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

Lafayette Municipal Code § 4.11.030, "Street carnivals prohibited," makes it unlawful for any person who owns, operates, manages or controls an itinerant carnival, street fair, or gathering of shows, vehicles, tents, booths, concessions, exhibitions, games of skill or chance, fortune-tellers, or other exhibits and devices for public entertainment or amusement, to show, assemble, exhibit or display that carnival or street fair for pay or reward on any public street, alley, commons, park, parkway, or any other public or private grounds within the city to which the public is invited.

The prohibition reaches both actually holding the event and merely offering to exhibit it for pay. The section carves out two exceptions: it does not restrain or prohibit the licensing and showing of traveling circuses, and it does not prevent churches, schools, lodges, fraternities, or other religious, charitable or educational organizations from holding shows, celebrations, amusements, and entertainments inside their own halls, places of worship, buildings, and permanent structures. This sits in Chapter 4.11, Public Amusements, alongside separate licenses for theaters ($75/year, § 4.11.010) and miniature golf or driving ranges ($50/year, § 4.11.020), showing the city treats a traveling street carnival differently from a fixed, licensed amusement business: it bans the former rather than licensing it.