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We are pleased to announce the 24th Annual
North Texas Irish Festival to be held at Fair Park in Dallas.
We are proud to say that the festival
will once again be the largest Irish Festival in the Southwest and one of
the best in the Nation.
Our purpose is to provide both an educational
and entertaining Irish Experience for those who attend, and we accomplish
this by bringing together the very best in Irish musicians, dancers, artists
and other performers as well as a great number of quality vendors, displays
and special events. We've enjoyed phenomenal growth since our first Festival
in March of 1983, and welcome the challenge to continue to expand and improve.
NTIF Vendors are an important part of our festival, and we hope that you will
join us for this Texas-sized Irish celebration. Guarantee your space at the
festival by completing the vendor application and sending it to us today.
Note: Food vendors should not apply using these forms -
they are for craft vendors only. Food vendors should contact
the NTIF office directly.
Best Wishes on behalf of the North Texas Irish
Festival!
About the Festival
Festival Dates & Times
Booth Sizes and Descriptions
Deposits and Fees
Confirmation
How to Apply
Contact Info
About the Festival
The North Texas Irish Festival
is produced and sponsored by
the Southwest Celtic Music Association, a nonprofit, tax exempt
organization dedicated to the "study, performance, promotion and
preservation of Celtic music and dance in the
Southwest." Since its beginning in March of 1983, the
NTIF has become one of the largest
festivals in the United States, hosting multiple stages, workshops,
craft demonstrations, wandering musicians, a children's fair, games,
traditional Irish foods and beverages, cultural displays, vendor
areas and much more.
The festival welcomes professional
arts and crafts vendors and
merchandise businesses that offer quality products. Although we
would prefer booths with a Celtic or handcrafted theme, it is not
required, though the festival reserves the right to reject any
products we feel are not appropriate. The sale of weapons, food
and beverages, or products bearing the festival
name is prohibited
without the prior written approval of the Festival Director.
Politically themed or pornographic materials are expressly prohibited
by the festival.
Festival Dates & Times
All vendors will be expected to be open for business while
the Festival is open from the evening of Friday March 3rd
through Sunday, March 5th, 2006.
The Festival will now open to the
public on Friday night at 6pm. We have always required our
vendors to move in on Friday and have encouraged them to be
set up by 5pm. To encourage additional vendor sales as well
as food and beverage sales, we now operate two stages from
6pm to 11pm on Friday night and ask that all vendors be
ready to open to the public at 6pm as well. IF YOU HAVE A
PROBLEM DOING THIS, PLEASE CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY. It may
require moving your booth location to a different area in
order for us to open both buildings on Friday. The stages
will be the Pub Stage in the Automobile Building,
the Trinity Stage in the Centennial Building and the
Shannon Stage outside in the Esplanade.
Booth Sizes and Descriptions
Vendor areas will again be located in the newly restored Centennial
and Automobile buildings, though they have been moved slightly
in order to take advantage of festival
foot traffic. We will do our best to accommodate vendor needs,
but we cannot guarantee booth spaces occupied in the past.
Booth prices will not been increased this year. We are acting on input from
the majority of vendors as well as taking into consideration the state of the
economy and the difficult time our vendors are
experiencing in general.
Festival
booths are available in 10’ x 10’ (100 sq. ft.) spaces. Vendors requiring
larger areas may rent
multiple booth spaces. Vendor spaces are located inside the
two festival buildings and outdoors in the promenade between them.
Please be sure to specify your space and location needs on
the vendor application form. Tables, chairs, outdoor carnival
tents, and electrical drops may also be rented from the festival if needed. We do not provide or rent lights, extension
cords, or plug strips.
Returning for 2006: Demonstration area. If you are a craftsman and would like to demonstrate your art or craft during
the festival, we have reserved a limited
number of 10' x 15' spaces that are the same cost as the 10' x 10'
spaces and will be in the same area. If you occupy one of
these spaces you are asked to demonstrate your
art throughout the weekend with some consistency.
Deposits and Fees
A refundable deposit of $25 is required for all vendors. We
ask that you submit two checks with your application: one
check for booth fees and miscellaneous charges and one check
for your $25 deposit. This deposit will be held until it is returned
to you at the scheduled close of the festival on Sunday, provided vendors have not damaged their
areas, vacated their booths before scheduled closing or ignored
any festival rules pertaining to booth spaces. Booth rental fees and cost
of accessories rental are listed on the vendor application
form. Included in vendor fees are the cost of two vendor passes,
one parking pass, 24-hour security, and facility cleanup each
morning before festival opening.
Due to the high bank charges incurred, we will impose a fee
of $25 if a check is returned by our
bank for any reason.
Because of our insurance requirements, the festival
may require some vendors to send a copy of proof of liability
insurance covering the vendor, the North
Texas Irish Festival and the City of Dallas as additional
insured's. We are not offering insurance, and it will be up to you as the
vendor to make sure that you have sufficient coverage. Reminder —
although we do not take a percentage of booth income, the various government
entities do. Texas and Dallas County sales tax collection is your
responsibility!
Confirmation
If your application is in order and all fees are received,
the festival will send
a postcard that will serve as a receipt. Booth assignments,
regulations, and other useful information will be posted on
the festival website, http://www.ntif.org, and will be sent to you in
February.
How to apply
Vendor application are available for download now (see top
right on this page) and should be mailed to the address on
the form. |
