Hanover County, VA Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)

Section 26-6 of the Zoning Ordinance defines an 'outdoor music or entertainment festival' as a gathering held outdoors, not inside an enclosed structure, for the purpose of listening to or participating in entertainment consisting primarily of amplified music, where admission is charged. The definition carves out gatherings held inside a family theme or recreation park that regularly offers nonmusical entertainment, and gatherings held in a county-owned park. Because the use turns on paid admission and outdoor amplified music, it covers the kind of festival that draws a crowd and traffic rather than a small private party.

Section 26-21(25) lists 'Outdoor musical or entertainment festivals' among the uses the A-1 Agricultural District permits only as a special exception, meaning an applicant must go before the Board of Supervisors for a public hearing and discretionary approval rather than simply pulling a permit; the same special-exception requirement is repeated in the county's other conventional zoning districts. Two of the county's historic overlay districts around Hanover Courthouse village carve out an exception to that rule: Section 26-229(4) permits 'outdoor festivals and events' by right in the Old Courthouse Historic District, and Section 26-234(c) does the same in the Courthouse Transition Historic Overlay District, so an event held within those mapped boundaries does not need a special exception. Outside those two overlay districts, an organizer planning a paid outdoor festival with amplified music has to secure Board approval first.