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

Chapter 5.24 of the Vallejo Municipal Code defines an "outdoor festival" broadly at Section 5.24.010: any outdoor gathering for a dance, musical carnival, rock festival, or similar musical activity held somewhere other than a permanent building customarily used for such events, to which the public is invited with or without an admission charge. Section 5.24.020 makes operating, conducting, advertising, or selling tickets to such a festival unlawful without a license. Section 5.24.030 sets the application track: filed with the collections and permits division at least 60 days before the event, with a nonrefundable $150 filing fee, applicant identification, proof of ownership or written consent for the site, expected attendance figures, a detailed plan covering emergency communications, security, water, food, sanitation, medical services, parking, sound and lighting, fire protection, and trash cleanup, plus a drug and alcohol control plan. Applicants also sign an indemnity agreement backed by a surety bond and carry public liability insurance of at least $250,000 per person injured, $500,000 for multiple injuries, and $50,000 for property damage, filed at least ten days before the license issues.

Section 5.24.040 requires every applicant to be fingerprinted and photographed by the police department before the application counts as complete. Section 5.24.050 routes the completed application to the city manager, police chief, public works director, and planning director, each of whom has 45 days to approve or disapprove within their area of responsibility; if all four sign off, the tax and license collector charges a $150-per-day license fee and issues the license. Section 5.24.100 offers a narrower, faster permit track, application to the police chief at least five days ahead, no fee, no bond, when a public entity sponsors the event, the performers are unpaid, admission is free, and the event runs four hours or less between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.