A parade is defined as a procession of pedestrians, vehicles, animals, or any combination thereof traveling in unison along or upon a street, road, or highway, organized and conducted for the purposes of attracting the attention of the general public and/or expressing or celebrating views or ideas by use of verbal, visual, literary, or auditory means of communication.
If your parade is less than one mile in length, contains no more than 250 individuals and does not include any portion of a major thoroughfare or collector street your event may be classified as a Neighborhood Parade.
"Special Event" means a festival, celebration or gathering that involves the reservation and temporary use of all or a portion of a public park, park road, public street or other city property and requires the significant provision or coordination of city services
Permit is good for the event period only. Subsequent events must submit new application.
Must complete requisites. Additional fees may apply depending upon the nature of the event.
City services are free for 12 intersections or 1 mile, whichever is first. Each additional intersection over 12 incurs a fee of $1,185.78 for parade security and traffic control services.
- Special Event application, including applicable maps
- Method of payment: cash, check, money order, bank check/cashier's check
- Affidavit of inability to pay, if applicable
Email the completed application to [email protected].
The received application will not be processed until the application fee is paid, either in person or by mail to:
Mayor's Office of Special Events
901 Bagby Street, Mezzanine Level
Houston, TX 77002
Application will be reviewed for conditional approval and customer will be notified of additional fees and requisites for plan review.
Bring the completed application and a form of payment to the Mayor's Office of Special Events:
901 Bagby Street, Mezzanine Level
Houston, TX 77002
Mail the completed application and fees to:
Mayor's Office of Special Events
901 Bagby Street, Mezzanine Level
Houston, TX 77002.
Make checks payable to the City of Houston.
Fax the completed application to 832-393-0837.
The received application will not be processed until the application fee is paid, either in person or by mail to:
Mayor's Office of Special Events
901 Bagby Street, Mezzanine Level
Houston, TX 77002
Application will be reviewed for conditional approval and customer will be notified of additional fees and requisites for plan review.
Mayor's Office of Special Events reserves the right to refuse any application that does not comply with the codes, ordinances or laws of the City of Houston and/or the State of Texas.
Applications for revenue and non-revenue generating parades must be filed at least 90 days before the event date sought, and no earlier than one year in advance of the date sought.
Neighborhood parades must be filed at least 10 business days before the event date sought.
Upon conditional approval, the following items must be submitted to MOSE for review:
- Completed application
- Certificate of insurance
- Security control plan
- Traffic control plan
- Permission from neighborhood (when required)
- Other permits and licenses as required
Submit documents to Mayor's Office of Special Events:
901 Bagby,
Houston, TX 77002
Upon receiving all requisite documents final permit will be assessed.