Street food setups at events need more than a griddle and a gazebo. This guide covers cooking equipment, holding and prep, power supply options, and how to plan for multiple traders on the same site.
Street food setups at events need more than a griddle and a gazebo. This guide covers cooking equipment, holding and prep, power supply options, and how to plan for multiple traders on the same site.
Street food at events ranges from a single trader with a wok and a trestle table to a multi-trader food court with dedicated power supplies and coordinated service. The equipment list varies, but there are a few core questions that should shape any street food setup: what are you cooking, how long is the service, and what power is available?
The cooking equipment depends on the food type. Commercial gas burners and wok burners handle high-heat cooking for Asian street food, noodle dishes, and anything needing rapid temperature changes. Flat-top griddles are the standard for burgers, quesadillas, and anything that needs contact heat across a large surface. Fryers are needed for chips, battered fish, and anything deep-fried. Most traders bring their own specialist cooking equipment, but hired griddles, burners, and fryers can supplement or replace these when traders do not have transport for their own.
Browse our street food equipment hire range for commercial griddles, fryers, and gas burner units.
Holding equipment keeps cooked food at serving temperature during a busy service. Bain maries hold sauces, soups, and pre-cooked components. Heated display cabinets work for products like wraps, pies, or sliders where the food is pre-made and held for walk-up service rather than cooked to order.
Prep tables are needed for any trader doing assembly at the service point: toppings, sauces, and garnishes all need a flat surface that is clean, accessible, and at the right height. Folding stainless steel prep tables work well for temporary setups. Fridges or cool boxes are needed for any ingredient that requires chilling before use.
Power supply is one of the most common planning failures at outdoor street food events. Most commercial kitchen equipment runs on 13-amp sockets, but fryers, commercial induction hobs, and large griddles often need a 32-amp or 16-amp supply. Check the power draw of every piece of equipment before the event and confirm whether the venue mains can support it.
For outdoor sites with no mains connection, a generator is needed. Size the generator based on the total combined wattage of all equipment running at once, not the peak draw of a single item. A 6kVA generator typically supports one commercial fryer and two burners. For a food court with four or five traders, a 20kVA or larger generator is usually needed. Fuel management and noise levels are the main generator considerations for multi-hour events in residential or park settings.
For a food court with multiple traders, the logistics change significantly. Each trader needs their own gazebo or canopy, a defined pitch footprint, a power drop (if electric), access to water, and a waste disposal point. Coordinate these requirements before the traders arrive rather than solving them on the day.
Layout matters for crowd flow. Traders facing inward across a central aisle works better than a line of traders all facing one direction, because it creates a market atmosphere and distributes the queue load. Leave at least two metres of aisle width per trader for safe pedestrian flow.
Our outdoor catering equipment hire range includes equipment suited to temporary outdoor setups, with delivery and collection arranged around your event schedule.
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