Event Planning Information

Southampton - the ideal location for events and promotional activities

Crowd cheering at Southampton Summer Sessions in Guildhall Square From small scale community events to large one-off national and international events, Southampton really is the ideal city for your next event. The city boasts more than 50 parks and green spaces and some of these are located right in the heart of the city centre. Southampton’s Guildhall Square is well known as the Cultural Quarter of the City and the space itself plays host to many events, installations and exhibitions.
The pedestrian areas on Above Bar, around the Bargate Monument and Guildhall Square are popular locations for promotions and experiential marketing activities.
Image: Southampton Summer Sessions

Event application process

It is useful to send Southampton City Council’s Events Team an email and briefly describe what it is you would like to do, where you would like to do it and when.

They will then do a quick check to make sure that your proposed event or promotion does not clash with something else that is happening in the city at the same time and that the location you would like to hold your event is available and suitable.

Image: Holi Festival of Colours

How much notice do you need?

Ideally, contact the Events Team about your event as soon as possible as the more notice they have, the more chance there is of being able to overcome any potential problems which may arise.

As a general rule, applications should be submitted at least 12 weeks in advance. Applications received with less notice may not be able to be considered or processed in time. Large-scale or complex events may require more than 12 weeks’ notice.

Image: Light Show at Southampton Christmas Market

Event and promotions application form

If the location you would like to use is available and suitable for your event or promotion, you will be asked to complete an online Event and Promotions Application form. The form can be used for different types of events and promotional activity, so please provide as much relevant information as you can. You can also upload supporting documents with your application. If you are unsure what to include, please contact the Events Team before submitting your application. You should also read our terms and conditions before applying.

As well as completing the application form, you will normally need to provide the following documents. The exact information needed will depend on the type, size and location of your event.

Event Management Plan (EMP)
This should explain how the event will be planned and managed. It should include the event overview, key timings, site management, staffing or stewarding, emergency procedures, contractor details, welfare arrangements, communications, and any traffic or crowd management arrangements if these are needed. You can download an EMP template here to use as a guide.
Site Specific event risk assessment.
This should identity the main hazards linked to your event and explain how you will manage the risks. It should cover the event site, activities, equipment, contractors, staff, volunteers, attendees and any members of the public who may be affected. Where appropriate, organisers should also consider current public health guidance on respiratory infections. This may include ventilation, cleaning, hand hygiene, and advice for staff, volunteers or attendees who feel unwell.
Fire risk assessment
This should cover any fire risks linked to the event, including temporary structures, catering, generators, electrical equipment, gas use, flammable materials, escape routes, fire points, emergency access and evacuation arrangements.
Public liability insurance
You must provide evidence of suitable public liability insurance for the event. Southampton City Council normally requires public liability insurance of at least £10 million, unless a different level of cover has been agreed in writing.
Site plan /route plan
You should provide a clear plan showing the event layout. This should include entrances and exits, temporary structures, stalls, stages, barriers, toilets, first aid, fire points, generators, cable routes, vehicle access, emergency access routes and any road closure or route details, if these apply.
Additional documents
Depending on your event, you may also be asked to provide additional information. This could include a traffic management plan, security or stewarding plan, medical plan, safeguarding arrangements, waste management plan, noise management plan, electrical certificates, temporary structure details, food trader information, alcohol licensing details or contractor documents.

If you cannot upload all documents with your online application because to file size limits, then please email them to events@southampton.gov.uk with your application reference number and event name.

What happens next

Once your completed application and documentation has been received, it will be distributed to the Southampton’s Events Safety Advisory Group (ESAG). This group consists of representatives from the Police, Fire, South Central Ambulance Service, Public Health as well as other relevant Council departments such as Licensing and Highways. Other agencies are also consulted as necessary depending on the nature of the event.

If your application successfully passes through the ESAG, you will be sent confirmation from Southampton City Council’s Events Team.

Image: Southampton International Boat Show

Guidance for event organisers

This guidance is provided to help event organisers understand what is expected when planning and delivering an event on land owned or managed by Southampton City Council.
It explains the practical steps organisers should take to meet the requirements set out in the Event Terms and Conditions. This guidance supports the Terms and Conditions but does not replace them. The Terms and Conditions remain legally binding and must be complied with at all times.

Event organisers are responsible for ensuring their event is planned, managed and delivered safely, lawfully and with consideration for the local community and environment.

Event planning and documentation

Event organisers should plan their event in proportion to its size, complexity and risk. Most events will require a basic event plan, risk assessment and site layout plan. Larger or higher risk events may also require additional documentation such as traffic management plans, crowd management arrangements, medical provision or emergency procedures.
The Events Team can advise what information is needed based on the nature of the event.

