Cathedral City, CA Special Events & Permits: Parade Permits (2026)

Chapter 11.24, the city's parade ordinance, defines a parade as any march, procession or assembly of persons, animals or vehicles on a public street, sidewalk, alley or other public right-of-way that does not comply with normal and usual traffic regulations or controls. Under § 11.24.040 the city manager issues the permit after the chief of police reports. The manager can refuse a parade whose primary function is to publicize or advertise a person, business organization or event, unless the event serves a public purpose and the overall good of the community. Permits are not issued if the parade would require extraordinary police service or endanger public safety, and the safety criteria include the route, the total elapsed time, other similar events close in time and area, special traffic problems, the police department's ability to control the event, and the number of persons, animals or units involved.

The permit itself fixes the timing. A parade runs approximately two hours, exclusive of assembly time, at or around ten a.m. to twelve noon. In June, July and August only, parades can run from eight p.m. to ten p.m. The city manager can make minor changes to the duration and time periods where reasonable grounds are presented. The permit also states the maximum speed, the maximum space between units, the maximum total length in miles or fractions of a mile, and the assembly and disassembly points.

Section 11.24.050 sets the filing window. A parade in a congested traffic area, defined in § 11.24.030 as Highway 111, Ramon Road, Cathedral Canyon Drive and Date Palm Drive, needs an application at least thirty days and no more than one hundred eighty days before the parade. Anywhere else in Cathedral City the window is at least twenty-one days and no more than one hundred eighty days. The application names the sponsor, the marshal, the route, the assembly and dispersal areas and any music or sound equipment, and the city manager will not accept it incomplete or without the processing fee set by council resolution. The chief of police has fourteen days to make a recommendation (§ 11.24.060). Outside congested areas the permit issues unless there is substantial reason to prohibit the parade (§ 11.24.070); inside them the manager issues it only on the findings listed in § 11.24.080. Each permit carries a prepaid parade fee for extraordinary city costs, and the city manager requires evidence of insurance unless the city council waives it (§ 11.24.046).