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

Yakima County treats a "festival" as an indoor or outdoor assembly, planned or public, expected to draw 500 or more people, and exempts already-permitted venues like stadiums, county fairgrounds, and licensed carnivals or circuses (§ 8.10.020). Anyone else planning one in the unincorporated county needs a permit under § 8.10.030, and an application below the 500-person threshold can still be filed and processed the same way if the promoter wants the county's sign-off. The application goes to the Public Services Planning Division at least 60 days before the first scheduled day, with the fee set in the Title 20 fee schedule, and must include written confirmation that the Yakima Health District has approved the site's sanitation plans, that the Sheriff's Office has arranged traffic and crowd-control policing, and that the county fire marshal has reviewed the site plan (§ 8.10.040).

The Administrative Official has 15 days to approve, deny, or condition the application, with another 15 days for the applicant to fix any deficiencies; a denial can be appealed to the Board of County Commissioners under the Land Use Petition Act, RCW 36.70C (§ 8.10.050). Once approved, the promoter must post a $10,000 cash deposit or surety bond with the county treasurer to cover cleanup, traffic, or law-enforcement costs, plus liability insurance of at least $500,000 per occurrence and $1,000,000 aggregate naming the county as an additional insured (§ 8.10.070).

No festival may run closer than 300 feet from any house or residence, measured from the sound source, unless every resident within that distance waives the requirement in writing (§ 8.10.100), and events are limited to the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 12:01 a.m. (§ 8.10.140). Temporary structures can't go up more than 14 days before the event and must come down within 10 days after (§ 8.10.095), and a permit can be summarily revoked for an emergency threat to public health or safety (§ 8.10.080).