Walworth County, WI Special Events & Permits: Street Fair Rules (2026)

Walworth County treats very large public events as a land-use and public-health matter, not a simple parks permit. Sec. 26-236 triggers Article V of Chapter 26 for any public gathering, rally, assembly or festival expected to draw more than 5,000 people, but exempts events held in an existing auditorium, stadium, fairground, public park, church, school, dance hall, theater or other permanent structure located within a city or village's corporate limits. Sec. 26-242 then makes the permit mandatory: no one may conduct such a gathering without first obtaining a special sanitary permit.

The property owner or contract holder applies to the Director of the Land Use and Resource Management Department at least 30 days before the event, or before the first of a series, under Sec. 26-237, submitting names of the applicant, owner and promoter; a site description with the proposed dates, maximum attendance and any unusual conditions; a surveyor-prepared plat of survey showing wells, buildings, fences, woods and water features; and the county's application fee. The Executive Committee then holds a public hearing, publishing a Class 1 legal notice and mailing or emailing the affected town clerk, before deciding whether to direct the Department to issue the permit, cap attendance, or add a fee to cover the county's policing and inspection costs.

Sec. 26-239 requires flush toilets for any gathering over 10,000 people and bans open pits, cesspools or unsealed portable toilets; Sec. 26-240 requires state-licensed physicians and nurses plus an ambulance on standby; and Sec. 26-241 requires enough refuse containers to prevent trash and garbage from accumulating on the ground.