Vendors for school fetes and fundraisers

Food trucks, coffee vans and ice cream vendors with insurance verified up front. One post reaches them all, and it's free for your P&C.

Insurance and permits verified · Free for organisers

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Verified Documents

Public liability insurance and permits checked before you book.

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Live Availability

See who is free on your date instead of ringing around.

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Digital Contracts

Every booking confirmed in writing, with a clear paper trail.

Finding vendors for a school fete

Fete coordinators are volunteers doing a professional event manager’s job in their spare evenings. The vendor side is usually the worst of it: finding operators, checking insurance for the school, and hoping nobody cancels. Vendaly takes most of that off the P&C’s plate.

Post your fete once with the date, expected crowd and what you’re after, and available local vendors apply. Their public liability insurance and food permits are already verified on their profiles, and every booking comes with a digital contract the school can file.

What makes a fete work for vendors (and your fundraising)

  • Give honest crowd estimates. Vendors plan stock on your numbers. An accurate estimate means they sell out at 3pm instead of 12:30pm, and they’ll come back next year.
  • Avoid overlap. Two competing burger vendors halves both their days. A spread of savoury, dessert and coffee keeps every vendor profitable and your offering broad.
  • Agree fundraising terms early. Percentage of takings, pitch fees or discounted serves all work; what matters is that it’s agreed before the day and written into the contract.
  • Sort logistics once. Power, vehicle access to the oval, and setup times answered in your job post save a dozen identical phone calls.

The usual timeline

Eight weeks out, post the job. Six weeks out, compare applicants and book your mix. In the final fortnight, share the site map and bump-in times. On the day, the vans turn up with everything they need, because that’s their job.

Get started

Search local vendors directly, or post your fete as a job and let vendors apply. Both are free, which is exactly the right price for a P&C budget.

How does vendor pricing work for school fetes?

Most fete vendors trade on a guests-pay basis, and many offer fundraising arrangements that put money back into the school.

Booking typeTypical pricing
Guests pay, vendor keeps takingsOften no cost to the school; some vendors pay a pitch fee or donate a percentage of sales
Fundraising percentageCommonly 10% to 20% of takings donated back, agreed up front
Pre-paid vouchers or servesFixed per-serve pricing for sausage sizzles, ice cream or coffee runs, quoted per event

Figures are a guide only. Terms vary by vendor and expected crowd, so agree the arrangement in writing up front. Vendaly's digital booking contract keeps it on record for the P&C.

Frequently asked questions

How do we verify vendor insurance for a school event? expand_more

Schools and P&Cs typically need a certificate of currency for public liability insurance from every vendor. On Vendaly those documents are verified on each vendor's profile before you book, which turns a term's worth of chasing into a five-minute check.

When should we book vendors for our fete? expand_more

Six to eight weeks ahead is comfortable; more for term 4 fete season when weekends book out fast. Posting your fete as a job early gets you in vendors' calendars before the rush.

What vendor mix works for a typical school fete? expand_more

A dependable spread for a mid-size fete is one or two savoury options, an ice cream or dessert van, and a coffee van for the adults. The coffee van is consistently the P&C's favourite decision of the day.

Can vendors donate part of their sales to the school? expand_more

Many do, typically an agreed percentage of takings. Mention fundraising in your job post so vendors can build it into their offer, and get the agreed terms into the booking contract.

Looking for something else?

Ready to sort your fete?

Search available vendors right now, or post a job and let them come to you. Free for organisers.