Planning an Event

The Town of Greater Napanee strives to be an inclusive and accessible community. We encourage you to review the Guide to Accessible Festivals and Outdoor Events to find out how to host accessible events, especially with regards to access to amenities, parking, and programming elements to ensure they meet the requirements of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).

Alcohol is not permitted at any event held on Municipal property.

Any event that includes animals must be in compliance with KFL&A Public Health. This includes petting zoos, animal rides, and animal exhibits.

• Pens, shelters, and operating areas of the animals must be included in the site plan.
• Any damage caused by animals will be remediated at the Event Host's expense.

All dogs must be on a leash must be under control at all times. Dog waste must be collected and disposed of appropriately.

Only designated service animals are allowed inside any Municipal facilities.

Camping is not permitted on municipal property or private property not appropriately zoned to permit camping. Contact us to see if camping is permitted within the event location. An exemption may be applied for and will be considered on an individual basis.

Copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the author, owner, or the distributor of original work (movies, literature, music, etc.) exclusive rights for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution, adaptation, and use.

If live or recorded music of any kind is included in your special event, you must obtain appropriate licensing from the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) and Re:Sound.

All organizations that present commercially available movies in a public performance environment are required to obtain a license from the appropriate rights representative. This applies even if presentations are free of charge, for non-profit reasons, or if copies are obtained from personal collections, retail stores, or online retailers.

• SOCAN
• Re:Sound
• Entandem
• ACF Films

The Event Host shall be solely and completely responsible for any and all damages resulting from the event. Damages will be assessed and communicated to the Event Host following a rental. The cost to repair any damages to park(s) and/or facilities will be the responsibility of the Event Host.

Any inclusion of a drone at your event must comply with all Transport Canada Drone Regulations and Protocols.

Event hosts must develop an event-specific Emergency Plan. An emergency or disaster may result from an accident, criminal act, force of nature, situations that affect lives or property or where the operation of the event has an impact on the public. 

Your event's Emergency Plan should include the following:

• Contact list: Contact details for your main and emergency contacts.
• First aid: All events must have a fully stocked first aid kit at the event site. For larger events, you should consider having trained first aiders present.
• Emergency access: You must have designated primary and secondary emergency access points on your site map.
• Capacity: You should know how many people will be using the permitted space.
• Fire: All public events located shall be designed with fire safety in mind, including the placement of fire extinguishers. 
• Extreme weather: You are responsible for tracking extreme weather conditions and communicating those conditions to event participants and attendees before and during the event.
• For events on roadways: Events that take place on a road must ensure at least one lane, a minimum of 3 metres,  remains clear of any temporary or permanent obstruction of any kind (tents, vendors, stages, rides, games, etc.) throughout the event to ensure emergency vehicles can fully access the site.
• Evacuation: all plans for large scale events should include an evacuation plan with identified evacuation routes and areas.

Remember to share your Emergency Plan with your organizing team and volunteers. It is also a good idea to provide this information to all emergency services prior to your event so they have the information at hand.

The cost of a rental will depend on the facility booked and the length of agreement. Please contact the Community Events Administrator for more information.

• Facility rental payments may be made at the Best and Bash Arena located at 16 McPherson Drive or 99 Advance Ave. where cash, credit, cheque, and debit will be accepted. Cheques must be made payable to "The Corporation of the Town of Greater Napanee”.
• Cancellations and Refunds: The Town reserves the right to cancel any scheduled event in order to ensure public safety; or in the sole opinion of the Municipality, if the Event Host fails to comply with the requirements of the rental agreement, applicable by-laws, or for any other reason the Township deems appropriate.
• Additional fees may be required depending on the nature and scope of the event.
• Extra Garbage cans
• Picnic tables
• Municipal Road Closure
• Large Fleet Use

Fireworks Discharge By-Law:

• Regulates the sales and setting off of fireworks and fire crackers.
• Outlines the process to apply for a permit to display fireworks and the associated fines for non-compliance.

Open Air Burning By-Law:

• Regulates the setting of open-air fires. 
• Establishes when open-air fires may be set and any exemptions. 
• Provides for officers to inspect the property to determine compliance. 
• Non-compliance can result in an officer issuing an order to discontinue the activity or a Provincial Offences Notice where charges are laid, and fines imposed.

The KFL&A Health Unit requires event hosts and food vendors to submit details to them at least 10 business days prior to the start of the event. Please note that the Health Unit advises that their special events application form must be completed if food is being sold to participants. If food is free to participants or "free samples" hosts should still contact the Health Unit to provide event and contact details. 

During the event, Public Health Inspectors may inspect food vendors to ensure safe food handling and to prevent any health hazards.

• KFL&A Health Unit
• Technical Standards and Safety Authority

Air-supported structures (inflatables) are not permitted on Municipal property at any time.

You must ensure that you have adequate liability insurance for the event. You should consider all event components when reviewing insurance requirements, including all vendors, food merchants, performers, and all programming elements.

