Reach out to Kelsey Vonderlinn, Retail and Events Manager at ECHO, to schedule a walk-through. 

Sugarsnap staff will help you with all of your AV needs during the event. Please coordinate with your Event Producer to do a practice run of the AV system at ECHO.

Your Sugarsnap Event Producer will connect you with ECHO to receive the separate ECHO building contract. You will received two contracts in total; one for food and beverage with Sugarsnap and one for the building rental at ECHO. Two separate payments must be made, one for each contract.

ECHO is not only a venue it is day time use is as an educational facility with live animals. ECHO staff’s purpose is to monitor the event and protect ECHO’s assets. They will be there to help answer any questions you or your guests have during the event. If you have any questions about event setup or food and beverage during your event, you should find Sugarsnap staff. If you need a registration table, you should plan to have a member of your own staff run the table.

Set up for evening events can start at 3:30pm and is limited to only the conference rooms (Lakeside Hall, Community room and Omni room). For evening events using the exhibits spaces, set up starts at 5:00pm, however, you can prep many things in this space and roll them out at 5:00pm.

If your event is having food and beverage catered by our exclusive catering service, Sugarsnap, then the Sugarsnap staff with set up your space including setting up tables and chairs. If you are not hiring Sugarsnap, than the event client will set up and break down all tables and chairs. 

The Museum portion of ECHO is open from 10:00-5:00 pm everyday (except, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day). If you are renting the museum we ask that events don’t start until 6 pm to give event staff time to transform the Science Center into an event facility. We have other spaces that are available during the day.

ECHO’s in-house furniture is included in the cost. ECHO’s inventory includes cocktail tables, 4’ & 5’ banquet tables, 180 folding chairs, silver café tables & chairs, and patio tables & chairs. Additional rental items of tables, chairs, china, flatware, and linens are to be arranged exclusively with Vermont Tent Company. All set-ups and clean up are done by Sugarsnap. In order to minimally impact the ECHO guest experience, please coordinate Vermont Tent delivery and pre and post event storage with ECHO’s Event Manager. At the end of the event, all strike and rental properties must be returned to where they were found.

Depending on the space or spaces rented throughout the entire ECHO campus, we can accommodate groups as small as 10 and as large as 1000.

Due to the complexity of our venue and our new state of the art commercial kitchen, Sugarsnap is our exclusive Food and Beverage Provider.

Due to Vermont State liquor laws and ECHO’s policy individuals are not allowed to bring in their own alcoholic beverages. Anyone renting ECHO that would like to serve alcohol will need to contract with our exclusive bar service.

Candles are allowed, but must be enclosed in votive holders or hurricane glass with underlying plates.

Due to ECHO’s incredibly sensitive sprinkler system balloons of any kind are prohibited. No live creatures (for example, fish in fishbowls) can be used as decoration or as centerpieces.

The use of banners and other wall hangings need to be cleared with ECHO’s Event Manager prior to the event and need to be secured using crafters’ tape or wire. Staples and nails are not allowed.

The city of Burlington has “quiet hours” starting at 10 pm.

If your rental includes the top floor, we would be happy to arrange a trained educator to be at the touch tank during your event for an additional $40.00 per hour.

Yes, Champ Lane can be open for your event. However there no food or beverages are allowed in the space. An extra hour of staffing for cleaning the room after the event will be charged. Feel free to hire a babysitter for your event to entertain kids in Champ Lane.

All parking on the Waterfront is paid parking. ECHO’s parking lot is located behind the building under the Solar Canopy and is a “Pay & Display” lot. If you are having an event at ECHO you are welcome reserve parking. Check with the Event Manager for the current parking rate.

We will hold a date for ten days, after the ten days the date will either be released or you will need to sign a contract and give us a deposit.

A 50% of your site rental fee is required within ten days of the booking date on your contract to confirm your reservation. This deposit is nonrefundable, but is transferable to another function rental. The remaining 50% is due ten days prior to your event