SPECIAL EVENTS PERMITTING HANDBOOK

In 1991, the City of Seattle enacted its first Special Events legislation and created the Special Events Committee, a group of City, County, and State experts, to support and coordinate the growing number of public events in the city.  

Since then, Seattle has experienced tremendous population and business growth, and special events are more important than ever because they help build a sense of belonging and community pride.    

Special events such as fairs, arts festivals, concerts, sporting activities, parades, and others, bring people together from different backgrounds and different neighborhoods throughout the city.  Through these events, together our citizens share a day, a week, or an hour of transformation, laughter, and fun.  Special events weave the fabric of our community by creating opportunities to interact, celebrate, enrich people's lives, promote inclusiveness, and stretch imaginations.    

Special events build family traditions, opportunities to participate, inclusiveness and unique experiences.  Special events provide a chance for neighbors and strangers, big communities, and small groups to interact and have common experiences.    

Through its values and mission, the City of Seattle plays a strong role to encourage and help events that bring the community together, and ensure they take place safely on its streets and in its parks.  These events encourage and support the interaction of neighbors, friends, families, and strangers in addition to providing positive economic impact.  It is essential that the City of Seattle encourage and support the safe interaction of neighbors, friends, families and strangers through the shared experience of special events.    

As a dynamic city, Seattle has many constitutionally protected free speech events.  One purpose of these guidelines is to assist event organizers in exercising their constitutional rights balanced with the City's right to regulate the time, place, and manner of special events in order to protect public health and safety, to reduce adverse impacts on the public places and neighboring areas, and to protect the rights of other users of our public places.  

Thank you for hosting your event in Seattle!