The mission of the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival is to build bridges of awareness, knowledge and understanding between the diverse Asian Pacific American (APA) communities and the general public through cultural education, leadership development, and athletic competition.

An annual highlight for many visitors to the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival (CDBF) is the Taste of Asia food court, where people can dine and sample a variety of Asian cuisines that they may not have tasted before. Over the years, the Taste of Asia has introduced folks to food from Thailand, India, Philippines, Laos, Hawai’i, Korea, Vietnam, Japan and more. Are you a restaurant owner or caterer who wants to share your Asian ethnic expertise with over 100,000 appreciative spectators over a summer weekend? Now’s your chance to sign up! We also serve non-Asian food items so no one goes home hungry!

CDBF Services:

CDBF’s goal is to provide a wide variety of foods to festival-goers, and to provide a profitable and enjoyable experience for food vendors. CDBF actively promotes and markets to an ethnically diverse and well-educated customer base. Temporary parking close to the exhibit site is reserved for vendor unloading. CDBF provides security, staff patrols and trash pick-up to maintain a clean, well-run, family-oriented festival.

Food Vendor Selection Criteria:

The Selection Committee (CDBF Operations Committee, Board of Directors and APA community leaders), will evaluate and select applicants. Selection criteria is based on appropriateness to the festival mission, development of a diverse Marketplace, past history of festival participation and adherence to regulations set by the state, city and the festival committee.

All food vendors must send in photos of your food presentation AND booth area/décor so the selection committee can distinguish the differences between similarly named items such as eggrolls, BBQ sticks, etc. If you participated last year, we kindly request that photos be updated and resubmitted this year.

CDBF will manage all beverage sales. Sale of any type of beverage is prohibited unless pre-approved by CDBF.

Hours of Operation:

The 12th Annual Colorado Dragon Boat Festival will be held: Saturday, July 28 from 10 am–7 pm
Sunday, July 29 from 10 am–5 pm

Set-up starts at 6 am Saturday, July 28 with completion by 9 am. Dismantling begins at 6 pm on Sunday, July 29. Vendors must vacate the park by 8:30 pm.

Mandatory Food Vendor Meeting and Permitting:

Food Vendors who are selected to participate in the festival will be required to attend a food vendor orientation meeting prior to the event. You will be notified by e-mail about this meeting date. If you don’t hear from us, please call the CDBF office at: 303-953-7277.

A Food Vendor Menu Review is required with the City and County of Denver’s Department of Environmental Health, Public Health Inspection Division. Call 720-913-1311 to set up your menu review before the required Food Vendor’s Meeting.

Food Vendor Responsibilities:

• is responsible for providing all equipment INCLUDING tent (canopy with sides), tables, chairs, etc.
• Vendor is responsible for set up, operation, maintaining and dismantling of their booth.
• The food vendor shall maintain a clean and safe operation for the full duration of the festival.
• The food vendor shall clean up booth site and remove/dispose of trash.
• Exhibitors are expected to comply with all federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations, and shall have all appropriate licenses, permits and other required documentation.
• Food vendors must meet City and County of Denver Health Department and Fire Department requirements and permits.
• Food vendor must provide proof of $1 million of liability insurance.
• Subletting or booth sharing is not permitted without prior permission of CDBF.
• You MUST have a Colorado and a Denver Sales Tax License if you are selling any food.

Equipment Rental:

If you need to rent tents, sidewalls, tables, chairs or other equipment, CDBF will offer a suggested rental company with the acceptance packet.

Booth Presentation & Décor:

Exhibitor is responsible for booth decoration. Bring the necessary items (table coverings, flowers, décor) to create a fun and inviting display. The Taste of Asia appearance of each booth is critical to the look and feel of this Festival. Be creative!

Electrical Needs:

Each food vendor booth space includes two 20-amp 110v circuits. There is an additional cost of $50 per 20amp-110v circuit and $100 for 220volts or hardwiring. No personal generators are allowed. Electrical order forms will be sent with contracts to those accepted to participate.

Recycling Program:

The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival takes a very proactive and committed stance pertaining to environmentally sound practices. Continuing with our green efforts from 2009, the purpose of this program is to utilize recycled materials wherever possible; and to minimize the amount of non-recyclable waste generated by the event. All Food Vendors are required to participate in this program, which has the following requirements:

• Serving Equipment – Food Vendor agrees that all food will be served on recyclable paperware and with recyclable plastic utensils.
• Cardboard Recycling – Food Vendor agrees to flatten and segregate cardboard boxes from trash and place them in the designated cardboard receptacles provided by CDBF.
• Packaging Materials – Food Vendor agrees to purchase supplies that utilize cardboard only packaging, e.g. purchase corn in crates made from recyclable cardboard instead of crates made from non-recyclable wood or metal.

Many recyclable items are available for the same costs or nominal costs when purchasing bulk amounts.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: ***Friday, April 20, 2012, 11:59pm Mountain Time ***

Applications must be received by Friday, April 20, 2012, 11:59 pm Mountain Time. Acceptance notices will be mailed the second week of May. Contracts will be issued and must be signed and returned by Friday, May 25, 2012 with payment IN FULL. Cancellations received by June 4 will receive a refund minus a $50 cancellation fee. Invoices will be sent with the exhibitor contract.

Applications received after April 20, 2012 will be placed in on a waiting list for consideration as space becomes available.

Note: A $200 damage deposit is required, which will be refunded after a final post-festival walk-through.

* Net Sales is defined as gross sales less sales tax. Cost of supplies, personnel, etc. is not deducted from the gross sales amount. To keep our Taste of Asia program affordable, we operate on the honor system in reporting actual commission. Please help us maintain these costs by accurately reporting your commission. Thank you!

Thank you for your interest!

Lora Knowlton, Current Events LLC
Vendor Coordinator
E-mail: marketplace@cdbf.org
Phone: 303-973-1209
Fax: 303-948-5550

Colorado Dragon Boat Festival
11049 West 44th Ave., Suite 110
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033
E-mail: info@cdbf.org
Phone: 303-953-7277
Fax: 303-953-7278
www.cdbf.org

BEFORE PROCEEDING TO THE ONLINE APPLICATION FORM, HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED:

• Primary contact information for your business
• Description about your business (for CDBF website and potential promotion)
• Description of food to be sold/promoted
• Photos of food items that you will sell (jpg/gif/tiff/png format)
• Electrical – list of appliances and how many amps each requires.