Houston Vendor Events for Food Trucks: 7 Annual Events, Their Fees and Deadlines (2026–27)

The Houston vendor events that suit a food truck or food booth are the recurring ones that publish their food vendor terms: Discovery Green's Flea by Night downtown, The Informal Grub's farmers markets at Heights Mercantile and Rice Village, Japan Festival Houston at Hermann Park, the Lunar New Year Festival in Asiatown, the Pride Houston festival, the Katy Rice Harvest Festival and the Texas Renaissance Festival. Their published food vendor fees run from $65 per market to $2,100 per tent, or 20% of gross sales at the Renaissance Festival, and every one also needs your own health permit and often a certificate of insurance.

This page is the Houston chapter of our guide to where food trucks find vendor opportunities, which covers listing platforms, commissions and how to vet any event. The list below applies that test to Houston: each event is recurring, the organiser runs its own vendor page, and the food vendor fee is published.

Houston vendor events that publish their food vendor fees

Seven events and markets in the Houston area publish what a food vendor pays. The table puts them side by side; the sections after it give each one's rules.

All figures were read on the organiser's page or form on 11 November 2026. Fees change every season, so check the current packet before you pay.

Discovery Green: Flea by Night

Flea by Night is the downtown park's evening market, and its food truck rate is $200 per event after a one-time $100 processing fee once you are approved. Booth vendors pay $150 per 10x10 space per night. Payment is due three days before each event, and you apply through the Discovery Green vendor page.

The vendor guidelines set the food rules:

• Insurance: general liability of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate. The certificate must name Discovery Green Conservancy, Houston Downtown Park Corporation, Houston First Corporation and the City of Houston as additional insured, in the exact wording the guidelines print, so copy it word for word when you request the certificate.
• Permits: food vendors must hold every city and county permit and keep copies in the booth. Missing health compliance is a written warning first, then a $100 fine, then you are uninvited.
• Propane and grills: subject to Houston Fire Department rules for downtown, which "may require an HFD standby presence". No liquid charcoal starters.
• Waste: the park has no dumpsters for food waste. You double-bag and take out your own trash, grease and ice.
• Setup: 10x10 pop-up tents with at least 25 lb on each leg, no staking; limited 110-volt power.

A first Flea by Night for a truck costs $300 ($100 + $200); each later night is $200.

The Informal Grub: Heights Mercantile and Rice Village farmers markets

The Informal Grub runs regular farmers markets at Heights Mercantile and in Rice Village, and its market rules (last revised 30 December 2025) publish every fee. For a prepared-food vendor:

The market year for these two locations runs from the first Sunday in April 2026 to 28 March 2027. Every vendor needs a $1,000,000 general liability policy, and a certificate of insurance listing The Informal Grub, LLC as additional insured is required for each market attended, not once a year. Canopy legs need 25 lb weights at all times, and health department violations must be corrected before you can set up at the next market. You apply through the organiser's vendor application page.

The same rules cover The Informal Grub's other markets, but for those the stall fee is whatever its invitation email states, so only these two locations have a published price.

Japan Festival Houston, Hermann Park

Japan Festival Houston is a two-day festival at Hermann Park in mid-September, and it prices food tents by cuisine. Its vendor FAQ, which still shows the 2025 fees, lists:

Card payments add 5%. Japanese food vendors get priority, and you must submit your full menu. The FAQ also says every concessionaire "MUST INDEPENDENTLY apply to the Houston Health Department" for a two-day temporary food permit; it does not say what its own $160 permit line covers, so ask before you budget for both. If you use propane, the festival gets the propane permit for you at your cost.

A Japanese concessionaire with propane and two days of 110-volt power would have paid $2,360 in 2025 ($1,500 + $300 + $400 + $160) before the city permit.

Lunar New Year Festival, Asiatown

The Chinese Community Center (CCC) runs a Lunar New Year festival in Asiatown, and its 2027 edition is on Saturday, January 30, 2027, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The 2027 vendor form prices food vendors at:

• $700 for a food and drink sales booth, not including the food permit fee
• $250 for a food truck, covering three spots, not including power
• $30 for electricity, a 120-volt outlet up to 1,000 watts

Vendor spots are finalised by December 12, 2026, and the booth fee is due within one week of acceptance. CCC lists insurance, security, lighting, water and publicity among what it provides; you bring your own cooking equipment, UL-approved three-prong extension cords and three covered 5-gallon buckets.

The form doubles as a guide to the City of Houston temporary food permit. After you are selected, you email the Houston Health Department's application with CCC's authorisation form, a copy of your Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit and your food manager or food handler certificate. The form is a copy of the 2026 one and still carries 2025–26 refund dates and a 2026 festival day in places, so confirm the dates with CCC (events@ccchouston.org) before you rely on them.

Houston Pride Festival

Pride Houston 365's 2027 registration form for the 49th annual festival charges food vendors $1,250 for either a 20x10 concession tent space or a 10x40 food truck space. Add-ons:

• $450 if you will use propane, which covers the permit filing and a Fire Marshal inspection. The form says the Houston Fire Department "strictly requires a Special Event LP-Gas Permit for any on-site propane usage."
• $150 for a dedicated high-amperage circuit, only if your equipment needs it.
• $150 for event insurance if you have no liability policy of your own.

