Bloomington, IN Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)

Bloomington folds street fairs and festivals into the Unified Development Ordinance's Temporary Uses chapter as a Special Event, one of the specific use types listed in Table 03-1. 030(h)(7)(A) sets two hard limits on that use: a Temporary Use Permit is required, and the event itself is only allowed to run for fifteen days, with no property receiving more than one special event permit in a calendar year. That specific rule sits on top of the chapter's general standards in subsection (h)(1), which apply to every temporary use, special events included.

050(k), for any temporary use or temporary structure larger than one hundred forty-four square feet, and it flatly prohibits any use not specifically authorized in Table 03-1. Parking for the event cannot be provided in a way that drops any other existing use on the property below its own minimum off-street parking requirement, under subsection (B), and vehicles associated with the event cannot block a public right-of-way under subsection (C). Vendor and event signage is capped by subsection (D): a special event gets to display one banner sign of up to sixteen square feet without a separate sign permit, so long as it is mounted on a structure rather than freestanding, and it still has to respect the height and location rules that apply to that sign type in the zoning district where the event sits.

A vendor selling farm produce at the same event, rather than through it, may instead qualify for the separate Farm Produce Sales exemption in subsection (h)(4), which does not require its own temporary use permit.