And—ask your lawyer/accountant—but at least in the US I think you could give attendees a certain amount of cash for meals without requiring receipting or generating taxable income. This would be pointless since you could just lower the entry fee instead -- except to the extent someone’s entry fee was already zero due to limited income and you were worried about making their attendance unaffordable by eliminating catering.
And—ask your lawyer/accountant—but at least in the US I think you could give attendees a certain amount of cash for meals without requiring receipting or generating taxable income. This would be pointless since you could just lower the entry fee instead -- except to the extent someone’s entry fee was already zero due to limited income and you were worried about making their attendance unaffordable by eliminating catering.