Permission for mobile street vending in Copenhagen

Daily commodities

You may sell daily commodities which comply with the Danish Business Authority’s guidelines.

Daily commodities are defined as goods ”that disappear at consumption”, e.g. food and beverages. Mobile street vendors are not allowed to sell tobacco, alcohol, soft drinks and chocolates and sweets. If you have further questions about your choice of assortment, please contact the Danish Business Authority.

If you sell food, it is compulsory to have a permit from the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (in Danish).

Special goods 

You are allowed to sell special goods such as clothes, shoes, jewellery souvenirs and maps. However, these goods may not be sold in town centres or district centres.

See map of town centres and district centres

Services

You are allowed to sell services that can be performed from the mobile vending cart, e.g. mobile bike puncture repair. The service must be provided on site, and customers must not be referred to a permanent shop.

Changes to assortment

Remember to notify us, if you make changes to your assortment. If there are any major changes to your original concept, we will ask you to submit a new application. Please write your existing permission number in the application.

Examples of small approved mobile vending carts

• Christiania bikes and carrier bikes
• Coffee scooters/Ape Cars
• Hand carts (max-width 120 cm and max-length 150 cm)
• Registered motor vehicles such as small electric cars. Permits are not granted to pre-mounted trailers etc.

You may also use homemade vending carts. Just remember to attach a picture/sketch of what you imagine your cart will look like.

Sales wagons are assessed case-specific. Therefore, you can not expect your sales wagon to be approved solely because it meets the measurements of being below or above the 2.5m2.

Where can you put up your cart?

With a permit for a small mobile sales cart of under 2.5 m2 (length*width), you may carry out mobile street vending activities in most parts of the City of Copenhagen.

Among other things, this includes public spaces, squares, pavements wider than 2 meters, pedestrian street areas and square-like street areas.

Coloured areas in the map indicate public areas in which you are not allowed to put up your cart.

Please note that many areas as well as parks and beach parks are not public, but are privately owned. If you wish to put your cart up here, you must therefore also obtain permission from the landowner.

Here you can check whether the road is private or public.

If you wish to contact the landowner, you can look up the address at www.ois.dk

For how long can I stay in each place?

You must pack up your mobile vending cart every night and move it. You can put it up again at the same place next day, but it must be removed during the night. Remember that you cannot leave the sales vehicle unattended. 

The Danish National Police does not license mobile street vending in the night. 

Examples of large approved mobile vending carts:

• Vans
• Food trucks
• Registered trailers – the car must be parked separately.

Remember that the car or the vending cart must be registered in order to be used for mobile street vending. 

Sales wagons are assessed case-specific. Therefore, you can not expect your sales wagon to be approved solely because it meets the measurements of being below or above the 2.5m2.

You may put your cart up here

With a permit for a large mobile vending cart of more than 2.5 m2 (width * length), you may carry out mobile street vending activities in most parts of the City of Copenhagen.

If you wish to obtain a permit for mobile street vending in city squares, with a large vending cart, you must apply for a permanent market stall.

As a street vendor, you must inform yourself in regulations and guidelines for business owners in the City of Copenhagen (in Danish) which contain information on noise, air and outdoor serving, among other things.

How to park your vending cart

You must park legally according to the Road Traffic Act and pay parking fees in parking lots, if this is required. See how in the pdf on parking with large vending cart (in Danish).

Please note that many parking lots, e.g. Flæsketorvet, are not public, but are privately owned. If you wish to put your cart up here, you must therefore also obtain permission from the landowner.

Here you can check whether the road is private or public.

If you wish to contact the landowner, you can look up the address at www.ois.dk.

For how long can I stay in each place?

You must pack up your mobile vending cart every night and move it.

The Danish National Police does not license mobile street vending in the night. 

Remember to show consideration for neighbours etc., e.g. by not staying so long in the same place that your stay may be perceived as permanent.

You have to pay a market rent for selling in parks own by City of Copenhagen.

The price is 3000 kr. excluding vat.

You can read more about street vending in parks, how to get the park permit etc. on the Danish website in the section ’Ordningen i parker til Mobilt gadesalg’. 

At the moment administration cannot annonce the charges for market stalls in parks for 2020 and forward. 

It has been decided that until and including 2020 a permit for mobile street vending is free of charge in the City of Copenhagen (public parks not included). This applies to both small and large vending carts.

You apply digitally by filling out the application above (in Danish).  

You must always bring your permit, and it must be put in a visible place – e.g. at the front of the vehicle.

Mobile street vending shops must be registered at www.mobiltreg.dk no later than two days before start-up. 

Duration of permit

You must apply for a new permit each year. If you get a permit, it is valid until 31 December that year.

If you wish to obtain a permit for the coming year, you may apply from 1 October the year before.

New applicant

You do not have to buy a vending cart before applying for a permission for mobile street vending, but you must attach a photo or a sketch of the vending cart you intend to buy. The vending cart that you end up buying is expected to resemble the type of cart that you state. If you apply for a permit for a large vending cart, you will not be able to get your permit before you have a registration number for your vending cart. 

You do not need a CVR number, you can also apply using your CPR number.

Please note that, if you use your CPR number, you are the only person allowed to operate the vending cart, just as your annual turnover cannot exceed DKK 50,000.

If others are to operate your vending cart, you must always register your company and get a CVR number. 

Mobile street vending in the city centre  (the former Red Zone) and in special areas (such as Churchillparken and Langelinieparken) requires a special permit.

Permits for the city centre and special areas are only granted once or twice a year.

When it becomes possible to apply for a permit for the city centre or special areas, you can find the announcement and the application form at the Danish site for mobile street vending.