Madison, WI Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)

Section 9.13(2)(a) requires that the holder of a Street Use Permit shall purchase an umbrella Special Event Vending License to cover the street vending activities of all persons vending solely as a participant in a street use permitted event under Sec. 10.056, or a city-sponsored event. The license covers anyone at the festival whose activity would otherwise need a license under §§ 9.13, 9.135 or 9.136, or an E Permit under § 9.54, food trucks, merchandise tables, craft vendors, except currently licensed street vendors or sidewalk-cafe operators the event sponsor allows to stay in their existing assigned sites.

The event sponsor files the application with the Parks Division, listing every covered participant along with proof each holds a Wisconsin seller's permit and evidence the sponsor carries the liability insurance required by § 9.136(1)(m); the license is issued in the sponsor's name, who stays responsible for supervising vending activity under it whether or not present at the location, though the City can still cite individual vendors directly for violations. The license fee scales with the number of vendors listed on the application. A street use applicant can go further and ask the City to select or restrict which vendors participate, or to suspend specific § 9.13 vending rules for the footprint and duration of the event, requests that must be filed at least 90 days ahead and, if they include invalidating an existing licensed vendor's site, require Common Council approval and written notice to the affected vendor.

Vending inside the event perimeter without being on the sponsor's umbrella license, or without being a selected existing licensee, is barred outright under § 9.136(1)(k)1.4.a-b.