Queen Anne's County, MD Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)

The permit rule sits in the County Commissioners' express powers under Queen Anne's County Code § 4-12(EE), added by Ord. No. 05-06 on 4-19-2005. Subsection (1) says no person shall operate or conduct a circus or carnival in Queen Anne's County without a permit issued by the County Commissioners. Subsection (2) limits who can hold one: the event must be sponsored by and actively promoted, produced, staged or conducted by a bona fide nonprofit organization based in Queen Anne's County. A commercial carnival company from outside the county cannot apply on its own, and an out-of-county nonprofit does not qualify.

Subsection (3) lets the County Commissioners set permit fees, application forms and operating rules by resolution, so the fee schedule lives in the resolution rather than in the code. The code does fix one mandatory step: no permit is approved until the first due fire department serving the area is notified of the application and given 30 days to comment on public safety concerns. Build that 30-day window into the timeline for any fair or carnival.

The code covers the show itself, but vendors have their own rules. Under Chapter 16, a huckster who sells farm produce, meats, eggs or poultry needs a license from the Clerk of the Circuit Court, with an annual fee of $15 for a county resident, $25 for a Maryland resident outside the county and $100 for a non-resident of the state. Farmers and growers selling their own produce are exempt. A non-resident peddler needs a license from the County Commissioners, with a $1,000 bond and a $5 application fee for each license year beginning January 1.

Signs are handled in Chapter 18:1. Under § 18:1-82(G), on-premise signs and banners for a fair, carnival, circus, festival or similar event are allowed. They go up no earlier than four weeks before the event and come down within one week after it. Each event gets no more than two signs or banners, each 32 square feet or smaller. Banners for special events can be hung from freestanding poles. Off-premises signs, including billboards, are prohibited unless Chapter 18:1 specifically allows them.