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Apply to Vend - SJMADE Summer Fair 2026

Apply to Vend - SJMADE Summer Fair 2026

by San José Made
$500.00

Please read through the instructions below before applying to this year's SJMADE Summer Fair 2026.

San José Made's flagship summer celebration, SJMADE Summer Fair, returns in 2026 on August 8–9. Located at Santa Clara Convention Center. Featuring over 300+ amazing makers, artists, designers, crafters and creative small businesses. In addition to the incredible lineup of vendors, this year's Summer Fair will feature our largest lineup of DIY workshops, maker demonstrations, live creating, programming, activations and live performances, which will be scattered throughout the entire event map, giving each area of the event its own surprises and intrigue for attendees to explore! 

Event Details

  • Dates & Times: August 8 (1 PM – 8 PM) and August 9 (12 PM – 7 PM)
  • Venue: Santa Clara Convention Center
  • Address: 5001 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, CA 95054
  • Info: Free admission for attendees. All ages. Service animals only.

 

Instructions on How to Apply - PLEASE READ

Failure to read application instructions may result in your application being automatically rejected.

Instructions

  1. To successfully submit your application, you must go through the online checkout process (i.e. paying for your booth). Don't worry about the pick-up / delivery method, just choose whatever. Since this is a digital vendor application, whichever option you choose will not matter.
  2. Our team will send you an admission notification (accepted / waitlisted / rejected) within the stated time (scroll down to the "Notification" section).
  3. Note: At some point before admissions are sent out, your order might go from "unfulfilled" to "fulfilled". This only means that we've begun to process your application, and has no implication of application acceptance.

FAQ: "I successfully submitted my application and paid the fees. Does this mean I'm automatically confirmed to vend for the event date(s)?"

  • No. Submitting your application on our website and paying the fees associated with the application simply means that you've successfully applied to the event.
  • Once we receive your application (and fees), our team will review your application. You will receive an admission notification (accepted / waitlisted / rejected) within the stated amount of time on the vendor application page (see below). If your application is accepted, you're all set. If your application is rejected, we will fully refund your fees. If your application is waitlisted, you will have the option of staying on the waitlist OR withdrawing your application and receiving a full refund of your fees. 
  • What do we review? For every applicant, we will review your website (if any), Instagram (if any) and any additional content you shared with us about your work (photos, descriptions). Additionally, if you've done events with us before, we will take into consideration our past experiences with having you vend at our event(s). Please note that if you do NOT include a website our Instagram in your application, you should email us at events@sanjosemade.com with photos of your work and a description of your work and your business. Without this content, we will be unable to review your application and will reject your application to vend. 
  • Why do we jury applications? Our goal in jurying applications is to ensure that the vendors who participate in our events are good fits for the event and, therefore, are positioned for success in both sales and customer engagement. If your application is not accepted, this does not mean we don't like your work. It also does not mean that future applications from you will not be accepted. We have had many, many, many vendor applicants whose application was rejected for one event, go on to do many events with us beyond that. Additionally, we jury applications so that we can achieve a healthy balance to the diversity of product types offered at an event (i.e. not having too much of a product type represented at the event). 

FAQ: "I applied early. Does this mean my application is more likely to be accepted?"

  • No. So long as you submit your application within the application window, your application will be juried in the same fashion as all others submitted before the deadline. In other words, the first application to be submitted is no more or less likely than the last to be accepted for the event.

Admissions Notification

  • The Vendor Application Deadline is Apr. 13, 2026. All applications submitted before this date will receive a vendor application status notification (via email) on Apr. 28, 2026. This status notification will share whether or not the applicant's application has been accepted / rejected / waitlisted.
  • If your application is accepted, you're all set. You'll receive further instructions and information about vending in your application status notification email.
  • If your application is waitlisted, you will have the option to remain on the waitlist OR withdraw from the waitlist and receive a full refund of your fee. Your waitlisted application notification will contain additional information to help guide you through the waitlist process.
  • If your application is rejected, you will receive a full refund of your fee.  

Any questions?

Email us at events@sanjosemade.com with the following subject line:

SJMADE Summer Fair 2026 - Vendor Inquiry: [INSERT YOUR BUSINESS NAME]

Notes for Vendors

  • Application acceptance is NOT guaranteed for vendors whose applications were accepted for a previous SJMADE event or for any SJMADE Summer Fair events. Each year, each application is juried by our application jury regarding of what happened with your application in previous years. 
  • Booth assignments from previous years is not guaranteed upon acceptance for this year's event (or subsequent years' events). Additionally, we do not take specific booth location requests.

 

Pricing

Application Processing Fee

  • There is a nonrefundable $5 Application Processing Fee for each application submitted. We will retain this $5 Application Processing Fee regardless of whether or not your application to vend is accepted / waitlisted / rejected. 
  • This $5 is INCLUDED in the booth fee pricing below, meaning nothing has changed with the overall price of booth fees for this event from the 2024 or 2025 event booth fee pricing. 
  • If your application is rejected or your participation is canceled, we will issue your refund per the Refund Policy (scroll down below).

