Contra Costa County, CA Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)

206(a) defines an "event" broadly enough to reach street fairs and festivals by name, listing carnivals, circuses, fairs, festivals, musical concerts and other cultural or live entertainment events alongside athletic events and swap meets, and it sets the size threshold that triggers regulation: an outdoor assemblage of more than seventy-five people at a venue in a residential or agricultural zoning district, or more than 150 people anywhere else. 402(a) requires a temporary event permit before any qualifying festival or fair can proceed, unless it fits one of the chapter's specific exemptions.

408(c) sets the clock: an application must be submitted at least forty-five days before the proposed event, and the Department of Conservation and Development then has five days to flag an incomplete application before the zoning administrator gets ten days after a complete application to decide. 408(b), must disclose the type of event, expected attendance, sound equipment, food and alcohol service, security plans, parking and traffic control measures, and how many events have already been held at that venue in the preceding twenty-four months. 406(a) requires at least seven days between two events at the same venue. 408(e).