Sacramento County, CA Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)

Sacramento County Code Chapter 4.38 defines an "outdoor festival" as any outdoor gathering of more than five hundred persons for a dance, music carnival, "rock" festival or like musical activity held outside a permanent building or stadium, open to the public with or without an admission charge. Under Section 4.38.205, no one may sponsor, conduct, promote, advertise, or sell or furnish tickets for such an event without a valid Special Business License. Applications go to the Treasurer-Tax Collector at least ninety calendar days before the proposed start date (Section 4.38.210) and, once complete, are routed to the Sheriff, Health Department, Public Works, the local Fire Protection District and the Planning Director, each of whom must submit written findings within thirty days (Section 4.38.250).

Every general partner, corporate director, sole proprietor and officer connected to the applicant must be fingerprinted and photographed at the Sheriff's Department before the application is considered complete (Section 4.38.245). Licensees must also sign bonded contracts: a damage-reimbursement bond of not less than $50,000, or $10 per admitted person, whichever is greater, and a separate cleanup bond of not less than $5,000 requiring the premises be cleared of debris within 72 hours after the festival ends (Sections 4.38.095, 4.38.100). Additional standing duties include one uniformed security guard per 200 attendees, one drinking fountain per 100 attendees for the first 100 and scaled up from there, and solid-waste receptacles serviced every 24 hours (Sections 4.38.040, 4.38.055, 4.38.070).

Festivals held at County parks outside the American River Parkway and run by the County Parks and Recreation Department are excluded from the whole chapter (Section 4.38.006). If the License grants fewer attendees, dates or hours than requested, or imposes conditions the applicant objects to, the applicant may appeal under the procedures in Sections 4.10.110 through 4.10.130 (Section 4.38.260).