Pittsylvania County, VA
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Music Festival Ordinance
Revising the Music Festival Ordinance
Any music festival organizer is required to submit thorough plans - that must be approved by Pittsylvania County and other regulating agencies such as the Virginia Department of Transportation - regarding everything from transportation, safety, light and sound, facilities and sewage, and a comprehensive site plan. For a permit to be granted, each of those plans must receive approval from the regulating agencies, and the entire permit then needs to be approved by the Board of Supervisors.
Full music festival ordinance
Per the ordinance, a music or entertainment festival consists of outdoor music performances for a period of time exceeding six hours.
An important note: Pittsylvania County will be reimbursed for any costs related fire, EMS, or law enforcement assistance with any music festival event to ensure that these events do not put a burden on the taxpayers or the Pittsylvania County general fund.
What Does The County's Music Festival Ordinance Regulate?
Pittsylvania County's music festival ordinance allows for regulations regarding Fire and EMS coverage for events, traffic control, insurance coverage, bonds to ensure compliance, security and crowd control, lighting and noise spillover, and much more. Detailed plans, including a comprehensive site plan showing every amenity and where it would be located, will have to be provided and signed off on by the appropriate regulating agency, and the entire permit must be approved by the Board of Supervisors.
The following things are now required from any music festival organizer:
- An overall site plan that shows the layout of the festival. This would need to be approved by Community Development
- A plan for adequate sanitation facilities and garbage, trash, and sewage disposal. This would need to be approved by Public Works.
- A plan for providing food, water, and lodging. This would need to be approved by Community Development and the local Health Department
- A plan for medical facilities and EMS coverage. This would need to be approved by Public Safety
- A plan for parking facilities and traffic control. This would need to be approved by VDOT.
- A plan for adequate fire protection. This would need to be approved by Public Safety
- An outdoor lighting plan. This would need to be approved by Community Development.
- An outdoor noise plan. This would need to be approved by Community Development.
- A security and crowd control plan. This would need to be approved by the Sheriff's Office.
- A secure bond to ensure that the organizers follow all requirements of the permit
- Adequate general liability insurance coverage.
The new ordinance requires any music festival to have proof of general liability insurance for at least $2 million, and any event with more than 10,000 attendees needs at least $4 million. Any event organizer is also required to have a bond of at least $500,000 to ensure compliance with the ordinance.
Each of these elements has been thoughtfully enacted to ensure that music festivals and other large concerts can happen safely without disrupting the lives of our residents. The Board of Supervisors’ goal is to protect our residents and those who do business in our county.
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