Vendor Type

  • Non-Food/Drink (+$0). If you do not plan to sell food and/or drink items during the event, please select this option.
  • Low Risk Food/Drink (+$128). This option is for food/drink vendors NOT cooking on-site. If you plan to sell food and/or drink items during the event, please select this option. The overall fee for food/drink vendor applicants INCLUDES your Santa Clara County Health RC1 Low Risk Temporary Food Facility Permit Fee. If what you sell requires a Temporary Food Facility Permit above the RC1 Low Risk permit, we will NOT accept your application to vend (e.g. food that requires on-site preparation and/or cooking).
    • To read more about Temporary Food Facility Permits, view the Santa Clara County's page on them: https://cpd.sccgov.org/programs-and-services/temporary-events.
    • IMPORTANT: Per the venue's strict rules around food & beverage sold on-site, all food/drink items must be packaged for off-site consumption. Each food/drink vendor must have a sign on their booth emphasizing this rule to their customers. Failure to comply may result in the offending vendor being forced to stop their food/drink sales by the venue management. If your food/drink vendor application is accepted, we will send you further details about how to remain in compliance with this rule, per the venue's guidelines. Any questions? Email events@sanjosemade.com. 

Booth Type

  • Double Booth (20'x10') (+$1,100). This is the largest booth size we offer through the application process. If you're interested in a booth size larger than this, please first email us at events@sanjosemade.com with your business name, website / social media (if available) and a description of what you'd be selling however there is no guarantee that we will be interested in accommodating booths larger than double booths. All double booths come with one of the two booths placed on a corner. 
  • Full Booth - Corner Location (10'x10') (+$600). If you apply to vend using this option and your application is accepted, you will receive a full 10'x10' booth and you will be placed in a corner booth location. 
  • Full Booth - Inline Location (10'x10') (+$500). If you apply to vend using this option and your application is accepted, you will receive a full 10'x10' inline booth. Inline = non-corner location. 
  • If you're a vendor who already knows with whom you want to share a booth with... Please use one of the Full Booth options described above to apply. When filling out this vendor application, you'll be prompted to include information about your preferred boothmate (business name, name, email, website, Instagram, phone number, CA seller's permit number and any additional info). Please make sure to include your preferred boothmate's information otherwise we will not be able to consider them for the event. 
  • There is no Shared Booth option for this event for vendors who want to apply for a shared booth space without a preferred boothmate. 

 

We will not be accepting any food/drink vendors and food trucks who require on-site cooking/preparation. These types of vendors are not allowed to sell on-site per the venue's rules. If you apply for one of these types of businesses anyway, we will automatically reject your application.

 

Notes:

  • Any vendors who have NOT been officially accepted to vend at SJMADE Summer Fair 2026 will not be allowed to vend at the event.
  • Booths are non-transferable. If you decide to withdraw from the event, you will not be able to sell or transfer your booth to another vendor. If you sell your booth space to another vendor, both you and the vendor who bought the booth from you will be banned from all future San José Made events.

 

Additional Vendor Details

  • Load-in. There will NOT be a Friday afternoon load-in window for the event this year. Load in will take place on Saturday morning only. 
  • Tables & Chairs. Vendors will need to bring their own table(s) and chair(s) though there will be a rentals option for 8' table, 6' tables, table covers and chairs. If vendors would like to rent one or some of these items, they will need to sign up at least one month prior to the event. A link will be shared in the application acceptance email.
  • Electricity. Vendors will have to sign up and pay for access to electricity at the event. They will need to sign up for this rental at least one month prior to the event. A link will be shared in the application acceptance email.
  • Wifi. We recommend vendors use their mobile data to take transactions OR to use a mobile hotspot. Mobile wifi hotspots are available at some public libraries, such as Sunnyvale, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, and Oakland Public Libraries. The venue offers wifi on-site to purchase but it is prohibitively expensive (approximately $80 per day). 
  • Security Overnight. You will be able to leave your booth setup overnight between Saturday and Sunday. The venue will be closed,  locked, and secured overnight, but you leave your items at your own discretion. As always, we recommend taking home personal valuables and electronics.

 

Refund Policy

  • To withdraw your participation from SJMADE Summer Fair 2026, please email events@sanjosemade.com and include your business name, full name and, if possible, order number. 
  • If you withdraw from the event anytime before June 31, 2026, you will receive a full refund on your booth fee.
  • If you withdraw from the event anytime between June 31, 2026 and July 10, 2026, you will receive a 50% refund on your booth fee. 
  • If you withdraw from the event anytime after July 10, 2026, you will not be eligible any refund on your booth fee or any booth fee credits.
  • If your application to vend is NOT accepted, we will process a full refund of your booth fee upon sending you the notification email.
  • If your application to vend is NOT accepted, we will process a full refund of your booth fee (minus the $5 Application Processing Fee) upon sending you the notification email.

