All Vendors and Participants

Please read this document thoroughly.

The Laurel Main Street Festival is a large family friendly festival with thousands of people a year attending and hundreds of vendors covering almost a one-mile street.

All vendors must take the responsibility for their area, company, employees, contractors, food service, products, and/or service seriously following all current City of Laurel, PG County and CDC regulations & guidelines. This includes social distancing guidelines, reasonable sanitation options available for patrons and staff, and any other recommended precautions to keep all reasonably safe.

Types of Vendor / Participants

The Laurel Board of Trade reserves the right to request from any vendor proof of insurance listing the Laurel Board of Trade as an Additional Insured. If not provided when requested your company could be denied participation in this Festival and NO refunds.

Main Street Merchant Definition

Main Street Merchants are those businesses whose places of doing business are physically located on Main Street, C Street, Tolson Alley and Post Office Avenue in Laurel, MD. No distinction is made for the type of business; the classification is based solely on the physical location of the business. If you are a non-profit organization with no other physical location a Laurel, MD P.O. Box is sufficient to qualify.

Food vendor
Food vendor means any person, public or private, who offers for sale or gives away food
or beverage products including the cooking, heating, frying, refrigeration, and frozen food products intended for consumption at this event. Cottage food vendors are included in this category and must meet the definition as outlined by the State of Maryland: Maryland Cottage Food Businesses

All food vendors must provide proof of insurance to the Laurel Board of Trade. The Certificate of Insurance must list the Laurel Board of Trade as an additional insured. If the Laurel Board of Trade is not listed on this certificate admittance to this festival will be denied and no refunds will be provided.

General Sales / Service Providers

General Sales/Commercial are T-shirts, Clothes, Sunglasses, and Manufactured Products. Products that are NOT HANDMADE and then shipped to the vendors for resale are considered General Sales. Novelties are not accepted! If you have a mixture of arts & crafts and general sales you will still be charged at the General Sales/Commercial rate.

Direct Sales

Direct sales are organizations such as Mary Kay, Avon, Tupperware, Arbonne, Tastefully Simple, Thirty-One, Lula Roe, etc. No more than (3) Direct Sales vendors of the same products are allowed at this event.

Arts and Crafts Vendors

Arts and Crafts must be handmade and/or assembled by the Vendor. First time Vendors may be requested to provide samples or pictures of items to be sold. Vendors whose items are not handmade or assembled may be asked to pay the difference at the Festival or be shut down with no refund. If you have questions, ask ahead of time. Face painters fall under Arts & Crafts. If you are a face painter vendor, you will need a Certificate of Insurance listing the Laurel Board of Trade as an additional insured.

Handout Only Vendors

This is for local businesses ONLY providing business cards, brochures and marketing literature for their business and not selling items.

Non-Profit Groups

Civic, Religious, Schools and Service Groups (you must provide your non-profit tax ID number on the application).

Children’s Activities Definition

Kids Activities include pony rides, mechanical rides, moon bounces, arts and crafts, games of skill (i.e.: fishing ponds, ring toss) face painting, or any activity that is promoted for children’s entertainment. If you are a face painter vendor, you will need a Certificate of Insurance listing the Laurel Board of Trade as an additional insured.

General Regulations

The Main Street festival is a Rain or Shine event. No refunds will be provided because of weather, change of plans, illness, not going to be in town etc. Once you submit payment, refunds will not be made. All vendors should be unloaded and vehicles off of Main Street by 8:00 a.m. and cleaned up and off Main Street by 5:00 p.m. at the end of the festival.

All Vendor spaces are ten (10’) feet wide, and a maximum of (10) feet deep from curb. If you need a space wider than 10 feet, you must purchase the required number of spaces to accommodate your needs.

If you encroach on the adjacent space, you can be removed from your location and the Festival if no accommodations can be made. You will be charged for any additional space required.

Your canopy must meet current CPAI-84 and NFPA-701 Fire Resistant Requirements. No exceptions can be made.