All events require appropriate liability insurance coverage in the minimum amount of $5,000,000 with the Corporation of the Town of Greater Napanee named as an additional insured. The Town of Greater Napanee reserves the right to request a higher level of insurance coverage to ensure appropriate coverage has been obtained.

When listing the Municipality as an additional insured, please use the following: The Corporation of the Town of Greater Napanee, 99 Advance Avenue, Napanee, Ontario K7R 3Y5.

All occurrences of gambling and games of chance (i.e. lotteries, raffles, bingo, and 50/50 draws) in the province of Ontario are subject to the licensing and regulations of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. Any event planning to include any form of gambling or game of chance (even if for fundraising purposes) must obtain a lottery license from the Clerk's Department. Licenses are only available for approved charitable organizations.

When your event is approved, please upload the details to our online events calendar.

Events with a tourism focus can also be cross promoted on the Lennox & Addington County website. 

Events shall always observe the noise by-law unless prior exemption has been granted by Council. Concerts (and sound amplification) must cease by 11:00 p.m. as per our Noise By-Law.

Please be mindful of the volume of your event and music and recognize that there are people who live in the area and neighbouring businesses. 

Municipal By-law Enforcement Officers and the OPP will respond to noise complaints and hosts must comply with any Police or Municipal direction. 

The Event Host is responsible for considering the impact of their event to area parking and is encouraged to develop a parking plan.

Parking is allowed in designated areas only.

• Parking is prohibited on grass or in park areas.
• Damage to fields, parks or other green spaces will be remediated at the expense of the Event Host.

Event Hosts are responsible for ensuring there is sufficient parking, signage is effective and parking enforcement is arranged.

Arranging off-site parking and shuttle services to the event if needed, is the responsibility of the Event Host.

If you are interested in temporarily occupying or closing a Municipal road to hold an event such as a run, walk, bike ride, triathlon, etc. you will need to submit a Temporary Road Closure Application.

Depending on the scope and potential impacts of the event, support and approval from the Lennox & Addington OPP may be required. In some cases, the Event Host may be required to hire paid-duty police officers.

You are responsible for providing sufficient washrooms and hand washing stations for your event, with considerations for accessibility.  You should consider the nature of your event, duration, and guest requirements when determining how many you will need. Contact us for assistance with the rental of Portable Washrooms.

To help us gain insights and improve our processes, we request that Event Organizers submit a post-event report to us within four weeks of your event taking place on Municipal property. Please review the form before your event to ensure you collect the requested information.

Events requiring a road closure will require a Temporary Road Closure Application. We need enough time to review the request, coordinate detour services with emergency services and request advance warning signage. Further restrictions and requirements may be imposed by MTO or the County of Lennox & Addington if any of their roads are impacted by the event, particularly if affected roads are expected to carry unusual traffic volumes. Once approved, no changes can be made without consulting Municipal staff.

Closing a road for an event is complex and the process involves many staff approvals with public safety always a priority. The Town has an obligation to ensure that the rest of the public can safely keep moving or operating while various events are taking place.

 Please provide a detailed site drawing illustrating all physical objects:

• Event name, date, location(s)
• North direction
• Approximate size and scale of the event space
• Location of all activity zones (i.e. stage, food vendors)
• Location of any fire extinguishers
• Location of primary and secondary (emergency) access points
• Location of all roads/trails/routes used for the procession
• Location and size of all temporary infrastructure (i.e. tents, fencing, portable washrooms, First Aid stations, garbage disposal/pick up location)
• Location of any hazardous material - fuel storage, propane etc
• Location of any generators or other electrical sources
• Legend to determine symbols or icons on the plan

The Province of Ontario has made it illegal to smoke in public outdoor spaces with the Smoke Free Ontario Act, including around all children’s playgrounds/sporting areas and public areas that fall within 20m of those spaces. This legislation also applies to all public events being staged on Loyalist Township owned or leased properties and includes all elements of an event such as beer tents, midways, concessions etc. In addition, the Town of Greater Napanee has enacted a Smoking by-law to prohibit smoking tobacco at any municipally owned and municipally operated facility.

Please notify us of all tents and temporary structures planned for within an event site. You must submit a detailed site plan for your event and must indicate the location and size of each tent and temporary structure.

If your event set-up includes a tent larger than 60 square metres, you will require a Building Permit. Such tent cannot be attached to a building and must be located more than 3m from other structures. The Chief Building Official will determine if a building permit and/or engineering report is required.

If your tent(s)/structure(s) require stakes, utility locates must be arranged under the supervision of the Building Department. Under no circumstances shall tents be anchored to asphalt, concrete, or similar surfaces using stakes or spikes; only surface anchor blocks shall be used.

Our staff will arrange consultation with the Chief Building Official for any Event Host considering the installation of stages or elevated platforms to review any applicable building code and accessibility requirements.

As an Event Host, you are responsible for the clean-up of your event site. Regular pickup of waste containers is expected in order to ensure a sanitary environment. The Event Host is expected to ensure waste containers are emptied often enough during the event to avoid overflowing. We will provide all normal maintenance services to our routine standards. Any additional maintenance required prior to or during the event should be requested and additional fees may be charged on a cost-recovery basis.