Traders Application Form

About the Event

Gilded Balloon was established in 1986 and is now one of the largest and most well-known venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Gilded Balloon has experienced a dramatic evolution from its modest origins of one studio theatre with seven shows per day in 1986, to operating 17 spaces across 3 venues, with over 170 shows per day in 2023. The Gilded Balloon’s position as a premier venue is based on intriguing, imaginative, adventurous, and international programming covering exciting dance and physical theatre, spine chilling plays and challenging drama, and delighting children’s shows. The venue’s reputation however comes from promoting, supporting, and nurturing comedy, presenting the cream of stand up, improvisation and character comedy.

Gilded Balloon are looking for food and coffee traders to operate at our National Museum of Scotland site. 

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 runs from Wednesday 31^st July to Sunday 25th August (previews on the 31^st & 1^st). 

Location: National Museum of Scotland (Lothian Street Entrance), EH1 1JF

Event dates: Wednesday 31^st July – Sunday 25^th August

Hours of trading: Approximately 10am – 10pm (variable and subject to change) 

Capacity: N/A as not an enclosed site

The Opportunity

We seek suitable, experienced food traders to supply all structures, staff and product to be able to operate at the event. When applying, traders must be able to provide the necessary health & safety documentation, food hygiene certifications, method statements & risk assessment (RAMS) and insurance required to operate at the event. Successful food traders will work with the Gilded Balloon representative prior to and throughout the event to ensure operations run smoothly and safe trading regulations are adhered to at all times. It is essential that you have experience of serving large volumes of people. We are particularly keen to see a variety of products including locally sourced produce, suitable for vegetarians and vegans, for a variety of ages and with a selection for those with food allergies and intolerances.  

We require an affordable, good quality food offering that can be served quickly and efficiently.

You must be able to provide:

• A suitable attractive structure (e.g. hut)/vehicle unit
• Creative dressing of the structure to fit in with overall event theme (if available, please give details of any furniture you may have available)  
• A consistent point of contact/onsite manager
• Risk assessment, method statement
• food hygiene certificate
• Removal of your trader waste and water from site*
• An appropriate level of friendly staff who commit to the GB code of conduct and safe spaces policy. 
• Adequate public (£5 million), products and employer’s liability (10 million) insurance
• Discounts and/or purchasing incentives to Gilded Balloon staff and artists, to be agreed in advance with the Gilded Balloon representative

* All trader waste (not limited to carboard, cooking oils, packaging etc.) including food waste must be removed by each trader from site every night. We can accommodate waste removal for an additional fee. 

Gilded Balloon would provide:

• A dedicated point of contact during the planning stage and on site
• A source of water on site (There will be a charge. The charge will be dependent on requirements).
• General front of house litter picking/clean up.
• Power (limited depending on availability. There will be a charge. The charge will be dependent on requirements). 
• Toilets available at the venue for working personnel and customers.
• Marketing for your unit in the form of brochure space and social media posts

Set Up and Operation

• The Gilded Balloon Representative will work with you to agree all timings including load in, accessing site for stock replenishment and load out post event to ensure a smooth operation and delivery for the event
• Trading hours are set by Gilded Balloon, these will be communicated to you by the representative and we appreciate your cooperation in keeping to the timings stipulated. 
• All food concessions must be ready to commence trading at the time pre-agreed with Gilded Balloon, and not close before the pre-agreed time.
• Gilded Balloon will operate 7 days a week between 10am & 10pm and you will agree to not operate outside of these times 
• Food Traders will not be permitted to pack up or leave site without first being given clearance by a member of the Gilded Balloon team. Any trader who does so, and by doing so risks public safety or causes damages, shall not be permitted to trade at future events. 
• We ask for security and safety reasons that your unit is never left unattended. 

All timings may be subject to change any changes will be communicated by the Gilded Balloon representative

Competitive Environment

We do request prices to match in line with other traders operating the event, for example, if a bottle of water is priced at £1.50 this price must be matched by all traders, a pricing list will be required when submitting an application.

Once price lists have been confirmed and contracted, reduction or inflation of prices will not be permitted without the prior consent of Gilded Balloon.

Pitch Fees and Other Charges