This varies more than almost anything else in food, so treat the list below as what to ask about rather than what applies to you.
Ongoing, business-level permits — get these before you trade:
- Business licence
- Food premises or food handling permit
- Mobile vending permit, if you are on wheels
- Fire safety inspection, especially with propane
- Health inspection certification
- Food handler certificates for staff
- Commercial vehicle registration
- Public liability insurance
- Workers' compensation, if you employ anyone
- Alcohol licence, if you are serving alcohol
Then per event — this is where people get caught out:
- A temporary food service permit
- Sometimes a propane or open-flame permit
- Sometimes proof of insurance filed with the organiser or municipality
- Do not assume the event organiser has handled it — ask them directly, in writing, what they hold and what you need
Three practical rules:
- Start every renewal 60 days early. Approvals take longer than you expect, and an expired permit is not something you can fix on a Friday afternoon.
- Keep one PDF bundle with all your documents — licence, insurance certificate, health permit, food handler certificates — so applying to a market takes ten minutes instead of an evening.
- Track expiry dates somewhere you look monthly. Most compliance failures are not refusals; they are things that quietly lapsed.