Your Market Day Checklist for Organizers

The best market days don't happen by accident. They're built in the week before, in the hour before gates open, and in the small decisions that prevent problems from becoming visible to vendors and customers.

This checklist is built around how market day actually works - not as a theoretical exercise, but as a practical sequence of what to do and when.

Save it. Adapt it to your market. Use it until it becomes muscle memory.

One Week Before Market Day

Confirm vendor roster

• Send confirmation email to all accepted vendors with date, setup time, booth location, and load-in rules
• Note any vendors who haven't responded - follow up individually
• Confirm waitlist status: do you have a waitlist ready if someone cancels?

Verify booth assignments

• Review your layout map with fresh eyes - does the flow still make sense?
• If there is power, confirm which vendors need them
• Check for any conflicts: competing vendors placed next to each other, food vendors near non-food vendors who might have fragrance or noise (generator) issues

Check permits and certifications

• Confirm your event permits are in order
• Verify food vendor permits and insurance certificates are on file
• Note any vendors who are missing documentation - address before market day, not the morning of

Communicate logistics to volunteers and staff

• Send schedule, role assignments, and contact information to everyone working
• Confirm who has keys, gate codes, or access credentials they'll need
• Identify your point person for each zone if the market is large enough to need them

Prepare signage

• Check that directional signage is ready and assigned to specific locations
• Confirm "vendor check-in" signage for load-in
• Prepare any signage for new vendors or special events happening at the market

Day Before Market Day

Confirm weather contingency

• Check the forecast - not just for rain, but for wind, extreme heat, or cold
• Do you have a decision point for cancellation? What's your communication plan if you need to cancel?
• Alert vendors to any conditions they should prepare for (we always recommend vendors bring proper weights to secure their tents)

Do a site walkthrough

• Walk the vendor setup area and identify any issues: standing water, debris, access obstacles
• Check electrical connections and water hookups if applicable
• Confirm trash and recycling placement

Charge everything

• Phone, tablet, payment reader, any devices you'll use for check-in or communication
• Make sure walkie-talkies (if used) are charged and on the right channel

Morning of Market Day (2-3 Hours Before Open)

Arrive early
Load-in is your window to catch everything. Being on-site before vendors arrive means you can handle issues before they become problems.

Open site and direct load-in

• Position yourself or a team member at the main entry point
• Direct vendors to their assigned spaces - confusion during load-in slows everything down
• Have a printed booth map available for reference

Do a vendor check-in

• Confirm each vendor as they arrive
• Note no-shows immediately - this is when waitlist calls happen
• Flag any vendor setup issues early: wrong booth location, setup that violates rules, missing permits

No-show protocol

• If a vendor is 30 minutes into load-in and hasn't arrived or communicated, call or text them
• If 45 minutes in and no response, begin contacting your waitlist
• Have a plan for the physical space: can you repurpose the booth or open it to overflow?

Walk the setup at T-minus 30 minutes

• Every vendor should be set up or very close to it
• Look for anything that creates a safety issue: extension cords crossing aisles, unstable structures, anything blocking egress
• Check signage and wayfinding from the customer entry point

During Market Hours

Manage the flow

• Position yourself or a roamer to be visible and available - not behind a table
• Observe where customers are concentrating and where traffic is thin
• If you have live entertainment, confirm it's running on schedule

Document issues as they happen

• When something goes wrong - a vendor complaint, a customer incident, a permit question - write it down immediately
• Time-stamped notes are valuable if anything needs to be addressed after the market

Vendor check-ins

• Walk through the market at least twice during peak hours
• Brief check-ins with vendors ("how's it going, anything you need?") build goodwill and surface problems before they escalate
• Note who's doing well - these are your spotlight candidates, your future testimonials

Track attendance if possible

• A simple clicker count at entry gives you data that improves future markets
• Even a rough estimate is better than nothing

Last Hour Before Close

Communicate closing time

• Announce or message vendors about 30 minutes before the official end time
• Remind them of teardown rules: no breaking down early, no cars on-site until after close

Prepare teardown logistics

• Position yourself at the vehicle entry point for teardown
• Establish a one-way flow if the site requires it to prevent congestion
• Have trash and recycling clearly marked and available

Post-Market (Day of)

Site walkthrough after teardown

• Confirm the site is returned to pre-market condition
• Collect any signage, equipment, or materials left by vendors
• Photograph any site damage before you leave

Send vendor follow-up

• A brief "thanks for a great market" email within 24 hours maintains goodwill
• Note anything you need to follow up on: outstanding payments, permit renewals, issues that arose

Capture your notes while they're fresh

• What worked? What didn't? What would you do differently?
• Update your booth layout, vendor notes, or operational documents while the day is in memory

The Underlying Principle

Every item on this checklist exists to answer a question before someone has to ask it.

The best markets feel effortless to vendors and customers. That feeling is the result of organizers having done the work in advance - not magic, not luck, and not improvisation under pressure.

Build the checklist into your process. Refine it after every market. The version you're using in year three should look different than the version you're using now.