Dear Vendor,
Thank you for your interest in the 2023 Whole Earth Festival! The Whole Earth Festival will be held on the UC Davis Quad on May 12, 13, & 14, 2023
Please read the following carefully before continuing to the application.
The deadline for the WEF Food Booths Application is February 24, 2023. The fee to apply is $45. If you are accepted to participate in this year's Whole Earth Festival (WEF), there will be a Booth Fee and an Environmental Deposit (see below under "Booth Types and Fees")
Submitting an Application
VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ: Safety Services (comprised of the UC Davis Fire Department and the UC Davis Office of Environmental Health and Safety) have prepared an application that includes all the information and guidelines to ensure that the Food Booths at WEF run safely and smoothly. In years past the information from the Safety Service's Application has been transferred onto this application. However, issues have arisen in the past where Safety Services did not have all the information they needed.
This year, to ensure that Safety Services has all the information they need, we ask you to fill out the application that was directly generated from them. The link to the application provided by Safety Services is under the section "Safety Services Application." The quickest and easiest method to upload this application is to:
1) Print out all the Safety Services application pages
2) Fill out all fields
3) Scan the completed pages to a computer/laptop
4) Upload the completed pages under the appropriate areas down below
If you are selling pre-packaged or prepared food or beverages, please provide the information requested. If you are selling non-food items, please fill out a different application form on the website. DO NOT USE THIS FORM FOR NON-FOOD ITEMS.
WEF Values
WEF is a vegetarian and zero waste festival. Therefore, no meat or fish will be served at the festival. No bottled beverages will be sold. If vendors are unable to fully participate in our reusable dish program (more details under "WEF Food Booths FAQ"), then we STRONGLY encourage vendors to utilize compostable dishes, cups, utensils, and/or straws.
Additionally, WEF is strongly committed to maintaining a festival free of any form of cultural appropriation. We will be taking this into account in the process of choosing applicants whom do not take advantage of another culture’s cuisine.
If you have any questions or concerns about where to find compostable items or about WEF's stance on cultural appropriation, please feel free to contact the WEF Food Booths Coordinator (food@wef.ucdavis.edu)
We will be selecting food booths to provide our crowd with a variety of tasty foods, while staying within the limits of our electrical and water supply.
We give special consideration to food booths that:
• Buy locally (relative to their base of operations)
• Use organic ingredients
• Offer Vegan or Gluten-Free Options
• Are sister UCD student organizations
• Will participate in our reusable dish program, or use use compostable dishware, cups, utensils and/or straws, if you are unable to fully participate in the dish program or have products that require specific serving-ware.
Booth Types and Fees
With a completed application as the starting point, we actively seek communication with all applicants during the review period. Your questions about WEF can be answered most completely by email or phone. Personal contact is best for our questions about your menu and practices. Non-Whole Earth Festival university personnel will call about health and safety issues. (If, after talking with UC staff, you still need help with university policy, please contact the WEF Food Booth Coordinator.)
If you are accepted, all food booths will be charged:
•A Booth Fee (see below)
•All food booths make a $250 Environmental Deposit before the festival. This will be returned to vendors who follow our waste reduction guidelines and leave their booth site clean after the Festival. Based on our experience with past WEF food vendors, we expect that all booths will get their full environmental deposit refunded.
•1 optional continuous on-site parking pass is available, if the vendor needs it. In years past, the pass has been $100. We are currently working with UC Davis Transportation Services to determine the price for this year. It will likely be this price or very close to it. Please confirm in the application if you would like a pass. Availability is based on order of applications received. Parking will also be available nearby. We are working with the UC Davis Transportation Service to determine where this parking will be located. If you park nearby and need access to your vehicle, you can be driven there by the WEF Food Booth Coordinator via golf cart.
Full Food Booth - $1,050 base fee
• 10’x10’ booth with 10 ft of sales frontage
• Additional $500 per additional 10 ft of sales front
• Additional $600 for a deep-fryer
Small Food Booth - $850 base fee
• 10’x10’ booth with 10 ft of sales frontage
• Requires minimal use of festival resources (e.g. electricity)
• Serves a limited menu
Low-Traffic Food Booth - $200 base fee
• 10’x10’ booth
• Located by the Cedar and Dance Stages where crowds would enjoy a convenient food booth
• Possess limited electrical service and water availability.
• Only four available
Grocery Booth - $450
• 10’x10’ booth
• An outlet for cottage foods and other small producers of food for home use
• Sells food items not for at-home consumption
• Will be verified by EH&S that products are manufactured in accordance with health codes
Small food booths
A small food booth has a total foot print of 10' x 10', requires minimal use of festival resources (e.g. electricity) and serves a limited menu.
