The time you spend preparing the event site layout is also a good time to think about the signage, posters, banners, and other printed materials you'll need on the day of the food fair. If you plan to use a professional printer to make these materials, you'll need plenty of lead-time to ensure that everything is delivered on time for the food fair. Of course, you'll need to wait until sponsors and other main details are complete before you can create and finalize posters, but you can plan the signs for the actual fair and for your organi-zation's booth well ahead of time. You should take an inventory of the signage you already have that might be useful at the food fair before you spend money creating new materials (see Section 14).     TOP

Establishing an entry point

The focus of your food fair will determine the kind of speaker or speakers you want to highlight. Prominent vegetarian, environmentalist, and animal rights speakers or authors will likely be interested in speaking at your event if you can assure them of a fairly large crowd and if you are focusing on the aspects of vegetarianism that they support and speak about. Cookbook authors might also be interested in an opportunity to promote their books. You should provide a fairly specific description about the fair so that the speaker can decide if he or she wants to appear there.     TOP

Determining capacity

Regardless of whether your fair is to be held indoors or out, the area itself will dictate to a certain extent the number of exhibits you can have before the area becomes too crowded. Both indoor and outdoor sites will be covered under fire safety laws, and you must be sure not to violate these (see your event permit for details or contact local fire safety officials). Electrical outlets, fire exits, and other physical features of the area will also limit your layout. You may not be able to predict with certainty how many people will attend the event, so you should arrange adequate space for people without creating so much open space that the fair looks sparse. The bands, speakers, vendors, or cooking demonstrators will be able to help you estimate attendance by giving you a general idea of their following or the number of people they have drawn at previous appearances. Be sure to create a center space for these kinds of activities. You'll need space for chairs or at least space for a crowd to gather. You may also need a stage or other elevated platform for performers, speakers, or demonstrators.     TOP

Determining arrangement

As vendors, exhibitors, demonstrators, and other participants begin to confirm their attendance at your fair, you should begin assigning the booths and thinking about the specific arrangement of participants for the fair (although you should not necessarily give out booth assignments to participants before the day of the fair. See Section 7). You should spread out vendors and exhibits with similar products or campaigns: for example, don't group all of the nonprofit groups together, and avoid grouping them by theme. Try to mix the vendors a bit, too. You may want to or by necessity (proximity to water or electricity or closeness to benches or picnic tables you've set up) need to group the food vendors together, but even within that grouping you should strive for a varied arrangement. In some cases (hopefully few) some groups and organizations may have conflicts or not be on good terms with one another. You'll want to avoid putting them in adjacent booths whenever possible.     TOP

Selecting your organization's space

Don't forget to allow adequate space for you organization's displays, merchandise, and literature (see Section 13). You might want to choose a spot that is slightly removed from the center of food vendors, speakers, or areas to create an area that is suitable for conversation and outreach. You should also allow room to set up a table that contains sign-up sheets (see Section 20) and free newsletters from your organization.     TOP