Richland, WA Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)

Richland Municipal Code § 5.04.243 supplies the licensing rules behind community festivals and street fairs, which the city's zoning use tables (RMC §§ 23.22.030 and 23.28.030) list as a permitted or conditional use in most commercial and mixed-use districts without further vendor regulation. Under subsection (A), a trade show, business promotion or other temporary sales activity lasting five continuous days or less is specially licensed at $10.00 per exhibitor, with the event's total license fee capped at $200.00, or at $10.00 total when the promoter is a nonprofit; a nonprofit promoter hosting for-profit exhibitors still owes $10.00 per for-profit exhibitor, subject to that $200.00 ceiling.

Subsection (B) lets an already-licensed Richland business obtain a no-cost supplemental license to sell at the event site. Subsection (C) is the vendor-facing rule: anyone selling at a private or city-organized special event must carry a valid business license; a vendor without one must buy a $10.00 temporary license that expires when the event ends, or the event's host can apply for one master temporary license covering every vendor at $10.00 per vendor, collecting and remitting the combined fee to the city. Subsection (D) defines a 'special event' broadly enough to reach a street fair: any organized assembly of 30 or more persons at a public park, or any parade, procession or assembly on a street, alley or sidewalk that departs from normal traffic control.

Operating without the required license also runs afoul of RMC § 5.04.170's general compliance mandate, and the license itself does not excuse compliance with any other Richland ordinance, such as a street closure or right-of-way permit.