The Temporary Fair Permit In Singapore, Explained

You've got the atrium booked, a flyer half done, and 30 makers asking when stall bookings open. Then someone in the group chat asks, "Did you apply for the SFA permit?" and nobody replies.

It's a fair question. In Singapore, a fair with stalls selling goods or food needs a Temporary Fair Permit from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), even when nobody is cooking.

It's S$60 and a short form. The catch is the deadlines. Miss them and SFA can push back the start date on your permit.

It's also only the first of the permits for a market in Singapore. Depending on the venue, fire safety and entertainment can need their own.

Below is a worked timeline for a 30-stall makers market in a Tampines mall atrium. Facts are as of October 2026; check SFA's page before you file.

What Is The Temporary Fair Permit?

The Temporary Fair Permit is a one-off SFA permit that lets you run a fair with stalls selling merchandise, food and drinks, or both, for the dates you list. It's issued under the Environmental Public Health Act, it covers the full run of the fair, and it costs S$60 no matter how long the fair lasts or how many stalls it has.

The permit belongs to the fair operator, which is you, the organizer, not your vendors.

Two things surprise people.

• It isn't only about food. SFA's guide covers stalls selling merchandise and/or food. A market of candles, prints and tote bags still counts.
• Budget it in. S$60 is small, but it belongs in your costs next to venue rent. If you're still setting stall fees, see how to price booths for your fair.

One gray area: SFA's pages don't give a detailed legal definition of a "temporary fair". If yours runs every weekend at the same spot, email SFA before you plan around an answer.

Who Can Apply

According to SFA's GoBusiness guide, three kinds of applicant can hold the permit:

• Individuals who are Singapore citizens or permanent residents
• Societies registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs
• Entities registered with ACRA, such as a sole proprietorship or a private limited company

If you're none of these, you can't hold the permit yourself. A filer can submit it, but the permit stays in the eligible applicant's name. The full steps are in SFA's own GoBusiness user guide for the Temporary Fair Permit.

What Do You Need Before You Apply?

You need five documents for a Temporary Fair Permit, and SFA wants all of them at least 5 working days before the fair starts:

1. A letter appointing you as the fair operator. Ask the venue who issues it. At a mall, it will likely come from the management office.
2. Site use approval for the fair dates, from whoever owns or manages the space.
3. Support from nearby advisory bodies and associations, if the venue is public. SFA gives a merchants' association agreeing to the fair as an example. SFA doesn't define "public venue", so ask SFA whether your atrium counts.
4. A layout plan showing which stalls handle food, with their setup (wash basins, piped water, chillers), and which stalls don't.
5. A declaration form confirming you have every other approval the fair needs.

Read that fifth document twice. You're declaring the other permits are sorted, so the SCDF and entertainment questions below need answers before you file.

How Much It Costs And How Long It Takes

The Temporary Fair Permit costs S$60 for the whole fair, and SFA reviews a complete application within 7 working days. Here's the order:

1. Submit the application on GoBusiness at least 2 weeks before the start date. Two weeks is the floor, not the plan.
2. Upload supporting documents at least 5 working days before the start.
3. Pay before the fair starts. GoBusiness takes a credit or debit card or PayNow.
4. Print the permit and display it at the fair. It's issued electronically, but it has to be on show.

Skipping it is not a quiet saving. SFA's guide says a first conviction carries a fine of up to S$10,000, and a repeat conviction up to S$20,000, up to 3 months in jail, or both.

SFA's official page on the Temporary Fair Permit and Temporary Fair Food Stall Licence

Food Stalls Need Their Own License

Every stall at your fair that prepares or handles food for sale needs its own Temporary Fair Food Stall Licence from SFA, on top of your permit. It has no fee and is valid only for the dates of the fair.

SFA says no license is needed for stalls selling non-food items, or pre-packed food from an SFA-licensed food processing or retail business, or from an importer.

