Charlottesville, VA Special Events & Permits: Parade Permits (2026)

City Code § 28-29(a) flatly prohibits holding or conducting a parade or procession of any kind in the city's rights-of-way without first obtaining a permit from the city manager. Subsection (b) extends that permitting authority to special events and to a defined category of 'community events,' and lets the city manager promulgate regulations governing the time, place and manner of these activities and set reasonable fees, charges and rentals for them. Any violation of the rules and regulations adopted under this authority is a Class 4 misdemeanor.

Subsection (c) names the recurring community events covered: Court Days, First Night, all City Market days, the Dogwood Festival and Parade, all Fridays After Five days, the Fourth of July celebration, and any other event the city council declares from time to time. Because these events recur on the city's own calendar, organizers of one-off parades or marches instead apply as a special event under the same city-manager permit process.

Related sections narrow how any permitted use of the street can operate. Section 28-30 bars locating an activity where it would block a building entrance or driveway, occupy more than half of a pedestrian walkway, sit within 15 feet of a fire hydrant or fire lane, or intrude on space already reserved to another permit holder for an outdoor café or a different special or community event. A separate temporary street-closing permit from the city traffic engineer under § 28-5 is required if the event will close a travel lane to vehicles, and the city may require insurance naming it as an additional insured as a condition of that permit.