Working in events and festivals comes with a raft of possibilities and experiences you’ll never find anywhere else, and we have supported tens of thousands of businesses who will tell you the same.

NCASS membership is a stamp of quality and professionalism across the sector. You’ll find NCASS members trading at the biggest and most loved events and festivals across the country.

We have created this page to give you a range of really useful resources to guide you through catering at events, trading at festivals, pitching up at outdoor shows and everything in between.

From advice on how to work out whether a show is financially worth doing, to support with your documentation, applying for events and much more, this treasure trove of resources will, we hope, help you to navigate the events sector.

NCASS have been supporting members, events, festivals, suppliers and event professionals who work in this sector for over 30 years. We also work with other associations that support the events sector, including Vision for Sustainable Events, NOEA, AIF and UKEVENTS.

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Applying for Events

Applying for events and festivals, no matter how formal or informal the process, is a fundamental exercise for a successful show and event caterer. Effectively navigating what can often seem like a daunting and overwhelming process, whether you are considering participating in a village fête or a large-scale music food festival, is critical and the process remains the same each time. Doing your research, gathering comprehensive information and establishing clear communication with organisers is vital.

Download our 'Apply for Events' free guide.

The Golden Rules – Tendering for Events

One of the biggest problems faced by event caterers over the years has been the rise in pitch fees for events. This is usually due to tendering processes which, if not thought out properly, tend to favour the organiser and push up costs for caterers, often to a level that can make it difficult to turn a profit.

Read more about the Golden Rules for Tendering at events & festivals.

Working Safely at Events & Festivals

Events and festivals work within a highly regulated environment, put this together with regulations in the food & drink industry and you’ve got a whole load of paperwork.

Your NCASS membership gives you everything you need to run your business safely, our safety management system, member dashboard, risk assessments, safety app, Primary Authority, training and more makes sure you’ve covered.

If you’re not yet a member, give us a call and we’ll run through everything we can help you with. If you are a member, there are tonnes of extra resources to make sure you’re at the top of your game when it comes to food safety & health & safety.

Get in touch

Paperwork

Events and Festivals require evidence that you have the policies and procedures in place to trade legally and safely. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Insurance
  • Health & Safety Risk Assessment
  • Food Safety Risk Assessment
  • Fire Safety Risk Assessment
  • Site Specific RAMS
  • Allergen Matrix
  • Safe Use of Equipment inc. PAT testing certification and LPG certification

You should also have documentation that relates to keeping your team safe, including noise reduction, working outdoors and working at height.

You can find tools, templates and resources on all of the above in your Member Dashboard, Member Resources area, the Safety Management System and NCASS Digital Food Safety app.

Environmental Health Officer (EHO) inspections

  • EHO inspections
  • Local authority EHO inspections
  • Listen to our podcast with NCASS’ Environmental Health specialist, Fiona West
  • On-site EHO inspections
  • Read our interview with on-site Environmental Health specialist, Hannah Ward

Did you know?

NCASS supports events with environmental health consultancy providing our expertise on site, supporting your team, delivering inspections and being a source of advice. Email Fiona, our in-house EHO, to get in touch!

LPG Safety for Caterers

Failing to take LPG safety seriously runs the risk of causing disastrous and potentially major incidents.

When you run a mobile catering business, it is your responsibility to do your utmost to keep everyone around you as safe as you possibly can.

That means looking after your customers, your staff and, of course, yourself by following safe use of LPG practices.

We have a wealth of information, resources and a training course that will support you in ensuring you are using LPG safely, including NCASS approved gas engineers across the UK who have the right experience and qualifications to fit, check and sign off your LPG set ups.

We also have a partnership with Calor Gas where you can earn cashback on the cylinders you buy. If you use LPG regularly you could be missing out if you’re not signed up to the deal.

Find a Gas Engineer

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LPG Gas Safety Training

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Gas Safety Hub

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LPG Safety for Event Organisers

How confident are you in identifying potential safety hazards or illegal practices in mobile traders’ LPG setups? Do you have the right knowledge to ensure the safety of your events and your audiences when it comes to LPG?

NCASS has leveraged their expertise in mobile LPG and mobile catering to create a specialised training course and workshop designed for event organisers, EHOs and outdoor, event & festival traders, entitled, ‘The Safe Use of LPG in Mobile and Outside Catering’.

This course is invaluable and provides essential guidelines for anyone using or evaluating the suitability and safety of LPG setups. It equips event teams with the knowledge to identify unsafe LPG practices and understand the crucial safety controls that should be in place.

It is unique because it has been put together by leading industry experts and offers real-life examples of unsafe illegal LPG practices. NCASS is encouraging all outdoor traders, event professionals and environmental health professionals to complete it.

LPG Safety for EHOs

NCASS and EHOs ultimately both want the same things – safe, well run and successful food businesses and growth in our local economies.

We respect the fact that EHOs give great advice to businesses and have a wealth of expertise and knowledge. But we also recognise that their time is more and more stretched, with an ever-growing list of priorities.

One of the areas we work with EHOs on is LPG Safety. We have trained hundreds of EHO specialists across the country on the safe use of LPG, via our workshops.

More needs to be done to raise the standards of mobile LPG and ultimately, ensure the safety of the industry for all those involved in it. When it comes to LPG, we all have a collective responsibility to keep things safe and uphold standards to promote best practice and safeguard the sector.

We believe that education is key when it comes to LPG safety. So, we have brought together our expertise on mobile LPG, along with our insight on the mobile catering and street food sectors to create a training package suitable for Environmental Health Professionals.

Learn more about how NCASS works with EHOs and how this can be a mutually beneficial relationship.

Learn more

Want to keep up to date with everything going on in events & festivals?

Here list of useful sources of information:

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