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Liquor board opens discussion on festival permits, asks staff to research county and state options
Summary
Board members and local retailers discussed gaps in Maryland festival and caterer permit rules that limit retail stores from vending at festivals; the board asked staff to gather examples from other Maryland counties and return with options for September/October legislative outreach.
The Caroline County Board of License Commissioners discussed on July 23 whether to pursue changes to state or local rules to allow retail license-holders to vend alcohol at festivals and farmers’ markets.
Background: current Maryland rules largely permit breweries, wineries and distilleries specific rights to vend at festivals, and a separate state-level “festival” or brewer/winery carve-out exists for contiguous-county operation in some licenses. Retail stores, by contrast, have no straightforward avenue under current state law to sell mixed drinks or offer festival vending except through limited or confusing paths (for example, the state’s farmers’ market language that appears to limit retailer vending to three days a year at a farmers’ market, or requirements that a liquor…
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