Safety and security

Event organisers must take reasonable and proportionate steps to manage safety and security risks. This includes considering crowd movement, emergency access, weather conditions and the type of activities taking place. Where the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 applies, organisers must demonstrate that proportionate security measures have been considered and implemented. This does not require specialist security in every case, but it does require awareness, planning and appropriate briefing of staff and volunteers.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding arrangements must be appropriate to the nature of the event and those attending. This includes clear procedures for lost children or vulnerable adults, staff awareness of safeguarding responsibilities and clear reporting routes. Where children or vulnerable adults are directly involved in activities, appropriate safeguarding checks and controls must be in place.

Accessibility and inclusion

Event organisers should consider accessibility at an early stage of planning. This includes access routes, viewing areas, welfare facilities, signage and communication. Reasonable adjustments should be made where practicable to support people with disabilities or additional needs.

Environmental responsibility

Event organisers should take reasonable steps to minimise environmental impact. This includes managing waste responsibly, protecting green spaces, and avoiding unnecessary damage to land, structures or infrastructure. Early planning helps to reduce environmental harm and avoid delays or restrictions.

Digital submission and communication

Applications, plans and supporting documents should normally be submitted digitally unless otherwise agreed.
Event organisers should retain copies of relevant documentation and provide them promptly if requested.
The Council will normally communicate by email and expects timely responses to support effective event management.

Event application FAQs

How much does it cost?

The cost of holding an event or promotion in Southampton varies depending on the location, the duration and nature of the event. Costs can be discussed with you on your initial application.
Costs for a promotional site in the city centre or Guildhall Square vary, depending on the location, size and duration. Please email events@southampton.gov.uk for more information.

Do you need a Temporary Events Notice or Premises Licence?

Your application is also sent to the City Council’s Licensing team who will assess whether your proposed event / promotion will require a Licence under the Licensing Act (2003) e.g. Temporary Events Notice (TENs) or a Premises Licence. If your event / promotion does require a licence, please remember that it will be your responsibility to obtain this at your own expense. This is in addition to the fee payable for using the land for your event / promotion.

A TENs - depends on the licensable activities (sale or supply of alcohol, regulated entertainment* and late night refreshment) at a small event (no more than 499 people at any one time) for a short period of time. Find out more about TENs

A Premises Licence under the Licensing Act 2003 is required for any premises where any of the following take place: Sale of alcohol by retail / regulated entertainment* / the provision of hot food or hot drink between 23:00 and 05:00 on any day.
*Regulated entertainment is defined as:

A performance of a play
An exhibition of a film
An indoor sporting event
A boxing or wrestling entertainment
A performance of live music
Any playing of recorded music
A performance of dance
Anything similar to music or dancing

Find out more about a Premises Licence

Are you collecting for a charity at your event?

If you intend to raise funds and collect money or sell products for a charitable purpose at your event, you will need to apply for a street collection permit from the city council. There is no fee associated with these applications. Find out more here.

Are you playing live or recorded music at your event?

Whether you’re staging music events or playing background music you may need TheMusicLicence. By obtaining TheMusicLicence you’ll be able to play PRS for Music and PPL music legally and enjoy its benefits whilst ensuring that its creators are fairly rewarded for their work.
Find out more about TheMusicLicence

Do you need to apply for a Temporary Road Closure?

A Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) is used to temporarily restrict the movement of traffic or impose waiting restrictions on the public highway. In order to allow sufficient time for the legal process to be completed, Balfour Beatty require a minimum of 8 weeks advanced notice to arrange a TTRO. Contact Balfour Beatty via email SouthamptonTMA@balfourbeatty.com or telephone 023 8079 8030

Find out more about applying for a TTRO You will also need to appoint a Traffic Management Supplier to create a traffic management plan and to provide signage, road closure infrastructure and staff to implement the approved closures.

Do you need a Child Performance Licence?

If any children under the age of 16 are performing at your event, it is your responsibility as the Event Organiser to apply for the appropriate Child Performance Licence. Find out more about Child Performance Licence

Do you intend to have inflatables or bouncy castles?

These simple precautions can help you avoid serious accidents, whether you supply bouncy castles and inflatables, or you are hiring one for your event. Find out more from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website

Wanting to hold promotional and experiential marketing activities?

If you want to hold a promotional event or have a promotional space, there are several key locations that are used for promotional and experiential marketing activities or sampling. Please contact events@southampton.gov.uk for more information, cost and availability.

Are there any grants for events?

