Florida Manatee Festival Vendor Application / Event Rules
TERMS & CONDITIONS
Please pay close attention while completing the application to the spacing/price and category section of the application. There is ONE application for all crafters, artists, and Commercial/General Vendors. Category/pricing is listed below.
Terms/Conditions apply to ALL applicants.
1. Artists: Original works of fine art created and presented by the artist, with emphasis on creativity and individual expression. This includes painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, pottery, glass, wood, metal, and mixed media. All work must be the artist’s own and not mass-produced or commercially manufactured.
2. Arts and Crafts: Defined as works made by hand or with the use of simple tools, showing imagination and the mark of the crafts person’s individuality; your skill or craft applied to the product and must contain at least 50% original work that defines it as unique. All arts/crafts displayed/sold at artists/crafters booth must be substantively produced by the hands. Cottage foods and/or farm fresh, farm-to-table items are approved for the art/craft category. (For example, Candied jalapenos or homemade beef jerky are acceptable). Two-dimensional art such as paintings, prints, or photographs Mixed media work that uses paint and canvas as its primary medium Books, written and/or illustrated by the artist/crafter.
3. Commercial, General Vendor, Business: Mold-made, work that has been made with commercial kits, purchased molds, patterns, plans or prefabricated pieces. Commercially manufactured artwork assembled (wholly or in part) from commercially available kits Screen-printed material Dried or silk flower arrangements Apparel (not handmade) including but not limited to retail hats, retail clothing, Direct Marketing Clothing and/or accessories; Embellished commercially made objects (such as T-shirts, hats, sunglasses, note cards, etc.)
4. Direct Marketing/Direct Sales: PLEASE NOTE, if you are a vendor representing a direct marketing and/or direct sales company (i.e., Color Street Nails, Paparazzi, Pampered Chef, etc.) it is your responsibility to notify in the application that you are a representative of said Direct Marketing/Sales. The Chamber Staff cannot be responsible for knowing the rules/regulations of the Direct Sales/Marketing company for which you represent. If the company states no more than one on-site, please be sure you note this information in your application. Please place under Special Requests. If a vendor does not provide such information, and there were to be an oversight weekend of the event, the Chamber staff will not be held responsible. Please be sure to provide as much information as possible regarding your direct sales/marketing product.
5. Non-Profit: Vendor space available to 501C3 organizations. One of the following is
required to submit with the application: Letter of 501C3 certification; IRS Letter of Determination; Florida Sales Tax Exemption Letter
Terms and Conditions:
The Citrus County Chamber of Commerce thanks you for your interest in the 39th Florida Manatee Festival 2026. Please carefully read the following rules necessary for vendors to participate in the event.
Submitting this application does not guarantee booth space at the Florida Manatee Festival. ALL applications will be reviewed for approval. You will be notified by email as quickly as possible upon approval of your application. Please remember that your credit card is charged upon approval of the application.
Selection/approval is at the sole discretion of the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce. The Citrus County Chamber of Commerce retains the right to reject any vendor application. All applications must be submitted by December 17, 2025.
1. Booth space is sold as 10' L x 10' W. No discount on multiple and/or additional booth spaces.
2. Electricity and water are not available for purchase at this event. If you require electricity, you must use a quiet generator. If you require water, you must make appropriate arrangements to suit your needs. The Citrus County Chamber of Commerce will not be able to accommodate providing electricity or water and should not be relied on for same.
3. Space assignments are made based on the best interest of the event. There are no guarantees/promises given to vendors as to assigned locations. This application neither implies nor grants any preferential consideration or treatment.
4. Vendors MAY NOT sublet, bring in the representation of a secondary commercial or charity to jointly work a vendor booth, switch product lines of what's been approved, or change the name of what's been approved to be posted to identify the vendor.
5. Event will be held rain or shine. This is an outdoor event with possible uneven terrain, inclement weather, and wind gusts. All tent corners must be properly weighted down and secured. Proper weights include but are not limited to water buckets, cinderblocks, and sandbags. NO STAKES are permitted. The Citrus County Chamber of Commerce is not responsible for providing proper weights, nor is the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce liable for any damage incurred to vendor booths/products during festival hours and/or setup/breakdown.
6. Vehicles (cars, trucks, trailers, golf carts) are not part of vendor space. Vehicles must enter at check-in, receive the assigned space/vendor map, and drop off/load in as quickly as possible. No vehicle will be permitted to remain parked at their assigned space during load-in/set up. Please remember, there will be other vendors needing to load in as well, please be courteous, and move quickly and safely.
7. Vendors MUST be set up and ready to open for business by 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning. No vendor will be permitted to load in on Saturday, January 17th, or Sunday January 18th after 8:30 am. Check-in will only be on Friday, January 16th. NO CHECK IN ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 17TH.
8. All vendors are required to be set up and operating Saturday & Sunday. This is a two-day event, rain, or shine. There will be no exceptions, must be set up by 8:30 am on Saturday, January 17th. Break-down/load-out will begin at 4 pm Sunday the 18th, following the announcement of ‘all-clear’ from Law Enforcement.