Vendors with their own policy need $1,000,000 per claim and $2,000,000 aggregate, naming Pride Houston 365 and the City of Houston as additional insured. Alcohol sales are not allowed. If the signed agreement or certificate is not ready when you register, it is due within 30 days. A truck with propane pays $1,700.

Katy Rice Harvest Festival

The City of Katy's Rice Harvest Festival fills the historic town square on the second weekend of October; in 2026 it ran 10–11 October. Food vendors applied through the city's Eventeny application, and the 2026 terms were:

• $450 for a food truck or trailer booth space (10x20), non-refundable
• $50 for each extra space beyond 10x20, and $40 flat for water meter access
• Application deadline 1 July 2026, 3 p.m.; payment due by 15 July 2026, or the space goes to the next applicant

The application says a Harris County food permit is mandatory, and vendors without one must get a temporary special event permit 30 days before the festival. Since July 2026 a Texas food truck's licence comes from the state, so ask the city which document it now accepts from a truck (see the permits section below). No electricity is provided: bring your own generator, and only quiet generators are allowed. Truck-and-trailer setups disconnect and park outside the festival, and alcohol is prohibited.

Texas Renaissance Festival, Todd Mission

The Texas Renaissance Festival is the long-commitment option: its 2026 season runs eight consecutive weekends from October 10 to November 29, and every vendor must work the full run. The festival says it welcomes nearly 500,000 guests a year. Its 2026 vendor application works differently from the other events here:

• How you apply: you mail a bound proposal with photos, prices and a list of your other events to the Vendor Director in Todd Mission, with a $50 non-refundable application fee.
• What food vendors pay: the 2026 fee schedule lists "Per Cap Food & Beverage" at 20% of gross, under permanent structures, for the whole season.
• Utilities: electricity up to 20 amps $390, trash and sewer $230, water $300, each where available.
• Structures: every shoppe must look Renaissance-appropriate and be approved by the Vendor Director. The vendor page warns that first-year vendors are deterred from buying a shoppe because it is "an investment into our festival".

On $40,000 of season sales, the 20% share would be $8,000, plus the utility fees you take.

Events that are not on this list, and why

Several big Houston events came up in research but fail the test of a published food vendor process:

• Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo: the public application is for commercial exhibitors selling merchandise. The 2028 window is May 15 – August 15, 2027, invitations are issued annually, and no exhibitor fee is published. There is no public food concession application.
• Bayou City Art Festival: food vendors apply by email to food@bayoucityartfestival.com; no food vendor fee is published.
• One-off markets on Facebook and Eventbrite: many are real, but most do not publish insurance or permit terms. Our vendor opportunities guide covers how to vet them and spot fake event pages.

The permits every Houston event adds

The organiser's acceptance does not permit you to sell food. Which permit you need depends on whether you sell from a booth or a truck.

A food booth or tent at an event in the City of Houston needs a temporary food permit from the Houston Health Department, applied for separately for each event. Our Houston temporary food permit guide walks through the form, its attachments and the 14-day filing rule. Outside the city limits the rules differ: Katy's festival application points vendors to a Harris County permit instead.

A food truck needs its Texas DSHS Mobile Food Unit License. That state licence replaced the City of Houston medallion on July 1, 2026 under HB 2844, so the city no longer issues temporary permits to trucks. Our Texas food truck permit guide covers the licence tiers, and the Houston food truck permit page covers what the city still controls, including the Fire Marshal's LP-gas certificate.

Propane brings in the Houston Fire Department: Pride requires a special-event LP-gas permit, Discovery Green may require an HFD standby, and Japan Festival files the propane permit for you. The broader rules for per-event health permits across other cities are in our temporary food permit guide.

A Houston application calendar

Working back from each event, the applications fall across the year:

Paperwork that repeats at every event

Each event in this list asks for the same details in a different form: your business name, menu, health permit number, sales tax permit, food manager certificate, and a certificate of insurance naming that organiser. Discovery Green prescribes its own additional-insured wording, Pride wants the City of Houston named, and The Informal Grub wants a fresh certificate for every market. Our food truck COI guide covers how to request one quickly, and the permit checklist lists what each city keeps on file.

Sources: Discovery Green — vendor information · Discovery Green — Flea by Night vendor guidelines (PDF) · The Informal Grub — market rules (revised 30 Dec 2025) · The Informal Grub — apply to be a vendor · Japan Festival Houston — vendor FAQ · Chinese Community Center — 2027 Lunar New Year Festival and 2027 vendor application form · Pride Houston — 2027 festival registration · City of Katy — Katy Rice Harvest Festival 2026 food vendor application (Eventeny) · Texas Renaissance Festival — for our vendors and 2026 vendor application and fee schedule (PDF) · Japan Festival Houston — 2026 vendor application form · Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo — commercial exhibits · My Neighborhood News — Bayou City Art Festival food vendor applications · AutoFill PDFs verified permit data for 47 US cities. All accessed 11 November 2026, except the Japan Festival vendor form's 2026 closing date, which was read on 9 November 2026.