Franklin County, KY Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)

Franklin County Code § 110.01 defines a VENDOR FAIR as any event lasting seven or fewer days in which vendors set up booths to showcase and advertise or to sell their products or services to members of the public. The definition names festivals, carnivals, craft fairs and trade shows, and the list is not limited to those. A street fair or festival with booths therefore falls under this section.

The rule is in § 110.03(G)(13). Instead of requiring documentation of each vendor's individual business license, the organizer submits one vendor fair application and fee. The fee scale is set by head count: one to ten vendors pay $10 per vendor; eleven to 25 vendors pay $250 per event; 26 to 50 vendors pay $500 per event; more than 50 vendors pay $1,000 per event. The organizer, not each booth, is the party who files and pays.

Section 110.03(G)(14) carves out nonprofits. An organization recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code and operating exclusively for charitable, religious, educational or nonprofit purposes is outside the section. A vendor fair hosted by such a nonprofit is exempt from the vendor fee only if two conditions both hold: the event is primarily for fundraising or charitable purposes, and net proceeds benefit the nonprofit organization.

The exemption has limits. Individual vendors or businesses at a nonprofit-sponsored fair who operate for personal profit can still face the applicable business license requirements unless another exemption in the chapter covers them. The exemption does not apply when the nonprofit is acting primarily as a promoter for for-profit vendors, or when the event is run so that the primary benefit goes to private individuals or businesses rather than the nonprofit.

This section is a licensing and fee rule only. Zoning for the site of an event is a separate matter under Chapter 155, which the Department of Planning, Zoning and Building Codes Enforcement administers. The Frankfort city code is separate and does not govern events inside unincorporated Franklin County.