Refund Terms for Rejected Applications

If your application to vend is NOT accepted, we will process a full refund of your booth fee (minus the $5 Application Processing Fee) upon sending you the notification email EXCEPT in instances where the application: 

  • Is a duplicate application (i.e. a vendor applies multiple times for the same event)
  • Is incomplete or fails to provide sufficient information for our team to jury the applicant. One example of this would be an application that is missing a website link AND the applicant has not emailed us their product photos before the application deadline. Another example of this would be an application that includes only erroneous website links or Instagram handles, whether this is broken links or links to pages that do not represent your work and/or your business. 
  • Does not qualify for consideration for the event being applied to. This information is contained in the "Does your work qualify for Holiday Fair 2026?" section on this page above as well as here below:
    • The applicant appears to be reselling mass manufactured goods (e.g. reselling items purchased from Amazon, Temu, AliExpress, etc.).
    • The applicant appears to be associated with or want to promote a large corporate business.
    • The applicant appears to be promoting a business that cannot be considered to be involved in a creative or artistic discipline.
    • The applicant appears to be using AI to create the artwork featured in their products.
    • The applicant appears to be wanting to sell alcohol, drugs and/or weapons

If any of the above applies to your application, we will retain 3% of your booth fee and refund you the remaining 97%.

If none of the above applies to your application, we will refund you fully minus the $5 Application Processing Fee.

 

Terms

  • SAFETY: Participant will act with the highest regard for the safety of the attendees and other participants of the Event, and will adhere to all laws, policies, rules, and regulations applicable to the goods and/or activities of Participant, including obtaining all licenses, permits, and approvals that may be required to enable Participant to conduct its activities at the Event and fulfill its obligations under this Agreement.
  • LIABILITY: San José Made will not be responsible for any loss or damage to Participant’s property, injury to, or death of the Participant (or its agents, employees, and/or personnel), or Participant sales. Participant expressly assumes all risks of loss, damage, liability, injury, or destruction resulting from any cause whatsoever, including but not limited to acts or omissions by Participant, and hereby releases and waives any claims against San José Made related to such loss, damage, liability, injury, and/or destruction. 
  • INSURANCE: Participant represents that it has, or will have at the time of the Event, appropriate insurance to cover liability for the types of activities Participant will conduct at the Event. Participant covenants to be fully responsible for any of its liabilities, actions, or omissions, and will indemnify, defend, and hold San José Made (and its officers, employees, agents, vendors, affiliates, and representatives) harmless against any claims related to Participant’s liabilities, actions, or omissions.
  • RIGHT TO CANCEL: Per its Code of Conduct, San José Made will in good faith attempt to resolve any vendor's transgressions of the Code of Conduct (as well as any applicable laws) in order to preserve their ability to participate in an event. However, San José Made reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel the participation of any vendor at any time before or during the event. This decision may be based on, but is not limited to, failure to comply with the Code of Conduct, inappropriate behavior, violation of applicable laws or any action deemed detrimental to the event's success, reputation, or safety. In such cases, no refund of fees paid will be issued (unless the cancelation occurs during an applicable refund eligibility window), and the vendor agrees to comply promptly with any instructions from the event organizer regarding the removal of materials and departure from the event premises.

 

Vendor Code of Conduct

  • View the Vendor Code of Conduct
  • By applying to and being accepted to our events, each vendor is agreeing to adhere to the 2026 Vendor Code of Conduct.
  • We are asking everyone to read this document before participating in any SJMADE events this year and to try their best to adhere to the following vendor code of conduct. Failure to do so may negatively affect the jurying of a vendor's future applications to our events. Egregious flouting of the vendor code of conduct may result in a vendor's removal from the event in question. 
  • We will exhaust every opportunity to avoid these situations (because we love having y’all at our events!); however, as our events have grown, it's become clear that we need to define our expectations for the participating vendors at our events and how they exist within an event's community of vendors. San José Made will in good faith attempt to resolve any vendor's transgressions of the Code of Conduct (as well as any applicable laws) in order to preserve their ability to participate in an event. 
  • However, San José Made reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel the participation of any vendor at any time before or during the event. This decision may be based on, but is not limited to, failure to comply with the Code of Conduct, inappropriate behavior, violation of applicable laws or any action deemed detrimental to the event's success, reputation, or safety. In such cases, no refund of fees paid will be issued (unless the cancellation occurs during an applicable refund eligibility window), and the vendor agrees to comply promptly with any instructions from the event organizer regarding the removal of materials and departure from the event premises.
  • If you believe you'll be unable to adhere to this code of conduct, please let us know and we can discuss.

 

Scam Alert

Please feel free to share with any of your fellow vendors or vendor communities. We have seen a reported increase of instances on Facebook and Instagram of people attempting to scam prospective vendors by purporting to be "selling" the last few vendor spaces for our previous events.

In many of these cases, the scammer asks for payment via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle or some other form of digital payment after filling out a Google Form. Please note that these people (i.e. the scammers) are not associated with San José Made in any way.

We never sell vendor spaces through social media direct messages or even text messages for that matter. We only sell vendor spaces through our official website (sanjosemade.com).

If you ever encounter communication online from a non-SJMADE account purporting to be associated with SJMADE, please feel free to contact us at either events@sanjosemade.com or info@sanjosemade.com. We would be happy to verify for you whether or not the communication you've received has officially come from us. 

Please note that we cannot honor any vendor booth spaces that were purchased through channels that were not ours.