Spotsylvania County, VA Special Events & Permits: Parade Permits (2026)

Chapter 15 of the Spotsylvania County Code defines a parade broadly, in Sec. 15-1, as any parade, march, ceremony, show, exhibition, pageant, demonstration or similar procession on a highway, street or county-operated parking lot in the county. Sec. 15-26 requires anyone who wants to engage in, participate in, aid, form or start a parade to first obtain a parade permit from the county administrator, though the requirement does not reach funeral processions, supervised school groups other than a marching band, or a governmental agency acting within its own functions.

Under Sec. 00 filing fee. The county administrator reviews the application and recommends to the Board of Supervisors whether to issue the permit and what conditions to attach; Sec. 15-28 lists eight findings the board must make, covering traffic safety, availability of law enforcement, ambulance and fire protection, and whether the parade serves a purely private profit or advertising purpose. If the board does not act before the proposed date, the application is deemed approved. Sec. 15-29 lets the board impose conditions on time, place, duration and manner, plus an added fee to cover the cost of policing the parade.

Sec. 15-33 authorizes the county administrator to revoke a permit for violating the approval standards or any permit condition, and Sec. 15-2 makes an unpermitted parade, or any other violation of the chapter, a Class 3 misdemeanor.