New Brunswick, NJ Special Events & Permits: Park Event Permits (2026)

Section 12.28.130 of the New Brunswick Municipal Code bars any person, without permission, from erecting a structure, stand or platform in a park, holding a meeting, performing a ceremony, making a speech, exhibiting a dramatic performance, dancing entertainment, motion pictures, circus or juggling, or staging any other procession. The section names permission but does not name the office that grants it. Other park sections point to the director of parks, who must approve any solicitation of alms or contributions under § 12.28.050. Advertising in a park through handbills, banners or signs is prohibited by § 12.28.060, and § 12.28.010 closes parks after one hour past sunset except for supervised and municipally approved activities.

The fees sit in § 3.28.120, Parks and Recreation Fees, under the heading New Brunswick Resident Park Rental Fees. For All Parks, Special Events, Festivals, etc., Boyd Park and Buccleuch Park are $339.00 per day. Feaster Park, Alex Baker Park, Alice Jennings Archibald Park, Joyce Kilmer Park, Murphy Park and Recreation Park are $169.00 per day. The Boyd Park Amphitheater/Stage is $113.00 per hour. The Buccleuch Park Large Pavilion is $57.00 per hour with a two hour minimum, plus $33.00 per hour for electricity, and the Small Pavilion is $33.00 per hour.

The schedule states that a day equals eight hours, that additional hours are charged at $225.00 per hour, and that a non-refundable application permit fee of $25.00 must be submitted with the application. A separate schedule for Non-New Brunswick Resident Park Rental Fees follows the resident schedule. Sports use is priced separately: baseball, softball and soccer fields are $57.00 per hour, with athletic lighting an additional $33.00 per hour.

Monument Square works differently. Section 12.28.340 lets the city council authorize, by resolution, activities in Monument Square that are not in strict conformance with the chapter, on the conditions the resolution sets. Under § 12.28.310, Rutgers reimburses the city dollar for dollar for park department overtime on events at Deiner Park held outside regularly scheduled hours.