Celebrations Grant - The Southampton City Council's Celebrations Grant offers grants up to £500 as a contribution towards the cost of community events that celebrate recognised local, national or international days.

Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants - This is an open access programme for arts, museums and libraries projects. The fund supports thousands of individual artists, community and cultural organisations.

Is your event a Private event?

Unfortunately, due to the holding powers which govern the use of the city's parks, Southampton City Council is unable to give permission for private events or private parties. Please view this web link for information and guidance on private parties and large gatherings on council land. Please view this web link for parks information and do's and don'ts regarding BBQs.

Do you want to busk in Southampton city centre?

We warmly welcome buskers and street performers who add life to our streets. Buskers and street entertainers are free to perform in the city centre without a permit. However, there are occasions when certain performances can become disruptive and intrusive to the daily lives of our residents, visitors, and workers. To address these concerns and promote mutual respect, Southampton City Council and GO! Southampton have collaborated to develop a set of guidelines, which you can read here.

Want help in promoting your event?

Take a look at our Top Tips here to add your event to Visit Southampton's free event listings.

Southampton City Council also offer highly effective and competitively priced outdoor advertising and digital marketing opportunities that can help you and your business reach hundreds of thousands of potential customers across Southampton. Find out more here.

Does the council have bins for hire for events?

Commercial services from Southampton City Council have reliable, professional services for event organisers in and around Southampton. They have extensive experience of delivering high quality services to residents in the city and can draw on that experience to deliver first-class services for your event including:

Contact the council's Commercial Waste Service to see how they can assist you at your event with the provision of waste containers and waste disposal. Please be aware of the new regulations for businesses to separate recycling and food waste from general waste. More information about the new regulations can be found on the gov.uk website and The workplace recycling guide.

Contact the Commercial Street Cleansing Service for more information on litter picking services and cleansing services during and after your event.

Sustainability at events and Healthy Weight declaration

Sustainability

Southampton City Council has a Green City Charter which aims to create a cleaner, green, healthier and more sustainable city.
In practical terms we are keen to ensure that the impact of your event on the environment is minimised.
We want you to consider all elements of your event which help to achieve this goal. Consideration should be given to all aspects of your event including using alternatives to single use plastics; not permitting plastic straws or plastic bags, making use of re-usable or compostable cups, avoiding mixed material packaging, using re-usable bungee or Velcro straps rather than plastic cable ties, reusable water bottles, providing recycling facilities, using bio-diesel generators where possible, encouraging visitors to travel to the event via public transport and using local suppliers and services where possible.

Increasing the use of reusable cups at events not only assists towards sustainability targets but is an effective way to reduce waste and litter. The Refill Campaign from City to Sea have a lot of guidance to share with event organisers to make your event more sustainable.
The information and guidance is designed to make it simpler for event organisers and their attendees to act on waste and transition from single-use-disposable plastic cups to reusable ones, preventing millions of single-use cups from ending up in our waste stream - or worse our natural environment.
See Refill Guide to Events for ideas to make single-use cups a thing of the past at your event.
Takeaway Packaging Guidance
Government Guidance - Single-use plastics ban: plates, bowls, trays, containers, cutlery and balloon sticks
Government Guidance - simpler recycling separating dry recyclables, food waste and general bin waste

Healthy Weight Declaration

Southampton City Council has committed to promoting healthy weight and improving the health and well-being of its residents by signing up to the Local Authority Declaration on Healthy Weight*.
The council's commitment recognises that there are numerous factors that contribute to overweight and obesity, including access to healthy food, the marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks, and opportunities for physical activity and it has adopted a range of measures to create a healthy weight environment in the city.
As part of this commitment, we urge all event organisers to increase the availability, convenience, and affordability of healthier foods and drinks where these are provided, while also limiting access to high-calorie, low-nutrient options at city events.

Please indicate in your event management plan how your event will align with this Healthy Weight Declaration.

*The Local Authority Declaration on Healthy Weight presents the opportunity for all local authorities to lead local action and demonstrate good practice in adopting a systems approach to promote healthy weight and overall good health and well-being in communities.

Martyn's Law / The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025

Martyn’s Law is the commonly used name for the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025. The Act received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025, so it is now law, but it is not yet in force. The Government has said that there will be an implementation period of at least two years before the legal duties apply. This means the earliest the duties could come into effect is April 2027, although no confirmed date has been announced. Those in scope may wish to begin considering the requirements and familiarising themselves with the guidance in advance.
This section sets out what event organisers need to know when planning activities on council land in Southampton.

