Festival Rules & Policies
The Winterville Watermelon Festival is a family-friendly community event. To help ensure a safe, welcoming, and enjoyable experience for our guests, vendors, volunteers, entertainers, and staff, all attendees are expected to follow the policies below.
Festival Grounds & Right of Admission
During festival operating hours, designated areas of Winterville Recreation Park are rented and operated by the Winterville Watermelon Festival for festival activities.
The Festival reserves the right to refuse entry or require any individual to leave the festival grounds when deemed necessary for the safety, security, or successful operation of the event, or when an individual’s conduct is disruptive or inappropriate for a family-friendly community event.
Failure to comply with instructions from Festival staff, authorized volunteers, security personnel, or law enforcement may result in removal from the event.
Respectful Conduct
Harassment, intimidation, threatening behavior, fighting, excessive profanity, or other disruptive conduct toward vendors, entertainers, volunteers, staff, or fellow festival attendees will not be tolerated.
Guests may not interfere with a vendor’s ability to conduct business, disrupt festival activities or performances, or create an environment that negatively impacts the experience of others.
Individuals whose behavior is determined to be inappropriate, disruptive, unsafe, or otherwise inconsistent with the family-friendly nature of the Festival may be asked to leave.
Concert Admission & Restricted Areas
Ticketed concerts and designated ticketed areas are accessible only to guests with the appropriate ticket or credential.
Guests without a concert ticket may not congregate or loiter immediately outside the ticketed concert area for the purpose of watching or listening to the performance. Festival staff or security may ask individuals to move from restricted areas or areas surrounding concert entrances, fencing, gates, or other controlled access points.
Attempting to enter a ticketed or restricted area without the proper ticket or credential may result in removal from the Festival.
General Event Rules
- Please respect all posted signs, barriers, fencing, restricted areas, and instructions from Festival personnel.
- Children should be appropriately supervised by a parent or responsible adult.
- Guests may not engage in behavior that creates an unsafe condition or unreasonably interferes with another person’s enjoyment of the Festival.
- Illegal Activity, weapons, and unlawful substances are not permitted.
- Guests are responsible for respecting Festival property, park property, vendor property, equipment, displays, landscaping, and facilities.
- Solicitation, distribution of materials, demonstrations, or unauthorized sales are not permitted without prior approval from Festival organizers.
- Festival rules may be enforced by Festival staff, authorized volunteers, contracted security, and/or law enforcement as appropriate.
Enforcement
Festival organizers reserve the right to address situations not specifically covered by these rules when necessary to protect the safety, operations, or family-friendly environment of the event.
Violation of Festival rules may result in denied admission or removal from the festival grounds. No refund will be provided when an individual is removed or denied admission due to violation of Festival rules or inappropriate conduct.
By entering the Festival grounds, guests agree to comply with Festival rules and the reasonable instructions of Festival personnel.