If the booth fees are high, another festival vendor might be happy to let you set up inside their booth. Ask whoever is in charge or approach a friendly festival vendor yourself. You can also see if there are any cancellations that day or the day before. This can be a real pain since you have no guarantee, but things happen and this could get you in. Negotiating with another festival vendor to hold their spot for them if they need to be away for a day or two is another way to get in on a temporary basis. If you want to be a festival vendor, then you are surely a creative type, so use those skills and figure out a way to get in there.