Low traffic food booths
The crowds at our Cedar and Dance stages would enjoy a convenient food booth. However, past experience has shown that these are low traffic locations for food booths. Another factor in these locations is the limited electrical service and poor availability of water. We are again trying to serve those areas that are away from the main quad. We are offering these four 10 ft. by 10 ft. locations to food vendors for $200, plus the $220 EH&S inspection fee.
Grocery booths
A grocery booth sells food items not for consumption at the festival, but to be taken home and put in the pantry. They can be thought of as a crafts booth, whose crafts is food items for use in the home. The Whole Earth Festival is happy to offer an outlet for Cottage Food and other small producers of food for home use. UC Davis Environmental Health & Safety will verify that the products are manufactured in accordance with health codes. The fee for a 10ft. X 10ft. grocery booth is $450 plus the $91 EH&S non-perishable food sales inspection fee. The application form is the same as for an on-sale food booth.
WEF Food Booth FAQ
What’s up with the reusable dish program?
WEF will be implementing a reusable dishes program as we have done in the past, which is operated under WERC (Whole Earth Reusables Cooperative). There will be reusable plastic plates, bowls, and cups as well as metal utensils (forks, spoons, knives). Dishes, cups and/or utensils will be washed and returned to the vendor for future use. This will be at no cost to the vendor. This program helps ensure the zero-waste aspect of the festival.
Note: To participate in the reusable dish program, a vendor does not have to use all of the provided reusable items. For example, a vendor may use the reusable plates, bowls, and utensils, but not cups.
Is WEF actually zero waste?
WEF strives to be as zero waste as possible. To help us achieve this we need the help of our vendors! The less waste generated from our vendors, including crafts and food, the more zero waste we can be! Folks that make up the dish program and compost and recycling teams are also a critical component in achieving this. The dish program prevents more waste while the compost and recycling team sorts through ALL the waste generated at the festival into: pre and post-consumer compost; various categories of recycles; and landfill. As a food vendor, the compost and recycling team will ask you to sort your waste into pre-consumer, post-consumer, and recycles. If you are accepted, you will receive more information about how to sort your waste and what to do with any landfill waste that is generated. Together we can strive to be as zero waste as possible!
What is considered to be compost, recycle, and landfill?
We know it can be confusing to figure out what is what. Please consider Recology, (Davis's local recycling center) for a detailed list on what items go where.
How much does the University of California, Davis contribute to WEF?
Neither the University nor the Associated Students contribute any money to WEF. Booth fees, donations, and pre-WEF fundraising events pay for all festival expenses. WEF is not an example of your tax dollars at work.
Describe the application process. What are the deadlines?
Participation in WEF is contingent on the application being accepted by WEF staff, UC Davis Fire Department, UC Davis Risk Management, and UC Davis Environmental Health and Safety.
Applications should be submitted as soon as possible. Before March 10, 2023 at the latest. If your situation isn’t typical and needs special handling or billing, the earlier that we get your application, the more time we will have to meet your particular needs.
Between reception of your application and mid April, the festival and university health and safety department will review the applications. Contacting the applicants is part of that review. Final decisions and billing will be made by mid April. You will be updated on the exact date once the application period has closed.
When can we have our booths open during the festival?
Food booths are allowed to sell during the festival hours below.
Friday: 12pm-10pm
Saturday: 10am-10pm
Sunday: 10am-6pm
What will be the next step for accepted food vendors?
Accepted vendors will arrive on-site on Thursday, May 11, for set-up. There is a mandatory meeting with all food vendors, the health inspector, Food Booth Coordinator, and the WERC (reusable dish program) Coordinator in front of our Chaos Control Dome at 8:30 am sharp, Friday, May 12, the morning of the festival. All food vendors must show proof of Food Handlers Card or Serve Safe Certification at that morning meeting to begin selling. Because this is a university, there is no overnight camping. The university requires that all people (including vendors) leave the site at 10 pm. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer camping to our vendors at this time. Load out begins immediately after the closing ceremony on Sunday at 6 pm.
PLEASE do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
If your food booth doesn’t fit into any of the above categories, if you feel that the fees are inappropriate for your particular situation, or if there is some other concern that you have, please contact us and we will see if we can find a way to make it work. We strongly recommend digital payment, form submission, and communication through email/text rather than snail mail.
Thank you,
Addison (Jiangtong) Wang Co. with Gigi Accomazzo
2023 WEF Food Booth Coordinator
Email: food@wef.ucdavis.edu
ASUCD Whole Earth Festival
c/o Food Booths
1 Shields Ave.
Davis CA 95616
(650)441-4927 (Text)