Planning something in Cleveland, but aren’t sure whether you need an event permit? We’ve got you covered! For a lot of smaller events, you may find you don’t need anything at all. But if you’re hosting a lot of people, plan to serve alcohol, or stake a tent, you should check your local entities to find out what you need.
In this blog, we’ve gathered everything you need to know about permitting in Cleveland and who to call if you think you’re going to need one.
- Do You Need a Permit in Cleveland?
- The Lakefront, City Parks, and Private Plazas
- Tents, Stages, and Power
- Serving Alcohol in Cleveland
- Your Setup in a Metroparks Park
- Ceremonies in the Cultural Gardens
- Block Parties
- Questions for Metroparks and Building & Housing Before You Book
- Who Issues Permits in Cleveland
- Planning an Event in Cleveland?
Do You Need a Permit in Cleveland?
Bring a cooler and folding chairs to a first-come picnic spot and you need no permit and no phone call.
The city’s special event permit turns on the kind of event you’re holding. Selling anything, charging admission, closing a stretch of city street, or holding an invitation-only event on city ground can each put you in scope. That last one catches private hosts, so a wedding on city property lands squarely in it. Their application lists the rest, so read it before you decide you’re clear.
Giving food and drink away counts the same as selling it here. The city asks about handing it out and about selling it in the same breath, and both add city permitting, so a free bar doesn’t keep you out of it.
The Lakefront, City Parks, and Private Plazas
Your site decides whose application you fill out.
On the lakefront, you aren’t dealing with the city. Edgewater Park and Beach, Perkins Beach, Wendy Park, and the rest of the shoreline are part of Cleveland Metroparks’ Lakefront Reservation. The Park District is a separate government with its own application, rules, and staff, and its permit extends beyond normal park use.
The Division of Special Events runs City parks, Public Square, the Malls, and the Cultural Gardens. You don’t need to be an organization to apply: private hosts book ceremonies, parties, and photo shoots through the same office.
Streets and sidewalks are separate again. Two city documents name different offices for the public right-of-way, so start with the one both point to: the Division of Assessments & Licenses. Parking on the street is its own permit.
A privately owned plaza is not exempt either. Building & Housing leaves open ground alone until you close it off or build it out enough to change how the space is used; at that point, they want to hear about it. Ask before you fence anything off on private ground.
Tents, Stages, and Power
Anything larger than a 10×10 pop-up is worth checking with Building & Housing before you book, and you don’t put it up yourself. Tents, stages, and temporary power must be set up by a registered contractor, so ask your rental company whether they hold that registration or if you’re hiring it separately. Temporary power is a permit of its own on top of the tent.
A tent may also require a second review, with the Fire Prevention Division involved, and how close it sits to buildings, other tents, and the property boundary helps determine that. Send your dimensions early and ask what else they need.
On Metroparks grounds, the tent goes somewhere else. Once the Park District authorizes your event, the tent application goes to the State of Ohio, not Cleveland Building & Housing.
Serving Alcohol in Cleveland
The state and the city both look at your bar, but they read the same words differently. The state focuses on money: an invitation-only party where nobody pays for a drink usually falls outside the state’s temporary permit, while charging for drinks or taking payment at the door brings the state in. The city treats “invitation only” as a reason its own permit applies, so a private reception on city ground can need nothing from the state and still need the city. Check both before you assume one answer covers you.
In a Metroparks park, the district decides who pours. Some locations are already licensed and require alcohol to be bought and served through the Park District or its management company. The district also keeps a right of first refusal on alcohol sales on its property.
Your Setup in a Metroparks Park
Plan on the Park District supplying none of your setup. What you bring in comes at your own expense and risk.
- You can’t hire your own security or lifeguards. Only Cleveland Metroparks Police may work security on park property, and only Park District lifeguards may work on its property
- Events run 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., inside longer park hours, so build the end of your evening around the earlier stop
- Portable toilets come up early. Ask whether yours needs them, and who approves the spot before your supplier delivers
- Your vendors get asked about insurance too. Expect the coverage question to reach every company you bring in
- No bonfires. Only small cooking fires are allowed, and hot coals can’t be dumped on the ground
- Propane heaters need approval before the day, so ask your supplier what documentation comes with them
- Amplified sound has to be approved and aimed away from homes
- No balloon releases and no polystyrene, and nothing fastened to trees or park features. Their list runs longer than that, so read it before you plan a send-off
Picnic areas have no street address. Give your rental company the shelter name and the Park District’s directions
If you’re still picking out rentals for your event, our Cleveland rental pricing guide covers local equipment costs. Check it out for help budgeting!
Ceremonies in the Cultural Gardens
The Gardens’ permit covers a wedding ceremony and photo shoot, with a cap on hours, so plan the reception elsewhere; our Cleveland wedding venues guide has options.
Nothing can go into the ground here, and nothing gets nailed, taped, or tacked to the property either, so order weighted bases for anything you’d normally stake. A few other things are off the table:
- Alcohol
- Balloon and bird releases
- Open flame
Confetti and petals, so plan a different send-off
Block Parties
A block party is its own permit with its own limits:
- Alcohol is out on the public street, tree lawn, and sidewalk.
- The party runs between dawn and dusk.
- Main streets and RTA bus routes stay open, so check how your street is classified before you plan around it.
- Equipment in the street adds a second permit and proof of insurance, so ask what applies to your setup.
- Selling food or merchandise there requires another city permit.
Questions for Metroparks and Building & Housing Before You Book
- Is this park Cleveland Metroparks or City of Cleveland, and which application does that make it?
- Does my tent need a plan review, and does the tent application go to the city or the state?
- Who is allowed to provide the alcohol here, and does the venue already hold a licence?
- Which permits do I need before the special event permit can be approved?
- Does anything I’m renting have to go up under a registered contractor, or can my rental company set it?
- Does an event my size need portable toilets, and where are they allowed to sit?
- Do my vendors need insurance too, and what proof does the office want?
- Does my bar need anything from the state, or only the venue’s sign-off?
Who Issues Permits in Cleveland
- City of Cleveland Division of Special Events. City property, parks, the Cultural Gardens and block parties, on its permit applications page.
- Cleveland Metroparks Special Events & Experiences. Edgewater and every other reservation, via its special event permits page; shelters via its reservation page.
- Department of Building & Housing. Tents, stages, power and change of use, in its special events permitting guide.
- Division of Assessments & Licenses. Streets, sidewalks and vendors, on its licenses and permits page.
- Cleveland Division of Fire. Fireworks, flame effects, food trucks and LPG systems, on its fire permits page.
- Cleveland Department of Public Health. Food served or sold to the public, via the food safety program.
- Ohio Division of Liquor Control. Temporary permits and eligibility, on its temporary permits guide.
Planning an Event in Cleveland?
Two answers settle most of this: who administers the ground, and what you’re putting on it. Get those straight and every office above becomes a short call.
Reventals carries tents and canopies, tables and chairs, and outdoor lighting in Cleveland, so the setup you describe on the application is the same list you send as one rental request.
Browse party rentals on Reventals and start planning your Cleveland event today.
