Chesterfield County, VA Special Events & Permits: Park Event Permits (2026)

County parks operate only during hours posted by the Department of Parks and Recreation director, and section 20-4 makes it unlawful to enter or remain in a park outside those hours. The code carves out one specific exception: a person "attending a special event permitted by the County" may remain in the park past the posted closing time for that event, though they still must exit by the closing time posted for the event itself. The same special-event status matters for noise. Section 20-5 bars anyone from operating a sound-amplifying device audible more than ten feet away inside a park, but that prohibition does not apply when the sound comes from an event the County itself is sponsoring.

Chapter 3's festival-permit article cross-references the same mechanism: section 3-13(d) exempts a music or entertainment festival held at a Parks and Recreation facility from the separate $100 entertainment-festival permit, but only if the promoter instead obtains a special events permit for the festival. Outside a permitted special event, park rules still apply in full: no vehicle over 20 mph, no overnight parking, no unauthorized fires, and no altering park property, wildlife or habitat under section 20-10. Section 20-2 lets the director grant written authorization for otherwise-prohibited activity, which is the mechanism by which staff clears a private reservation or gathering. Violating any park chapter provision, including using a park outside the exempted special-event window, is a class 4 misdemeanor.