Which events are covered

The Act creates two tiers of responsibility. These depend on how many people you expect to have on site at the same time and whether the event has any form of controlled entry such as tickets, wristbands or passes.

Standard duty tier

This applies to premises where it is reasonably expected that 200 or more people, including staff and volunteers, may be present at the same time from time to time.

Enhanced duty tier

This applies to premises where it is reasonably expected that 800 or more people, including staff and volunteers, may be present at the same time. An event is classed as a qualifying event for enhanced tier if all of the following apply.
• it is open to the public
• it has entry conditions such as tickets or controlled access
• 800 or more people are reasonably expected to be on site at the same time at some point during the event.
The test is about the highest number expected at once, not the total number who may attend throughout the day. For example, a ticketed day event that has around 500 people on site in the afternoon but reaches 1,000 during the evening would meet the qualifying event threshold even though the site is not full all day. A location that is normally out of scope can still host a qualifying event if you expect to reach 800 people at the same time.

What you need to do under the enhanced duty

If your event meets the enhanced duty or qualifying event threshold you must meet the standard duty requirements and also carry out a written risk assessment and put in place measures that are reasonably practicable to reduce harm and reduce vulnerability. You will need to think about how the site will be monitored, how people will enter and move around and how you will protect sensitive information such as detailed site plans.
You must also prepare a written document that sets out your procedures and measures. This must be sent to the Security Industry Authority when required and updated when things change. If the responsible person is an organisation rather than an individual, a named senior person must take overall responsibility.

These duties will form part of your Event Management Plan and will be discussed at the Events Safety Advisory Group.

Enforcement

The Security Industry Authority will regulate the system. It can issue compliance notices that require changes, restriction notices for enhanced duty premises or qualifying events and financial penalties. The maximum fine for standard duty premises is £10,000. The maximum fine for enhanced duty premises and qualifying events is £18 million or 5 percent of worldwide revenue, whichever is higher. Some failures to comply may also be offences.

What this means for organisers in Southampton

Event organisers should start thinking about how public protection procedures fit into their planning. For larger or ticketed events, early consideration of capacity, crowd movement, staffing and documentation will help avoid issues later on.

The Events Team will continue to support organisers as more detailed national guidance becomes available and once the Government confirms when the Act will come into force.

Useful links

NaCTSO is the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, responsible for providing advice and guidance to government and industry to; protect crowded places throughout the UK from the terrorist threat, protect hazardous sites and prevent dangerous substances from being used for terrorist purposes, protect critical national infrastructure from terrorists. The UK faces a real threat from terrorism and crowded places remain an attractive target. Crowded places include shopping centres, sports stadia, bars, pubs and clubs and event sites which are easily accessible to the public and attractive to terrorists.

For the latest up to date version of NaCTSO guidance, please visit www.protectuk.police.uk

Martyns Law what you need to know - aims to enhance public safety by ensuring there is better preparedness for, and protection from, terrorist attacks. Guidance will be provided in due course to assist those in scope to understand the requirements set out in this legislation.

Link to Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025: Overarching Factsheet

You can also download the Counter Terrorism Guidance for Event Organisers provided by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary.

Update April 2026: The Home Office has now published the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 section 27 statutory guidance.
The statutory guidance is available to view or download on GOV.UK and sets out the scope of the legislation, the requirements for qualifying premises and events, information on the responsible person’s responsibilities and reference to the regulatory approach ahead of further guidance from the SIA.
The guidance has been designed to be accessible and easy to follow, without requiring specialist expertise or prior security knowledge to understand requirements. Practical illustrative examples are included in the guidance to support further understanding. Alongside the core legal requirements that must be met once the legislation commences, the guidance includes information about good security practice that people may wish to consider. Find out more information here

Useful documents and links

If you do not have experience of organising events, it is recommended that you consult The Purple Guide as it provides useful advice on organising safe events.

The Cabinet Office has also produced a helpful "Can Do" guide to organising and running voluntary and community events which you may find useful. You also may wish to contact the council’s Events Team for advice.

Event and Promotions Application online form
Event Management Plan template
Emergency Planning EMP guidance
Construction Phase Plan (CDM regs) template
HSE Risk Assessment guidance
Fire Risk Assessment guidance - for open air events and venues
Guidance : Voluntary and community events a 'can do' guide
The Purple Guide - to Health, Safety and Welfare at Music and Other Events

The HSE website will help organisers run events safely. Others may also find the website useful, e.g. contractors, health and safety advisers and workers at events. Good planning and organisation is essential to putting on an event that is both safe and enjoyable. For many events all that is required is to follow a basic series of steps.