Vendor Registration Form

Thanks for your interest in becoming a vendor at the 5th Annual Austin Chocolate Festival. The festival will be held October 15th-16th 2011.

Our Goal for 2011
The ACF has raised over $5,000.00 dollars for Susan G. Komen for The Cure Austin Affiliate during the first four years of the festival. We hope that with the support of the community we will be able to help raise another $5,000.00 for Walk MS. Walk MS is a rallying point, a time and a place for us to stand together and to be together — to help raise critical funds that support cutting edge research, drive change through advocacy, facilitate professional education and provide programs and services to help people with MS move their lives forward.

What's new for the 2011 Austin Texas Chocolate Festival
Full Weekend Event - load in and setup Friday evening before the event. Event runs from 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
New Venue - the Norris Conference Center is centrally located, large and very nice
More Vendors - we now have space for 24 vendors
More Internet Marketing - links and logo on 22 websites
Breakfast and Lunch - will be provided on both days
Cheaper Booths - the booths are now $300.00 for the entire weekend vs. $400.00 for one day

Competitions
There are 9 competition categories to be judged by the public and a panel of judges. Limited to 8 entries per category. Each Chocolate Festival vendor is automatically entered into the Best Booth and Most Popular Sample categories. Vendors must provide 300 small samples for each entry except for Best Truffle (Professional) competition.

1.   Best Brownie     
2.   Best Mole
3.   Most Creative Dessert
4.   Best Cookie
5.   Best Frozen Dessert 
6.   Best Truffle (People's Choice)
7.   Best Truffle (Professional Panel)
8.   Best Booth - based on e-mail survey shortly after the festival
9.   Most Popular Sample - cumulative based on the number of sample tickets collected

Terms of Service Legal Agreement:
By registering as a vendor for the Austin Chocolate Festival you agree that you have read and understand the terms of service below, and that you will abide by the Health Dept. regulations outline. Both the vendor agreement and the Health Dept. guidelines are available in the vendor section of the website.

Booth Information:
We would like for you to participate and compete in the 5th Annual Austin Chocolate Festival.  Vendor booth space is limited so reserve yours ASAP. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to showcase your chocolate creations and compete against other Texas independent small food companies. Vendors that did not participate in a previous year's event will need to provide a brief presentation outline including booth decorations, description of their samples, and a brief summary about their participation in the festival.  Vendors will be assigned to their booth space by the event coordinators.  The booth space selection will be influenced by the vendor’s past participation, and requirements (from the application) as well as the order in which the reservations were received. If you have special needs or requests (electricity, cold storage etc…) please make note on your registration form.  You will be notified if your request cannot be met.

Fees, Refunds and Cancellation Policy:
Booth spaces are $300.00 for both days. If your registration is not accepted, you will be refunded in full. If you cancel after we have accepted your registration you will receive a full refund if cancellation is made prior to 60 days before the event. You will receive half of your vendor fees if you cancel less than 60 days before the event but not more than 30 days before the event. If you cancel within 30 days of the event no refund will be given.

What's Included
- Booth space to showcase your company
- 2 5 foot tables and white linen table cloth
- A sign for your vendor space with company name and logo
- Festival vendor identification badges for staff
- Opportunity to compete in 10 categories against other independent businesses
- Vendors will be listed on all promotional materials
- Vendors will receive promotion material for their retail locations
- Wireless Internet access

Requirements
- Fill out and submit by fax or e-mail a temporary food service permit with the City of Austin
- Provide around 2400 samples for festival guests in exchange for coupons
- Pay sales tax in Austin for any products sold during the festival
- Bring at least 2 staff members to work your booth
- Man your booth at all times during the festival
- Load in on Friday before the event
- We encourage you to join and donate to the Austin Chocolate Festival MS Walk Team

Chocolate Festival Timeline

Friday October 14th
5:00pm - 10:00pm Vendor Load In

Saturday October 15th
8:00am-9:00am - Breakfast (Provided by Festival)
10:00am-12:00pm - 1st Chocolate Festival Shift
12:00pm-2:00pm - 2nd Chocolate Festival Shift
2:00pm-4:00pm - 3rd Chocolate Festival Shift
4:00pm-6:00pm - 4th Chocolate Festival Shift

Sunday October 16th
8:00am-9:00am - Breakfast (Provided by Festival)
10:00am-12:00pm - 1st Chocolate Festival Shift
12:00pm-2:00pm - 2nd Chocolate Festival Shift
2:00pm-4:00pm - 3rd Chocolate Festival Shift
4:00pm-6:00pm - 4th Chocolate Festival Shift
6:00pm-7:00pm - Vendor Load Out