Jacksonville Beach, FL Special Events & Permits: Parade Permits (2026)

Section 31-4 of the Jacksonville Beach Code sets the permit threshold at two hundred (200) or more persons or fifty (50) or more vehicles. The count applies to a funeral, a procession or a parade, and the permit must be in hand before the group occupies, marches or proceeds along any street. The permit is issued by the city manager, not by the Police Department or the City Council, and it comes with such other regulations as the Code sets for the activity.

The section carves out the forces of the United States Army, Navy or Air Force, the military forces of this state, and the forces of the police and fire departments. Everyone else who reaches either number is inside the permit requirement, which includes a funeral procession of 50 or more vehicles.

Subsection (b) gives the city manager a second power. Whenever a permit is given for any parade, public gathering or celebration, the city manager can order any street or portion of a street cleared of all vehicles during the event. That wording reaches past parades: a permitted public gathering or celebration qualifies too. The street-clearing order sits beside the separate authority in Sec. 31-3(a)(5), where the chief of police, with the consent of the city manager, closes streets to vehicular or pedestrian traffic for a temporary period of time by erecting signs, signals, markers and other traffic-control devices. Under Sec. 31-3(d), a person who fails or refuses to comply with a sign or marker placed under that section violates the Code and is punished as provided in Sec. 1-11.

Events held on city property follow a second track. Chapter 19.5 directs the city to maintain a special event policy, adopted by the City Council, that establishes the policies and procedures required to hold a special event or festival on city property. Section 31-4 itself prints no fee, application deadline or form.