West Des Moines, IA Special Events & Permits: Parade Permits (2026)

Section 5-4-1 of the West Des Moines City Code, the sole section of Chapter 4 (Parades) under Title 5, defines a parade broadly as any march or procession of persons or vehicles organized for marching or moving on the streets, or any march or procession represented or advertised to the public as a parade. Subsection B requires a written permit from the City Clerk before any parade proceeds, and the permit itself must state the time and date of the parade and the streets or general route it will follow.

West Des Moines charges no fee for the permit, and a single permit issued to the event's organizer or sponsor covers every participant the organizer has invited to take part, so individual marchers do not need their own permits. Subsection C protects a permitted parade from being treated as an unlawful obstruction of the streets under any other City ordinance, which matters because the Code separately regulates blocking public rights-of-way. Subsection D keeps permitted participants under the lawful orders of the West Des Moines Police and Fire Departments at all times during the event, giving officers on scene the authority to redirect or halt marchers for public safety.

The section traces to the City's 1985 Code and was carried forward through the 1993 Code recodification and a 2010 ordinance amendment, but its core permit-from-the-Clerk structure has not changed.