The word that matters is "SFA-licensed". Pre-packed sauces from a licensed kitchen are covered. Home kitchens aren't SFA-licensed, so plan on home bakers needing a Temporary Fair Food Stall Licence, then confirm with SFA.

For each food stall that does need one, SFA asks for:

• Copies of both sides of the stall operator's ID, or an ACRA business profile dated within the last 3 months for a company
• A list of the food and drink items for sale
• The stall's application form, which you collect and submit at least 3 working days before the stall starts trading

SFA reviews these within 3 working days and emails the approval. As the fair operator, it's on you to make sure each stall prints its license and displays it.

Also make sure every food handler at those stalls has met the WSQ Food Safety Course Level 1 training and refresher requirements. SFA's document list doesn't ask for proof, but its page says stall operators must make sure food handlers meet this requirement when they apply.

SFA does check. In March 2023 it suspended 21 food stalls and 3 food trucks at a Hari Raya fair at Singapore Expo for operating without a license, and SFA said it found unregistered food handlers working at them. In 2024 the fair's organizer and its director were each fined S$6,400.

So ask every vendor, when they apply, whether they'll prepare or handle food on site. You need that answer for your layout plan too. With custom questions on vendor applications, the answer sits next to the booking instead of in a chat thread.

Walkthrough: A 30-Stall Makers Market In Tampines

An invented example: a weekend makers market with 30 stalls in a mall atrium in Tampines, running Saturday and Sunday. Six of the 30 stalls sell food. Four of those will plate, pour or handle food on site (coffee, waffles, kueh, iced drinks). Two sell pre-packed chilli sauce and granola from licensed kitchens.

A few things this example shows:

• Only 4 of the 6 food stalls need licenses, and only if the two sauce and granola makers really buy from SFA-licensed kitchens. Get that in writing from them.
• Keep stallholder details in one place, a Google Sheet or a booking tool: brand name, what they sell, whether they handle food. The layout plan and the food stall list then share one source.

If you drew a booth map for vendors, export it as a PDF and add the food setup by hand. In BookASquare that's the same booth map, exported as a PDF; it won't mark wash basins or chillers for you.

Which Other Permits Might Your Fair Need?

Depending on the venue and program, you may also need SCDF's Temporary Change of Use Permit, a Public Entertainment Licence from the police, IMDA's Arts Entertainment Licence and BCA approvals. A government list of common event permits (updated October 2025) names these and more.

SCDF says events in multi-purpose halls, exhibition halls and auditoriums don't need its permit, because the venue's fire certificate already covers that use. Where the fire certificate doesn't cover a fair, you apply, and booths have limits: no taller than 3 m, rows no longer than 15 m or wider than 6 m, and at least 1.2 m between rows. SCDF's page on the Temporary Change of Use Permit A mall atrium isn't one of the venue types SCDF lists, so plan on applying unless the mall or SCDF confirms in writing that you don't need to.

Entertainment has an exemption list. In a mall atrium, music, singing or dancing by or for children, a magic show or a DJ can go ahead without a license if you use no more than 2 loudspeakers, meet the other conditions and notify the police at least 7 days before. Recorded music at a temporary fair is exempt outright. SPF's list of exempted entertainment activities

None of these lists is complete. Copyrighted music can need licenses from COMPASS or MRSS, and alcohol needs a Liquor Licence.

What To Do Next

Here's what we'd do this week, in this order:

1. Ask your venue for the site use approval, the appointment letter, and whether its fire certificate covers a fair.
2. Put a calendar reminder 3 weeks before the fair to file with SFA, and one at 2 weeks for the documents.
3. Add a food handling question to your stall application.
4. Draw the layout once, cleanly, with the food stalls marked.

A Google Form, a spreadsheet and a clean floor plan PDF are enough to get the permit, and for a small fair that's fine. BookASquare doesn't file permits or check your vendors' licenses; that stays with you and SFA. Where it helps is the vendor side: stall bookings on a map, your questions answered, one list of who's coming. If that's the part eating your evenings, see how it works for makers markets and the organizers who run them.