Roanoke, VA Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Per-vendor tax
- $3 per vendor per selling day
- Annual cap
- $500 per organizer per tax year
- Trigger threshold
- 5+ vendors, event under 15 days
- Who pays
- Event organizer, not individual vendors
- Vendor exemption
- No separate license if organizer pays
Summary
Organizers of Roanoke craft shows, art shows, trade shows or festivals with five or more vendors owe a $3 per-vendor daily license tax capped at $500 a year under City Code § 19-78.1; participating vendors skip their own business license if the organizer pays.
(a)A craft show, art show, trade show or festival shall mean any event operating under the auspices of a single organizer, manager, conductor, or sponsor and consisting of a group of five (5) or more separate and distinct vendors selling or offering for sale goods, wares, or merchandise at a specific location in a public park, street, or sidewalk for a period of less than fifteen (15) days during any license tax year.(b)There is imposed upon every person who organizes, manages, conducts or sponsors a craft show, art show, trade show or festival in the city a license tax of three dollars ($3.00) for each vendor selling or offering for sale goods, wares, or merchandise at such show or festival during a single day or any portion of such day. The total license tax due and owing pursuant to this section shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) per tax year.(c)No person selling or offering for sale goods, wares, or merchandise at a craft show, art show, trade show or festival shall be liable for any license taxation on gross receipts or required to obtain a license pursuant to any other provision of this chapter as a result of participating in such show or festival if the organizer...obtains a license and pays the license tax provided in this section.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 94 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 1 sets a distinct license-tax track for organized vendor events instead of taxing each seller individually. It defines a covered event as one run by a single organizer, manager, conductor or sponsor with five or more separate vendors selling goods at a public park, street or sidewalk location for under 15 days in a license year. The organizer, not the individual vendors, owes the tax: $3 for each vendor selling or offering goods on a given day, or any part of a day, with the total capped at $500 per tax year no matter how many vendor-days occur.
In exchange, Sec. 1(c) exempts every vendor at that show from gross-receipts license taxation and from having to obtain their own city business license for participating, as long as the organizer holds the license and pays the tax. The exemption does not apply to wholesale merchants and peddlers already covered under Sec. 19-81, to sellers of perishable farm products they grew themselves, to flea-market sellers of used household goods, or to residents selling their own used household items from home. This section traces to a 1996 ordinance, No. 32868, and sits alongside a separate exemption in Sec. 1 for craft and art shows benefiting certain nonprofit or civic purposes.
Violations & Fines
An organizer who runs a covered craft show, art show, trade show or festival without first obtaining the Sec. 19-78.1 license and paying the per-vendor tax is subject to the chapter's general licensing penalties: a misdemeanor fine of up to $1,000 under Sec. 19-1.2(d), plus a 10 percent penalty on the tax if the violation continues for a month, on top of the tax owed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owes the tax for a Roanoke craft show or festival, the organizer or the vendors?
What size event triggers this tax?
Are farmers market or flea market vendors covered?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Roanoke
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