As always Newtown Festival will be the day after the March edition of the Martinborough Fair.

We expect to open stall applications at the end of July or perhaps early August.  If you’re not already on our mailing list, sign up for the Stallholders’ Newsletter and you will be notified when the time comes. In the meantime you can see what you need to know before you apply.

People new to Newtown Festival often have questions about how the Festival day is organised, such as timing for stall set up, trading hours in different streets, etc – below the Booking Info section ‘Runsheet Information for Stallholders’ has answers to frequently asked questions about Festival day.

IMPORTANT BOOKING INFO for Stallholders

– please read this before filling in your application form.

Assessing applications: We have some criteria we consider before accepting stall applications.

For stalls other than food and information stalls: We will give priority to people selling quality goods – for instance New Zealand art and handcrafts, or New Zealand designed and made homewares, fashion, jewellery and other products. If goods are sourced from overseas we are interested in who designed and made them, and we favour handcrafts rather than mass produced products. We are also interested in sustainability, including limiting the use of plastic.

On the application form we ask you to describe the goods you are selling, including who designed and made them. Please give us enough information to understand how your stall meets the criteria. 

We will not be accepting applications from: Stalls selling multi-level marketing or direct selling products such as Arbonne or Doterra Essential Oils. 

The criteria for Food Stalls are a bit different: We will be looking at the Food Form section and considering how you are meeting our ‘zero waste’ goals before accepting your application. Also, there may come a time when we have as many applications as we can manage for a particular food style – we don’t want to have too many similar stalls too close to each other – so it’s best to apply and pay early to avoid this!

Information Stalls: This discount site rate is only for community groups eg. charities, sports clubs and not for profit organisations. Please tell us about your community organisation and the information you are providing.

When we receive your application we will check the information and if we are uncertain we will get back to you with further questions.  

Stall Site prices:  We will advise closer to the time if there are to be changes in 2027. Like everyone, Newtown Festival has been hit with ever rising costs and in 2026 there was a small increase in stall prices, but the 2x2m stall site and the concession price for community group information stalls is unchanged from 2025.

The Pricing & Payment webpage gives you the stall site sizes and their costs for 2026.

Multiple Stall Bookings:  Some people ask for more than one stall. We will usually say no – our principle is to make room for a wide range of vendors rather than having fewer vendors with two or more stalls each.

Returning stallholders who want to have the same site as last year need to apply and pay promptly – there will be more details when applications open. This time limit is to give regular returning stall holders the chance for priority for their 2025 site location, if they want this.  Sometimes this is not possible when the stall site is in front of a local Newtown retailer who now wants to have a stall outside their premises, or if the way the street is being used changes.  When this happens, we look for a good alternative site, as close as possible to help your regular customers find you at the Festival.  

Applying and paying early is important: Those of you who pay earliest are most likely to get your preferred stall site.  Payment by instalments can be arranged if you need this.  If the instalments are paid regularly then the date of the first payment will count for priority purposes.  

We can offer discounts for people running fundraising stalls for a good cause: We are also sympathetic to approaches from local artists and crafts people concerned about not being able to afford a stall.  Make your stall booking online and also email the stalls team explaining what you would like to do, and we will be in touch to discuss how much we can help.

The Wellington City Council Food Safety Form is part of the booking application for food stalls: We need to register all stalls selling food or beverages with the Environmental Health Department of Wellington City Council. The safe food handling details you provide us with and your information about waste minimisation are able to be read online by the City Council Officers. When you submit your booking application Google Forms emails you a copy of the form with your answers. If you need to make changes to your menu, or how you plan to prepare or serve the food or drinks the email reply has an “Edit response” button that gives you the option submit updates to your answers.  If you need any help with filling in the Food and Beverage Stalls part of the form please contact us.

Terms & Conditions

When you complete the booking application you will be asked to confirm that you accept the Festival Terms and Conditions – please read them!

Newtown Festival happens rain or shine, there are no refunds for weather.

Festival Stalls Trading Hours

8.30am/9.00am – 5.00pm, with a few exceptions in food stall precincts: Emmett St and Donald McLean St stalls can trade till 7pm,  Arney St until 7pm, Newtown Avenue until 8pm, Wilson Street until 8.30pm.

Stall Site Info Packs

Stall Site Info Pack Emails are sent out in mid-February to all stallholders who have paid for their bookings.  The Stall Site Info Email has an attachment that shows exactly where your stall site is and your nearest recycling station. The email has instructions particular to your part of the Festival. The attachment includes a copy of our Road Closure and One-way Festival Bypass map marked up to show you the Stallholder vehicle ENTRY to the Festival (at Constable St) for set-up, and your EXIT after set-up.  Your EXIT is colour coded and this is the only ENTRY you will be allowed to come back in at the end of the day.

Stall Set Up from 6.30am

The ONLY vehicle ENTRY to the Festival is at Constable Street. The road closes at 5am. Stallholder access for set-up is from 6.30am. Drive SLOWLY inside the closed road at Constable St to the Festival Marshal Welcome Station where they will check your Site Number on your Stall Site Info Email, issue your correct coloured Stallholder Vehicle Pass card to display on your dashboard for the day, and then direct you to your site.

Traffic flow on site is ONE-WAY    Once at your stall site please unpack as quickly as possible and move your vehicle as soon as you can, to minimise congestion. After set up please drive carefully to your correct coloured EXIT.  ALL vehicles must be off the site by 8.30am  –  there is no parking next to your stall.

THERE IS NO ON STREET PARKING anywhere inside the Festival, parts of the road not marked as stall sites will be being used for other Festival activities or performances.

Near, and even inside, the Festival, there are several community groups fundraising, offering stallholder all-day off street carparking for a fee. We will let you know the 2026 parking arrangements when we send your Stall Site Info Pack in mid-February.

In the morning you need to turn up on time, rain or shine. If something happens and you are delayed let us know whether you are still coming – or not!

If your STALL SITE is empty at 8.20am we might move another stallholder in. 

Stall Pack Up from 5pm

The stall market ends at 5pm in Riddiford, Constable, Rintoul, Green and Normanby Streets. To ease pack-out congestion several side street locations run later – if you are in Emmett St, Newtown Ave, Donald McLean St or Arney St please follow the onsite marshals’ guidance about finishing and exiting. 

Come back in the ENTRY that matches your coloured VEHICLE PASS = where you went out in the morning. Our Site Marshal crew on the entrances need to see your coloured Stallholder Vehicle Pass on your dashboard.  Festival Marshals WALK YOUR VEHICLE back to your stall. Because of the public crowd on site each vehicle is slowly escorted by a walker. This process begins at 5.15pm, but for safety’s sake this is slow-moving back in through the crowds. Narrow streets full of stalls, people and other stall vehicles mean sometimes you will have to stop and wait. Expect at times to be stuck in a queue within the Festival.

It is very important that stalls in Riddiford, Constable, Rintoul, Green and Normanby Streets stop trading at 5pm so the crowds begin to disperse.

When you are packed and ready to leave the Marshal crew escort WALK YOU to the nearest exit – this will usually be Constable St.

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday 8 March 2026

If you have any  questions, please feel free to contact us