How to plan your event

Before you apply for an event permit, you need to have permission to hold your event in the event site of your choosing. These are most commonly Darebin’s many parks and open spaces, but can also be a road, footpath, carpark or other public space.

Not all spaces are suitable for events, and even the spaces that are suitable are not available year around. To ensure you have reserved the space you want, and have permission to hold your event there, you need to book the event site.

If your event is using more than one space, you will need approval for each one. Once you have approval for the site of your event, you can then apply for an event permit.

Bundoora Park

Check out the reserved spaces for events at the Open spaces at Bundoora Park page.

Enquire about a reserved area by contacting the Bundoora Park bookings officer on 03 8470 8170 or bundpark@darebin.vic.gov.au

Enquire about open spaces at Bundoora Park

Parks or open spaces (excluding Bundoora Park)

Find out more and enquire about your next event in a park or open space at our Events in parks page.

Enquire about events in parks

Footpath, road or carpark

Find out more and apply for a road or footpath closure permit to host your event on our Traffic Management Plans page.

Enquire about traffic management plans

Neighbourhood (street party)

Learn about neighbourhood street parties and how to go about applying. 

Conditions apply:

• apply for this while you are planning for the event
• street parties have strict criteria
• community and commercial events are not eligible to apply - they will need an event permit instead.

Enquire about neighbourhood street parties

The first step to applying for a permit is to know what type of event you are holding. This will determine:

• what documentation you will be required to submit
• how much lead time you need to allow when submitting your application
• how much your permit fees will be.

Your event may also require a Place of Public Entertainment occupancy permit (POPE) as well, if it is a building or substantially enclosed public area of more than 500 square metres that used for public assembly.

You will also need an occupancy permit and siting permit for a prescribed temporary structure.

Find out about event and temporary structure permits.

Event type guide

The information below will help you:

• figure out the type of event you are holding and what its overall risk is
• determine how much documentation you will need to submit
• give you an idea of how long the application process may take

A low or medium impact event won’t need as much detail as a high-risk event, for example.

Private / low impact event

These events include family gatherings, small weddings, work parties, birthday parties etc.

Events limits include:

• up to 200 people
• no marquees
• no food or alcohol sales
• no stages, live music PAs or sound systems (small portable speakers for background music within EPA requirements are acceptable)
• no portable toilets
• no amusement rides or inflatables
• no advertising signs or banners
• no enclosed areas, fencing or ticketed / reserved entry requirement
• no vehicle access or parking reservation
• no road closures

No event permit is required for events that meet these conditions. Site booking is always required for any organised event, even if it doesn’t require an event permit. See step 1 above for details about booking sites within Darebin.

Low risk

These include community festivals and fun days, charity events, cross country or sporting events etc.

Events limits include:

• 200 to 1000 people max.
• No more than 5 different infrastructure suppliers
• Food, drink or alcohol sales
• Small stages, live music PAs or sound systems
• Enclosed areas, fencing or ticketed/reserved entry requirement
• Small road closure (Road closure permit required)

6 weeks minimum application deadline.

Medium risk

Includes larger festivals and commercial events etc.

Events limits include:

• 1000 to 2000 people
• no more than 10 different infrastructure suppliers
• food, drink or alcohol sales
• medium stages, live music PAs or sound systems
• enclosed areas, fencing or ticketed / reserved entry requirement
• road closure (road closure permit required)
• minor public transport disruption

3 months minimum application deadline.

High risk

These include major events.

Events limits include:

• over 2000 people
• complex infrastructure and public impact
• multiple days and locations
• enclosed areas, fencing or ticketed / reserved entry requirement
• major road closures (road closure permit required)
• major public transport disruption / impact

6 months minimum application deadline required. 

Now that you know how much time you need to allow for your permit application deadline, you can begin planning your event.

To avoid any delays, make sure you have all the below documents ready before you submit your application. Documents will be uploaded as attachments during the application process.

Templates are available to download below if required, but you may use your own forms provided they address the required information.

Event management plan

This is the core document of you event and should outline all the relevant information about your event. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Event organiser with contact names and numbers
• Warden structure who are the chief and deputy wardens, and how an emergency is managed
• Event schedule, including bump-in and out
• Supplier and infrastructure list who are the suppliers, and exactly what are they providing? Marquees, toilets, food trucks, fencing, etc
• Environmental and waste management plans
• Power, water and toilets including where are they being provided from? Is it enough to meet the requirements of the event?

Risk management plan

This should be your main document to ensure your event is safe for yourselves and the patrons attending. This should outline:

• all the risks that you have identified as being associated with your event
• all the steps you are taking to minimise or remove the risks altogether.

Emergency management plan

The emergency management plan outlines how your staff will respond to an emergency, in the unlikely event that it does.

While you will almost always call 000 in an emergency, how you respond in the minutes before they arrive will minimise damage or loss of life.

You will be responsible for the safety of everyone at your event, until emergency services arrive and take over. It is essential that you have a clear plan of how you will do this.

Site map

This needs to be an aerial view of your event site and can be taken as a screenshot from Google Maps if needed. It needs to show all your:

• infrastructure, including marquees, water, toilets, stages, stalls, vehicles
• first aid, fire extinguishers, and emergency evacuation locations.
• all fencing, signage, and entry and exit points.

It should be as close to scale as possible and show a legend.

Depending on the elements your event has, you may need to provide additional supporting documents and permits to show that these elements are compliant.

Templates

You can use templates below to help you with planning your event. You can use these as your documents, or as a reference to create your own versions to suit your event.

You will still need to provide all the relevant information if you create your own.

• Event management plan template(PDF, 194KB)
• Risk management plan template(PDF, 270KB)
• Emergency management plan template(PDF, 80KB)
• Site map example

It is recommended that you read the Event Planning Guide(PDF, 213KB) to make sure you are considering all the information relevant to your event.

Once you have your completed documents, you are now ready to apply for your event permit.

Apply for an event permit

Once your application has been received, you will receive a confirmation email. Later on, you will be sent an invoice for the permit fee. Please note the permit cannot be issued until the invoice is paid.

The permit assessment process can take a long time and will vary based on the size and complexity of your event.

You can help with processing your application quickly by:

• ensuring you are as thorough as possible with your application
• upload the correct documents.

This will reduce the number of times we need to ask you for more information.

Our review process

The permit assessment process:

• reviews your submitted documentation
• consulting with other councils or external parties to ensure compliance is being met
• ensuring the event will be run in a safe and coordinated way

We may ask for supporting documents.

Once the permit has been approved, it will be issued to you via email and will contain a list of conditions that must be followed for the permit to remain valid.

It is always your responsibility as the event organiser for the safety and security of everyone working on, attending or passing by your event. This is what we need to see has been considered in the application.

If you have any questions, or are unsure about any part of your application, you can reach out to the Festivals and Events team on 03 8470 8080 or email us on eventpermission@darebin.vic.gov.au for advice or read the Event Planning Guide(PDF, 213KB) for more information.