Bristol Township, PA Special Events & Permits: Park Event Permits (2026)

Section 140-3 of the Bristol Township Code, headed Use by groups and amended 12-14-1993 by Ord. No. 93-13, puts the reservation system in the hands of the Department of Parks and Recreation. The Department must establish procedures to govern the scheduling of park and/or recreational facilities for group use, and whenever a park or facility is not reserved for a group, it is open to the general public. The chapter does not print a permit form, a fee, a lead time or a group size threshold; it leaves those details to the procedures the Department establishes.

Hours still matter for an event. Parks are open daily between 7:00 a.m. and sundown, and the Department of Parks and Recreation can approve and schedule nighttime use in its discretion (§ 140-1). The Department can also close a park for weather, water, fire or other unforeseeable conditions, or for renovation, repairs or maintenance, so a reservation sits under that closure power.

The prohibited acts in § 140-4 are written without a group-use exception. Commercial traffic, posting or attaching signs to park property or trees, distributing, selling, servicing or renting any commodity, and soliciting for any purpose are strictly prohibited. So are alcoholic beverages and narcotics, and fireworks. Recreational fires may only be built in designated areas and must be continually monitored and extinguished before leaving (§ 140-5). All trash, garbage, litter, refuse, rubbish and ashes must go in the receptacles provided or be removed from the park (§ 140-6), pets must be on a leash no greater than six feet (§ 140-7), and motor vehicles on park roads cannot exceed 10 miles per hour, with parking only in designated areas (§ 140-2).