The Fire Marshall will be verifying all canopy/tents on the day of the Festival. If non-compliant you will need to remove your canopy and may be removed from the festival. Please ensure your canopy is weighted down sufficiently for wind weather conditions. No refunds are provided.

Prohibited at this Festival –Firearms possession, sales and distribution including replicas, look a-likes, or anything that resembles a weapon is prohibited. Please contact the Laurel police department
https://www.cityoflaurel.org/police for firearm safety rules and regulations. All Alcohol sales, distribution or giveaways are prohibited at this event. Pornographic material, products, literature, giveaways, gifts, or anything that can resemble this is prohibited. Body piercing or tattoos on premise are prohibited.

The proper fee must be included with your application, or it will not be processed. No exceptions to deadlines. No applications will be accepted without check, money order, credit card or debit card information (a 4% handling fee will be added to all credit/debit card payments). If you are giving away or selling food, you must so indicate on your application. Some foods are allowed without a health permit, but others are not and could result in a fine and being shut down by the Health Department without refund.

If you are also serving or giving away food, you will need to apply using a Food Vendor Application and pay the Food Vendor fee for the amount of spaces you are using. You must list on the application all the food you are selling or giving away.

If you are selling or giving away food it is your responsibility to contact the Prince George’s County Health Department for instructions on regulations and acquire all necessary permits and certifications and to be fully compliant with them. They can be contacted at (301)-883-7690 or online at:

https://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/1979/Food-Service-Requirement.

LBOT members in good standing can receive a 25% discount on their first space only. Membership dues must be current on the date you complete your application and the date of the Festival. Current serving LBOT Directors can receive a 50% discount on your first space. LBOT members can only receive (1) discount. Main Street merchants who are LBOT members cannot receive both discounts.

If this is your first time in the Main Street festival, you may be asked to provide pictures/images/sample of your merchandise. Vendors are responsible for collecting and reporting Maryland Sales Tax. Neither the Laurel Main Street Festival Committee, the Laurel Board of Trade nor the City of Laurel is responsible for damage, loss or theft of items.

The Laurel Main Street Festival is a community and family event. As such, The Laurel Main Street Festival Committee/Laurel Board of Trade strives to select vendor applications that reflect the spirit of the festival. However, a vendor’s permit may be withdrawn by the Committee/LBOT if a vendor’s booth or actions are inappropriate for the festival. The Committee and/or LBOT are not responsible for any loss of revenue or fee if a participation permit is withdrawn.Decisions made by the Laurel Main Street Festival Committee and the Laurel Board of Trade are final.

Indemnification:
The vendor agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Laurel Board of Trade, their officers, directors, employees, and agents from any and all claims including, but not limited to, those based upon property damages, personal injuries, taxes and/or loss, in any way related to the Festival including reasonable attorney’s fees, unless such loss or injury is directly the result of negligence on the part of The Laurel Board of Trade and their officers, directors, employees, and agents assume no liability for loss of, or damage to, vendor’s property.

Force Majeure:

The Event Sponsor unilaterally reserves the right to cancel the Festival at any time during the planning, preparation, and actual occurrence when the Event Sponsor’s performance shall be impracticable or impossible by a Force Majeure event beyond its control. Said event may include but not limited to health pandemics, epidemics, quarantine restrictions, fires, earthquakes, unusually severe weather, wars, insurrections, terrorism, and civil unrest. The sponsor shall notify the Applicant when such an event has occurred stating the circumstances of cancellation. This is a No Refund, rain or shine event. If conditions outside the Laurel Board of Trade’s control causes cancellation of this event any vendor application fees paid will be redirected to the next scheduled festival event or a 50% refund may be requested.

Any questions should be directed to the Laurel Board of Trade Office at [email protected] or phone at (301) 483-0838. Returned checks will incur a $50 processing fee. Vendor then must pay via a money order or cash.

Apply and submit payment online on our Main Street Festival page or send completed application and payment to:

Laurel Board of Trade, 13 Cst Suite A Laurel, MD 20707