Summit County, OH Special Events & Permits: Parade Permits (2026)

Summit County Code of Ordinances Sec. 02 requires anyone organizing or joining a parade, assemblage or procession on a county street or highway, or blocking off a street area, to first get a permit from the County Executive as approved by the County Sheriff. The application must be filed on the prescribed form with information sufficient for a fair determination on issuance, and it must be filed not less than five days before the planned event. The Sheriff and Executive can refuse or cancel a permit on six specific grounds: the parade's time, place, size, route or assembly areas would unreasonably interfere with public convenience and safe street use; it would require diverting so many police officers that normal police protection to the county would be denied; the route or assembly areas would unreasonably interfere with police, fire or ambulance access elsewhere in the county; it would unreasonably interfere with another already-permitted parade; the application contains false, misleading or materially incomplete information; or an emergency such as a fire or storm would prevent proper conduct of the parade.

Once issued, the permit or an accompanying order may set conditions on hours, the assembly and dispersal points, the route of march or travel, and which streets or portions of streets may be used. This section governs only county roads outside incorporated cities; Akron, Cuyahoga Falls, Barberton, Stow and Hudson each administer their own parade permitting under their own municipal codes.