Freehold Township, NJ Special Events & Permits: Parade Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Licensing authority
- Township Clerk, approved by Township Committee
- Decision deadline
- 60 days or license deemed approved
- Cash bond
- $1,000 for traveling shows, carnivals, circuses
- Governing section
- § 75-1, Chapter 75 Article I
- Penalty basis
- Chapter 1, Article II, General Penalty
Summary
Freehold Township requires a Township Clerk license before anyone puts on a traveling show, circus, carnival or street parade connected with one under § 75-1 of the Township Code. Applications go to the Township Committee, which must act within 60 days or the license is deemed approved, and organizers of traveling shows, carnivals or circuses must post a $1,000 cash bond.
No person shall carry on or conduct the business of an auctioneer of merchandise, medicines and remedies, auction stores for the sale of silverware, jewelry and goods and chattels of any kind whatsoever, traveling or other shows, circuses and all street parades in connection therewith, theaters, moving-picture shows, opera houses, concert halls, nightclubs, public dance halls, skating rinks, merry-go-rounds, carnivals, bowling alleys, exhibition grounds, and all other places of public amusement within the Township without having first obtained a license from the Township Clerk in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 195, Licensing, Article I.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 75, Article I of the Freehold Township Code, adopted under former Ord. No. 42 (§ 7-6 of the Revised General Ordinances), licenses a long list of public amusement activities, and street parades held in connection with a traveling show or circus fall inside that same licensing net under § 75-1. Anyone planning such an event must first obtain a license from the Township Clerk under the Chapter 195 licensing framework rather than simply notifying the police. Section 75-2 sends the application to the Township Committee, which must act on it no later than the second regular meeting after filing; if the Committee neither grants nor denies the license within 60 days of submission, the license is automatically deemed approved and the Clerk must issue it.
License fees are set under Chapter 150, Fees, though § 75-3C waives the fee, on written annual report, for events whose net proceeds go to a nonprofit organization. Section 75-4 requires each applicant for a traveling show, exhibition ground, carnival or circus, the categories that carry the parade licensing, to post a $1,000 cash bond with the Township Clerk guaranteeing the licensed site and surrounding public roads are left clean and free of debris after the event. Section 75-5 layers on conduct rules: no disturbances in the audience, no crowd sizes that create a fire or safety hazard, and no show calculated to provoke a riot.
The Township Committee can refuse, suspend or revoke any license under § 75-6 for activity detrimental to public health, safety, welfare or morals, on top of the causes listed in § 195-9 of the Licensing chapter.
Violations & Fines
Operating a licensed amusement, show, circus or connected street parade without the § 75-1 license, or violating the Article I conduct rules in § 75-5, is punishable under Chapter 1, Article II, General Penalty per § 75-7. The Township Committee may also refuse, suspend or revoke the license itself under § 75-6 for conduct detrimental to public health, safety, welfare or morals, independent of any court fine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Freehold Township require a permit for a street parade?
How much does a parade or show license cost?
Is a bond required to hold a parade-connected show in Freehold Township?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Freehold Township
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