Passaic, NJ Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)

Chapter 99, Carnivals, Bazaars and Fairs, bars operating any carnival, bazaar or fair in the City without a license, and bars holding one in a City park at all without prior governing-body approval after consultation with Recreation, Human Resources and the Bureau of Fire Prevention whenever a vendor plans to use propane or a generator (§ 99-2). Applicants file with the City Clerk and pay a license fee of $300 for residents or $600 for nonresidents per application, plus per-day permit fees keyed to expected attendance: $200/$400 (resident/nonresident) for events of 1 to 250 people, $400/$800 for 251-plus, and $100/$200 for a general merchandise vendor permit (§ 99-3A).

Applications filed less than 30 days before the event pay a 10% surcharge on all departmental fees, and any application filed within 10 days of the event is automatically denied (§ 99-3A(2)). Vendors using propane or a generator pay $54 per device, and the applicant covers fire and health inspection costs at $50 per hour per inspector, with a minimum of two inspectors for three hours for up to 10 vendors (§ 99-3A(5)). No application is approved without a $2,000 cash bond to cover site cleanup and a $1,000,000 liability and workers' compensation insurance certificate (§ 99-4).

Any group is limited to one carnival, bazaar or fair per calendar year on municipal property, capped at one 24-hour period, and only one such event may operate on City property at a time (§ 99-5). All rides, stands and trucks must sit on concrete, asphalt or similar hard surface, and none are allowed in City parks at all (§ 99-6).