When hiring City of York Council land

We recommend applying to hold your event as soon as possible, to avoid disappointment and to allow enough time to gain permissions and prepare documentation. 

• For a major event (500 attendees or more), we recommend starting at least 12 months in advance. 

• For a small-scale event, we recommend starting at least 6 months in advance. 

The first step of planning an outdoor event is to check that your chosen dates are available. Please do this by emailing our Events team at events@makeityork.com will confirm the charge and venue availability within 7 working days. 

 If you are happy to proceed, please progress to Step 2 below to submit your application.

When hiring City of York Council land

At the point of booking 50% of the land hire fee is due to secure your dates. The remaining balance is then due 6 months prior to your event. If booking 6 months or less in advance, full payment will be due. 

After approval, the Make it York events team can advise you on all of the documentation you will need to put in place before your event can go ahead. You will be required to submit all full and final documentation 12 weeks in advance of your event set-up date. This will include all of the following (and may include other documents or licences, depending on the nature of the event): 

• Event Management Plan 

• Risk Assessments 

• Traffic Management Plan 

• Site Plan 

• Public Liability Insurance 

You can find document templates and examples on the ‘Guidance’ tab the bottom of the page.

There are a number of permissions you may need to obtain, depending on the scale/type of your event. You will need to submit all full and final event documentation 12 weeks in advance of your event set-up date, for submission to the Safety Advisory Group (SAG). You will need to have permissions in place by this point so you should make your applications for permissions to the relevant council teams as soon as you start to plan your event. 

Please note: You should apply for any of the following services you need at least 12 weeks/3 months in advance of your event date 

Traffic Management Plan 

You will need to apply for any necessary road closures by requesting a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order via the City of York Council Highways dept. 

Licenses 

The type of event you are putting on will determine the types of licenses you will need. You will need to apply for the relevant licenses at least 12 weeks in advance, so that you have all the necessary permissions in place by the time you submit your event plans to SAG. You can find the main licenses you may need below: 

Premises Licence 

Temporary Event Notice 

Street Trading Consent 

Street Collection Permit 

Noise management and food safety (Environmental Protection) 

City of York Council Environmental and Public Protection teams deal with these issues, but our Events team will act as your single point of contact for your event to make things easier for you. If there will be music or other performance at your event, you should read the guidance on noise management. If you are planning to provide food at your event, consult the Public Protection team. You can also email the Events team for advice and they will consult with the relevant teams on your behalf. 

For any events on the Knavesmire, as part of the premises licence it has its own Noise Management plan to be referenced and adhered to – email the Events team for advice.

We encourage Event organisers to consult with local residents and businesses where possible.  

You will need to notify City of York Ward Councillors, and brief them on the details of the event taking place in their ward. 

You are advised to start these conversations early in the planning process, to identify any problems early, and find solutions. 

You will need to book services such as waste, recycling and cleansing for your event. It is your responsibility to ensure the site is left how it was found. 

You may also need to consider the following services: 

• Security provision 

• Medical provision 

• Toilet facilities: male, female, disabled, baby changing areas 

• Utilities: electricity, water, LPG 

• Infrastructure: marquees, gazebos, staging 

• Communications: control room, information, radios, mobile phones 

• Insurances: Public Liability for you and your concessions, other insurances 

• Consultant services: noise management, food safety, health and safety, fire prevention.

When hiring City of York Council land

At 12 weeks prior to the event set-up date, your Event Management Plan should be completed. You will need to submit all relevant documents/permissions etc which form your Event Management Plan to events@makeityork.com

Once you have submitted your full and final documents, the Events team will consult with the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) and will feed back any comments to you. 

SAG includes North Yorkshire Police, North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue service, Yorkshire Ambulance Service and key local authority officers such as Emergency Planning, Highways, Environmental Protection, Licensing, Health & Safety and other relevant key officers. 

PLEASE NOTE: If you are staging a new or major event, you may need to attend a meeting with SAG, approximately 12-8 weeks prior to your event date. 

If any safety concerns are raised by SAG at this stage which cannot be resolved, then it is possible that we will have to decline your event application at this stage. 

SAG acts in an independent advisory capacity only, providing advice to event organisers.  

You and your event management team will be legally responsible for the health and safety planning of your event. It is you who retains the legal responsibility for ensuring a safe event. Individual representatives of organisations forming SAG may have powers to require you to comply with legal obligations. 

When hiring City of York Council land a refundable bond against damages will be taken 8 weeks prior to the event. 

Events using non-City of York Council land should submit documentation directly to SAG: Event Notification Form | Event notification form – City of York Council

The evaluation and debrief stage is an essential part of the event and planning process. This will assist you in measuring the success of your event, demonstrate the economic benefit it brings to the City of York, and will inform our Events team on how we can improve our service. 

We will encourage you to work in partnership with us to undertake evaluation surveys of visitors/participants and staff during the event. We will use any or all of this information in forming a debrief session. 

