Evergreen Events Farmers Market Rules and Regulations

Evergreen Events Farmers Market Rules and Regulations is an event-planning company in the Philadelphia area, specializing in establishing, managing and promoting venues that support the growers, makers, and do-ers of the region. 

Our markets are “producer-only,” which means you must grow, raise, bake, cook, ferment, distill, sew, draw, design, or make the items that you offer for sale to the community. 

More specific details about our rules are found deeper in this document but please know that in order to sell items at our markets you must also abide by City and State rules and regulations; for example, any prepared food offered for sale must be made inside a certified kitchen; vendors are required to be an official business and carry a liability insurance policy; etc. Before submitting an application, any potential vendor should also be “market ready,” which means you have the equipment and supplies needed to conduct safe and legal outdoor retail transactions.

If you’re not a producer of a product, then there are other ways to participate in our farmers markets. Local businesses that provide a service can attend as a sponsor and may be invited to promote their services to the customers shopping at the market. Community groups from the neighborhood are invited for free to promote their events and missions. We would also like to encourage musicians or other performers to use our markets as a venue for their artistic endeavors. Requests to participate in the market without selling items should be submitted here. 

Farmers Market Vendor Eligibility & Registration. Producers must be located within a 150-mile radius of the respective market’s location. Producers must complete and submit an application and a complete product list. For some applicants, we might request more information about ingredients and their sourcing. EVERGREEN EVENTS reserves the right to visit a farm or facility before inviting a vendor to participate in a market. 

If accepted, the producer must provide EVERGREEN EVENTS with all relevant licenses; for example, most food vendors must have a Food Establishment License; farms claiming to sell certified organic products must submit their organic certifications; vendors serving ready-to-eat food to the public must be approved by the Health Department and pass an onsite inspection; etc. 

Every vendor participating at the market must have a general liability insurance policy that covers claims of $2-million per incident. Certificates of insurance that list EVERGREEN EVENTS and any other relevant party as Additional Insured are due before your first day at market. Evergreen Events will provide you with the exact wording for the Additional Insured parties.

Product Eligibility. Producers may only sell crops or other farm products that they grow, raise, or produce themselves. Exceptions to this rule are approved by EVERGREEN EVENTS on a case-by-case basis and based on the following guidelines: 

• We will grant exceptions ONLY if no other vendor is producing the product. 
• The exception is revoked if another producer begins growing or making that product, or if a producer of that product is invited to the market.
• Evergreen Events must be notified prior to the market date if a producer plans to buy-in a product.
• It is best to include on your application the name of the products that you wish to buy-in and the location where those products are originally grown or made.

Value-added food products, which is basically any food or beverage that’s been cooked or processed or fermented, and body-care products can be sold provided that:

• there is a verifiable presence of ingredients from local farms,
• the producer can provide the shoppers with a full ingredient list,
• the product is packaged, stored, and merchandised in a manner consistent with food safety regulations.

The following categories of food are exempt from the local ingredient requirement:

• Chocolate
• Coffee
• Wine
• Nuts
• Olive Oil

When reviewing applications, EVERGREEN EVENTS shows a preference for producers that use as many local ingredients as possible, whose products change with the seasons, and who make food “from scratch.” 

For products whose main ingredient cannot be grown or produced locally – for example coffee, olive oil, chocolates, nut butters, wine – those products are eligible if they are processed in a local facility. 

We do not accept products that use high fructose corn syrup, too much refined sugar and artificial colors and flavorings, and products that are packaged in environmentally destructive material. 

Vendor Fees. Vendors will be charged $35 per spot per market. A spot is considered a 10-foot by 10-foot space, the footprint of a typical pop-up tent or canopy.  Vendors who require more than one spot will be charged $50 per market.  

Please be advised that upon acceptance to a market the producer is responsible for paying in advance the equivalent of two markets. 

EVERGREEN EVENTS will invoice every producer at the beginning of each month for the previous month. You are responsible for notifying EVERGREEN EVENTS if you are not receiving your market fee invoices. EVERGREEN EVENTS reserves the right to charge a $10 late fee for market fees two months past due and will revoke any producer’s invitation to market who is consistently late with market fee payments.

Attendance. EVERGREEN EVENTS can accommodate a variety of schedules, based on the needs of the individual vendors and the needs of the market itself, but we do require the vendors to be present for all the market dates in their schedule, unless the market has been officially canceled for the week by EVERGREEN EVENTS. 

