Grant County, WI Special Events & Permits: Parade Permits (2026)

Chapter 97 of the Grant County Code, adopted by the County Board of Supervisors on 7-24-1970, is the county's licensing rule for mass public assemblies. Section 97-1 states the purpose: regulating gatherings of more people than the health, sanitary, fire, police, transportation and utility services regularly provided in Grant County normally serve. The license requirement in § 97-3 is narrow. It applies to an actual or reasonably anticipated assembly of 2,000 or more people that continues or can be expected to continue overnight or for 18 or more consecutive hours, on public or private property. The code defines an overnight assembly as 2,000 or more persons continuing between 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. consecutively. A separate $100 license is required for each calendar day or part of a day and for each location, and the license caps attendance at the maximum number stated on it.

The applicant files in writing with the County Clerk at least 10 days ahead, under oath, and must show proof of a fence with at least four gates, potable water at one gallon per person per day, toilets at one female and one male for every 500 persons, one security guard for every 750 people, one physician for every 1,000 people and one nurse for every 1,500, and parking at one space for every four persons. A bond filed with the County Clerk runs $1 per person for the maximum number permitted, and insurance includes a $2,000,000 comprehensive liability policy. The Clerk decides within three days after all information is supplied. Section 97-4 exempts permanent places of worship, stadiums, arenas and similar venues that stay within seating capacity, and government-sponsored fairs on regularly established fairgrounds. Section 97-10 adds that the license does not authorize an assembly where Chapter 315, Zoning, prohibits it. The Grant County Code covers unincorporated Grant County; Platteville, Lancaster and the other cities and villages keep their own codes.