EventApp Bristol City Council

COVID-19 Update: 

Bristol City Council can only support an event which adheres to the current guidance. BCC will not provide permission for use of council if the EMP and risk assessments do not comply with current Covid-19 government guidance.

Please ensure you have read the BCC further information on the current government guidance available on pages Coronavirus (COVID-19):what you need to know, Hold an event in a park, open space or street  and COVID-19: restarting outdoor events and activities before contacting the Site Permissions team or submitting an application to ensure that your outdoor activity or event is in line with Covid-19 guidance.

Bristol’s Event policy and guidance provides further information on organising an event in Bristol. In order for Bristol City Council to be able to grant you a site permit, for you to proceed with the event and lease the land for its’ duration you will need to submit the following documents:

  • A detailed Event Management Plan (EMP)*
  • Covid risk assessments **
  • Covid Policy **
  • Site Maps - showing egress and ingress routes, the event boundary, infrastructure, and emergency access routes if applicable.
  • Evidence of your existing insurance policy to cover your event and associated activity, insure to an appropriate level of cover.
*   Event Management Plan (EMP) for your event, including mitigations taken to ensure the event is Covid Secure for all Bristol City Council has it’s own template for creating an EMP that you can edit to be specific for the needs of your event. Further details available on the Bristol City Council Event App Portal here.

**  Covid 19 Risk Assessment (CRA) and Policy (CP). Please refer to current government guidance regarding mass gatherings here, and the Events Industry Forum found here, produced in consultation with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) on working safely under the current legislation relating to the COVID-19 Pandemic, found here, when writing your CRA and CP. Broader guidance is also available from the DCMS found here.  The HSE have published a standard RA which can be used for both your ERA and CRA, further details and guidance on how to complete this can be found on the HSE’s website here
 

We will send your documents out for consultation and inform you of any feedback. You may be asked to attend our Safety Advisory Group prior to your event and no events will be signed off until all paperwork has been approved, please note this process can take up to 4 - 6 weeks.

Please note Bristol City Council and SAGE must operate within current guidance and can only support planned activity based on alignment with current government guidance and must respond to changes in legislation from Central Government, as stated by Central Government.

If you wish to apply for a premise license or Temporary Events Notice (TEN’s), you can do this by visiting the Bristol.gov.uk website and applying here.

You must apply for site permission if you want to hold an event in a park, open space or street in Bristol, such as a:

  • fete or funday
  • carnival or funfair
  • festival
  • music concert
  • firework display
  • street event
  • marketing or promotional event

You must also apply for site permission to hold an event or activity in the Redcliffe Caves.

If you’re not sure if you need site permission, email site.permissions@bristol.gov.uk.

We look forward to working with you to deliver safe and successful events in Bristol.

Before you apply

Outdoor Event Guide

We have produced a comprehensive guide for event organisers,  which is intended to help you to plan and manage your events effectively, safely, legally and in line with the standards expected by Bristol City Council and Bristol’s Safety Advisory Group (SAGE).

We welcome all feedback and would like to hear if you found this guide useful, if there are any confusing sections or if links are no longer working. Please provide feedback to site.permissions@bristol.gov.uk.

Advice sessions - NOW OPEN
Come along to one of our ZOOM advice sessions, where you can talk to us about your plans and get guidance on holding an event and the site permission process. Sessions last 30 minutes (plus 15 minutes for officer admin/notes) and are held on:

  • First Monday of every month, at 9.30am / 10.15am / 11.00am / 11.45am
  • Third Tuesday of every month,  at 9.30am / 10.15am / 11.00am / 11.45am

To book a session, please complete this Form and a member of the Site Permissions team will be in touch to confirm your session. 

If you have any queries, please contact site.permissions@bristol.gov.uk

Application fees and site hire costs

You have to pay an application and a site hire fee for every event on council land.

Event locations

Parks
We have a variety of parks you can use to hold an event. Our location map shows each site with details of:

  • facilities
  • parking and transport links
  • restrictions

City Centre marketing or promotional event
We have spaces in the city centre suitable for marketing or promotional events:

Street event
You can also have an event on a street, see guide to closing a road for a street party or event. You'll need site permission if you:

  • close more than one road
  • have more than 500 people attending
  • sell alcohol
  • have entertainment, like live music or performances
  • have items like portable toilets, generators, staging, funfair rides, catering, trade stalls and lighting

If you want to hold an event somewhere else, email site.permissions@bristol.gov.uk to see if you need permission from us.

Health and safety

Detailed information about event health and safety is available in the Purple Guide, written by the Events Industry Forum.

The Purple Guide contains a lot of information which might not be relevant for smaller events. If you're planning a small or medium event, health and safety information is available from the Health and Safety Executive.

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