 In the event that a vendor cannot attend a market day, the vendor is responsible for notifying EVERGREEN EVENTS as soon as possible and no later than 3 hours prior to the market’s start time. Failure to inform EVERGREEN EVENTS of non-attendance will be considered an unauthorized absence and the vendor will still be responsible for that week’s fees. Claims of emergencies and signs of bad luck will be judged on their merit. 

After three unauthorized absences by a vendor in one season, EVERGREEN EVENTS reserves the right to revoke that vendor’s invitation to market. Excessive lateness can also result in banishment from the market.

Market Hours. Selling before the official beginning of the market time is discouraged. Producers should arrive early enough to start selling when the market begins. Producers must stay at market for its entire length of time unless arrangements are made ahead of time with the EVERGREEN EVENTS.

Market Layouts. EVERGREEN EVENTS will assign the spots at the market. 

Parking. If possible, EVERGREEN EVENTS will strive to obtain free parking spots for the vendors at the market. If parking spots are limited, then we will assign which vendors get to park at market; we will show a preference for farmers and weekly vendors when assigning parking spots.

If you receive a parking ticket while vending at the market, or if you are in a vehicular accident at market, EVERGREEN EVENTS will assist in any way possible but is not responsible for any parking fines or any damage caused by a producer’s vehicle. 

Equipment and Signage. Every vendor at the market must bring a tent, tables, and tent weights that equal a minimum of 25 lbs per tent leg. Weighing or tying down your tent is a requirement for every market. If your weights or ropes are absent or inadequate, then you will not be permitted to use your tent or canopy. Below are more specific guidelines regarding tents and weights.

Producers must either have prices present for each item offered for sale or have a sign listing all the prices of their goods. 

Producers must have an identifying sign or banner with the name of their business, their address or the name of their town and state, and preferably a way to contact the vendor outside the market, for example a website address, email address, or phone number.

Stand Appearance and Presentation. Producers must be neat and clean, must wear shirts and shoes, and have the ability to wash or sanitize their hands while at market. 

Participants of the market should not expect to use public trash cans. Each participant is responsible for cleaning their spot before leaving for the day. Sometimes this requires vendors to bring a broom, dustpan, and their own trash receptacle with them to market.

Smoking is not permitted at any market, even during the periods of time when we are setting up and breaking down. 

Inspections and Visits. EVERGREEN EVENTS reserves the right to visit any farm or production facility to inspect growing practices and crops and to verify application information. 

Market Management. EVERGREEN EVENTS is responsible for the operation, management, and administration of its farmers markets. EVERGREEN EVENTS has the authorization to make operational and administrative decisions including the application, interpretation, and enforcement of these rules.

Sales Reports. Every producer is required to submit sales reports for every market day. We will accept this information in a variety of formats and can provide the producer with a sales report form if necessary. Sales reports are due by the end of the market’s season.

EVERGREEN EVENTS will keep the information in the sales report confidential. Sales reports are a valuable tool to evaluate the health and progress of both our operations and businesses. We can use these reports to find trends in sales, to observe the effectiveness of our promotional efforts, and to replace vendors who stop coming to market. 

Additional Tent & Weight Policies. The following is also a requirement from the City of Philadelphia. Vendors who do not come to market equipped with proper weights or ropes will not be allowed to set up a tent. Putting weights on the tents is the first thing that is done after the tent is set up.

Weights: must be at least 25 lbs. each and be secured to each tent leg or where two legs meet. For one 10'x10' tent this means 4 weights, each weighing 25 lbs or more. For two 10'x10' tents this means 6 weights. Weights must be securely fastened to the tent leg or frame. Dumbbells or other household items loosely tied to the leg are not acceptable. Simply laying a weight on the small "foot" of the tent leg is also not acceptable. 

Ropes: vendors who choose to use ropes or straps to secure their tents must be confident in the ability of their system. 

In the event that any vendor's tent is moved away from its original position or tipped by the wind, and had not been secured as described above, that vendor will be barred from any further participation in an EVERGREEN EVENTS market. 

High winds: in the event of very high winds, usually over 15 mph, EVERGREEN EVENTS reserves the right to not allow vendors to set up tents or to take down tents after they have been set up. Vendors are encouraged to use their own discretion to operate without tents if they judge conditions too windy.