9. Vendors are permitted to transport goods and materials off-premises at the conclusion of each operating day; however, use of motorized vehicles (including golf carts) to transport goods are strictly prohibited on Friday or Saturday, and before Law Enforcement announces ‘all-clear’ on Sunday after 4 pm. Additionally, any vendors electing to transport goods and materials off-premises are expected to have their booth fully setup and operational by 8:30 am the following day of the festival. The use of motor vehicles (including golf carts) to transport goods and materials from off-premises to participant’s booth the following morning is strictly prohibited.
10. All vendor tents must be a solid, non-flammable, free-standing tent in good condition, without tears or stains, and securely weighed down. Tents must have the ability to withstand strong winds. Tents larger than 10x10 must provide a fire inspection, and fire retardant (stamp, letter).
11. All vendors are responsible for providing their own supplies needed to operate including, but not limited to, tents, tables, chairs, trash receptacles, trash bags, lighting, weights, etc.
12. No smoking / vaping in the vendor space. Please move away from your vendor space and/or food truck to a smoking area.
13. Vendors are required to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner when dealing with festival volunteers/staff, festival attendees, fellow vendors, and established downtown businesses. There is a strict no-tolerance policy regarding foul language, threatening or physically abusive behavior, disregard for the safety and/or property of those around you, or any other behavior that the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce deems unsafe or inappropriate. NON-COMPLIANT vendors will be asked to immediately shut down their location and be removed from the event (safely at the end of the evening). NON-COMPLIANT vendors will not be invited to return to any Citrus County Chamber of Commerce festivals, parades, and/or special events.
14. Booth space must remain clean throughout the weekend. Keep extra inventory, boxes, trash, etc. out of the display area. Vendors must dispose of all trash in one of the event dumpsters. Booth space must be left clean daily; no trash, trash bags, empty boxes or debris may be left behind. Non-compliant vendors are subject to additional clean-up fees and will not be permitted to participate in future Chamber festivals, parades, and/or special events.
15. Vendor identification signs are restricted to 18" high and shall be no longer than the width of the tent.
16. Absolutely no materials that link to, show, or infer sexual content, conduct, or encourage illegal or unethical activity. No lewd, lascivious, and/or slanderous materials against any one race, religion, ethnicity and/or political views. NON-COMPLIANT vendors will be asked to immediately shut down their location and be removed from the event (safely at the end of the evening). NON-COMPLIANT vendors will not be invited to return to any Citrus County Chamber of Commerce festivals, parades and/or special events.
17. Vendor booth/ products will resemble the photo depictions submitted with the application both in quality and appearance.
18. Vendors will receive detailed vendor information, including a placement map, check-in time/location of check-in by Thursday, January 15th, 2026., via EventEny email portal. If vendors do not show up during their outlined check-in timeframe, they will be required to wait until all other vendors have finished checking in. NO CHECK IN ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 17TH.
19. Vendors will be responsible to fully comply with the Florida State Sales Tax Regulations in effect during the period of the event.
20. Event vendor withdrawal requests must be submitted in writing/email no later than 60 days prior to the event. Refunds will not be given unless notification is submitted no later than 60 days prior. Refunds will be at the Chamber's discretion. There are no refunds for vendors who do not show up/set up for the festival.
21. The Citrus County Chamber of Commerce reserves the right to cancel the event in total/ in part. All aspects of the event are subject to modification. We reserve the right to alter the layout and/or move vendors as needed.
22. The sale of live animals, whether it be direct or indirect, at this event is strictly prohibited. NON-COMPLIANT vendors will be asked to immediately shut down their location and be removed from the event. NON-COMPLIANT vendors will not be invited to return to any Citrus County Chamber of Commerce festivals, parades, and/or special events.
2026 FLORIDA MANATEE FESTIVAL Crystal River
January 17th & 18th
2026 DISCLAIMER AND HOLD HARMLESS AGREEMENT
The undersigned hereby agrees on behalf of the Participating Artist / Vendor / Business / Organization below that in consideration for participating in the Florida Manatee Festival to be held on January 17th & 18th, 2026: s/he will make no claims in tort or other law against the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce or the City of Crystal River for any act, whether intentional or negligent, on the part of any person or object either prior, during or after the festival. The undersigned further agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce or the City of Crystal River from any act committed prior, during or after the festival on the part of the below named participant which may cause harm to another's person or property. Further, the undersigned acknowledges that they have read the festival rules, disclaimer and hold harmless agreement and takes responsibility for all assistants, workers, or other helpers they may use in connection with the Florida Manatee Festival activities.
Company Name: ______________________________________________________________
Name: _______________________________________________________________________
Signature: ____________________________________________________________________
Date: _______________________________________________________________________
PROPERLY SECURED TENTS
In accordance with established Events Rules, all tent corners must be properly weighted down and secured. Proper weights include but are not limited to water buckets, cinderblocks, and sandbags. NO STAKES are permitted. The Citrus County Chamber of Commerce is not responsible for providing proper weights, nor is the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce liable for any damage incurred to vendor booths/products during festival hours and/or setup/breakdown.
All vendors are responsible for properly securing their tents for the entire duration of the event. Vendors should refer first to any instructional material provided by the manufacturer of the tent in use on how to properly secure the tent. The following information is not intended to replace any manufacturer’s instructions; rather, it is a visual description of the Event Rules.
