New Berlin, WI Special Events & Permits: Parade Permits (2026)

New Berlin regulates parades on two tracks. Citywide, § 152-23 defines SPECIAL EVENT to expressly include parades among the activities that require the use of public streets, rights-of-way or sidewalks, and § 152-23(B) requires anyone conducting a special event, parades included, to get a Special Event Permit from the City before the event, filed with the City Clerk on a schedule tied to expected size: 14 days ahead for 150 people or fewer up to 120 days ahead for more than 5,000. A parade needing a street closure has to separately meet § 230-6's road-closure standards referenced in § 152-23(C)(1)(d), including written consent from at least 80% of abutting property owners and a 15-foot emergency-vehicle drive lane kept open through the closed block.

Inside a City park specifically, § 184-5 imposes its own, narrower rule: no military or other parade, procession or funeral may take place in or pass through any park or parkway without a written permit from the Parks, Buildings and Grounds Commission. That park-specific permit is separate from, and in addition to, the citywide Special Event Permit if the parade route runs through or ends in a City park. The City Clerk or a designee can revoke an approved Special Event Permit and stop a parade already underway if it becomes a public safety hazard or violates City ordinances, state law or the permit's own terms, and a denial can turn on whether the parade would disrupt traffic beyond a practical solution or interfere with emergency access.