Prince George's County, MD Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)

Prince George's County Code Sec. 12-115 regulates 'Special Food Service Facilities - Mobile Units and/or Food Trucks' within the Health Code, Subtitle 12. Subsection (c)(5) flatly prohibits public vending of food from manually propelled mobile units on public rights of way in Prince George's County and on private property, but exempts mobile units authorized as participants at a stadium, amusement park, or in conjunction with a carnival, festival, fair, or similar event that has been issued a Special Events Permit from DPIE. A separate carve-out applies to a permit licensee operating inside a mixed-use venue with the property management association's permission.

Beyond the Special Events Permit itself, Sec. 12-115(e) requires every mobile vendor at a street fair to have a Certified Food Manager present at all times of operation and to pass a Health Department inspection under Sec. 12-112, plus provide adequate trash receptacles and prevent litter near the stand. For single- or multi-day festival events specifically, Sec. 01 sets a separate application deadline: the permit request must reach the Department by mail or in person no later than five business days before the event, and late applications will not be processed.

Vendors with a documented history of noncompliance can be denied outright, and the Department may require attendance at a training class as a condition of getting a permit if the applicant has previously failed to follow the Code. Farmer's market vendors instead need a Farmer's Market Vendor's License under Sec. 02, tied to written permission from the specific market.