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Is this festival worth it for a food truck? TAKE / NEGOTIATE / PASS
Pitch fee, the organiser's cut, and covers you can honestly expect. The answer is a number, not a feeling.
Skip the reading. The tool does this maths for you, free, as you type.
Check a festivalFestivals promise crowds and charge for the promise: a pitch fee, sometimes a cut of sales, plus the staff, the fuel and a long day. The only question that matters is whether the day beats a normal Saturday at your usual spot.
The formula
Net sales = covers × ticket × (1 − organiser's cut). Costs = pitch + food % of sales + staff × hours × wage + fuel and propane. Profit = net sales − costs. Break-even covers = fixed costs ÷ what each cover leaves after the cut and food.
What a good number looks like
Profit beats what you need from a day. Book it and prep for the covers you expect, not the ones they promised.
Close. Ask for a lower pitch fee or no cut of sales; organisers with empty pitches say yes.
It does not beat a normal day. Let another truck learn the lesson.
What to do about it
- Ask a truck that did the festival last year how many covers they really did.
- Pay yourself in the staff line. A day you do not get paid for is not profit.
- Run a short festival menu. Fewer items, faster line, lower food cost.
Now do it with your numbers.
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Check a festival