Health and Safety

• Purple Guide 

Originally published by the Health & Safety Executive, the Purple Guide is designed to provide guidance for event organisers, suppliers, local authorities and others involved in the outdoor events industry. https://www.thepurpleguide.co.uk/  

• Health & Safety Executive 

National event safety guidance – HSE 

• Risk Assessment 

Risk management guidance – HSE 

Fire safety risk assessment – Open air venues – Home Office 

• Crowd Management 

Managing Crowds Safely 

Counter Terrorism – Crowded Places guidance 

• Medical 

Yorkshire Ambulance Service online Medical Assurance form 

• Food Safety 

National Food Standards Agency guidance:  

Food at Events 

Managing Food Safety 

Allergen guidance 

• Tempoary Structures 

Guidance on temporary demountable structures – HSE 

Working at height guidance – HSE 

• Fireworks 

Guidance on fairgrounds and amusement parks – HSE 

• Fairgrounds 

Guidance on fairgrounds and amusement parks – HSE 

Amusement Device Inspection Procedures Scheme 

• Drones 

Guidance on the use of Drones – Civil Aviation Authority 

• Inflatables 

Guidance on Inflatable Play Safety – HSE 

• Bouncy Castles 

Professional Inflatable Play Association – PIPA 

Safeguarding & Wellbeing 

• Children & Vulnerable Adults 

Safeguarding children – City of York Safeguarding Children Partnership 

Disclosure & Barring Service – City of York Council 

Child performance licence – City of York Council 

• Animal welfare 

Animal welfare guidance – City of York Council  

Animal Activity Licences – City of York Council 

Environmental Impact & Sustainability 

• Noise 

Guidance on noise at events – Code of Conduct – City of York Council 

Noise pollution – City of York Council 

Knavesmire Noise Management plan – contact: events@makeityork.com 

• Waste 

Duty of Care responsibilities – Environment Agency 

Commercial Waste disposal responsibilities – City of York Council 

• Sustainability 

Sustainability at Events – Visit Britain 

Equalities 

Equalities Act 2010 – City of York Council 

Accessability to events – Attitude is Everything 

Without Walls – Outdoor Festivals and Events Access Guide 

Event Planning & Documentation

• Event management plan template  

• Risk assessment template  

• Fire Risk Assessment  

• SAG Event Notification form  

• Counter Terrorism (ACT  Awareness e-learning) 

Licences, Permites & Other Statuatory Requirements

• Apply to hold an event in York 
• Apply to close a road 
• Apply to suspend parking 
• Apply for a Temporary Event Notice 
• Apply for a Premises Licence 
• Apply for an Occasional Street Trading Consent 
• Apply for a Fete/Gala licence  
• Apply for Charity Street collection 
• Apply for noise at events questionnaire – contact: events@makeityork.com 
• Apply for Hoarding licence (such as Heras fencing) 
• Apply for Tree Works (For the attachment of any collateral to trees in the public domain) 
• Apply for an Access Platform or Cherry Picker permit 
• Apply for Authority to Contravene a Moving Traffic Order  

Public Liability Insurance 

Organisers of an event being held on Council Land MUST hold public liability insurance policy to a value of at least £10 million coverage or higher for the duration of the event. A Certificate of Insurance must be provided which includes the name of the group, a date of which the policy is valid until and the amount the policy covers.  

If your event is not on Council land but it involves the public coming onto your property it is important you get insurance to cover your event.  

Any third parties attending your event (food vendors, stall holders, entertainers, volunteer groups etc) need to have their own public liability. It is important that you sight or retain a copy – ensuring that the date is current.  

Counter Terrorism 

As part of National Counter Terrorism protection measures, additional emphasis is being placed on the safety of large events. Have you attended any training or awareness session on Counter Terrorism (eg. ACT Awareness or SCAN).  All event organisers and volunteers should complete the online training prior to the event delivery. 

Please see links below to online Counter Terrorism courses: 

• ACT Awareness: ACT Awareness E-Learning – Powered By Frog 

• SCAN Training: scan.highfieldelearning.com 

A Counter Terrorism risk assessment should also be carried to assess what measures are in place and what more could be done to minimise, as far as possible, the risk of an attack. 

Emergency Response Plan  

An emergency response plan is exactly that: if you have an emergency what is your response. Your Risk Assessment should have identified all your risks, hazards and measures you will take to avoid these eventuating. An Emergency Response Plan will outline procedures for specific emergencies.  

Planning for incidents and emergencies – HSE 

Accessibility  

Ensuring your event is accessible can sometimes get overlooked. From the time your event attendees arrive:    

Parking (do you have sufficient accessible car parks available?). If you do not have a great deal of space for Disabled parking, can you create a ‘drop off zone’ close to the entrance?  

Pathways- uneven ground? Wide enough? Is there a good flow for pedestrian traffic.  

Toilets- is there a disabled toilet available? If you are bringing in Portable toilets, ensure one of them is a disabled.  

Can someone using a wheelchair or walking frame get to all areas of your event easily?  

Can people get to your event easily? Is it walking distance or can people get public transport?  

Event Evaluation 

Have you considered collating, as much as is possible, the benefits your event has delivered? 

Properly collating how your event has been delivered and the outcomes it generates allows you to build a good foundation for the future planning and development of your events. As well as this, effective monitoring and evaluation of your project will undoubtedly help if you decide to apply for funding and sponsorships. Determine in advance what monitoring and evaluation of your event you want to undertake. 

Some ways of measuring success: 

Footfall – if you have limited access points, consider having marshals “clicking” people as they come in. Clickers or counters can be purchased online for around £3. The figures may not be 100% accurate but will give you a good idea of attendance. If you don’t have enough volunteers to do this, try taking photos of the event site at several times during the day and make an estimate of the event’s attendance based on the number of people in the photos. 

On-the-day Surveys – consider having a volunteer talking to visitors and asking some specific, pre-determined questions; some multiple choice and some open- ended. 

Online feedback – consider putting your survey online and asking visitors to fill it in after the event by posting a link on your event website or Facebook page. You may like to offer an incentive such as a prize draw to encourage more people to fill it in. 

Press coverage – Make sure that you keep any press cuttings or online articles that have been published about the event. 

Social Media / website traffic and engagement – Make a note of the level of engagement you have received on social media and if you have created an event, the number of people who have said they are interested or going. You can also use Google Analytics to measure the traffic to your website leading up to the event.