Notification or permit for organizing an event

Reporting an event or applying for an event permit is free of charge.

You can apply for an event notification or permit online. At the end of the application, you will be informed of the category your event falls under. We have four categories:

• Notifiable event; limited effect on public order, safety and the environment. For example, a neighborhood festival.
• A-event: low risk, limited impact on the environment and limited traffic impact. For example, a flea market, carnival parade or street party where the street is closed.
• B-event: A-event: low risk, limited impact on surroundings and limited impact on average risk, large impact on immediate surroundings and/or large impact on traffic. For example, Limburgs Mooiste, Winter Time Heerlen or Aod op Nuj.
• C event: high risk, major impact on the city and/or major regional traffic impact. For example, ParkCity Live, Braderie Hoensbroek or Cultura Nova.

Reporting earlier to the municipality

Are you going to organize a major event? Please notify the municipality as soon as possible. The municipality will put the event on the events calendar. The emergency services (police, fire department or GHOR and medical emergency services) use this calendar to make their planning.

Any activity where the public may come for fun and entertainment is an event. If you are in doubt about whether your activity is an event, contact evenementen@heerlen.nl.

Tips

• Save your application digitally. At the next edition, you can copy your application and just make the changes.
• When assessing the permit, the municipality takes into account, among other things, the distribution of events. Health your event is included in the event calendar by submitting a preliminary announcement before October 1 for the event year. The website overheid.nl features the events calendar with events that have been submitted up to November 1, 2025. Would you like to know which events have been added on your preferred date/location, or whether any have been added? Please contact evenementen@heerlen.nl. 
• Highlighting your event? You can place an event in the Heerlen UITagenda on the website of Heerlen Mijn Stad or VisitZuidLimburg for free.

Needed for application

To review your application properly and on time, we need a few things from you. The EventAssistant indicates which documents we need. You can upload these. Below we list some examples of documents we ask for in an event permit:

Sign Plan

You must include a signage plan with the application. For large events, we may also ask for a mobility plan, which shows where the bike routes are, where visitors should park, and so on. 

Safety Plan

Events come with risks. Therefore, we ask you as an organizer to prepare a safety plan. With this, you will be prepared for any risks. You can use the template in the EventAssistant. If there are emergency workers, sometimes a care plan is also needed.

Building books and structures (tents, stages, etc.)

To place temporary structures during events (for example: tents, stage, canopies, towers), you must provide a construction book. The maker of the structure provides the construction book. This is required, for example, for tents with a surface area larger than 100 m2. Also required then is a layout drawing at a scale of 1:100 where everything is listed (e.g. stage, tables and chairs) and where the emergency lighting, fire extinguishers, escape routes and doors are and that indicates how many people are allowed.

Plan

A floor plan is required at every event. This is necessary for the evaluation of your plan. The floor plan must include:

1. Indicate where the event site will be located in relation to surrounding roads, houses, etc.
2. Distances from adjacent properties, e.g., residences
3. Specify where everything will be located. Consider tents, stage, bleachers, attractions, restrooms, etc.
4. List the dimensions for everything that will be on the grounds. Think of the tents, stage, bleachers, attractions, restrooms, etc.
5. Distances of cooking, baking and frying equipment from each other and the surroundings , e.g. tents or buildings
6. Indicate escape routes and width of escape route
7. Legend (what is what; explanation of symbols and designations used)
8. Provide at 1:500 scale, include a north arrow

When assessing the permit, the municipality takes into account, among other things, the distribution of events. Health that your event is included in the events calendar by submitting a preliminary announcement before October 1 prior to the event year. The events are listed in the events calendar on the overheid.nl website.

Is a notification sufficient? Notify the event at least 4 weeks in advance.
Do you need a permit? Apply for it at least 8 and up to 26 weeks before the event.

The municipality decides within 8 weeks of receiving your application. The municipality can extend this period once. If it is a high-risk event, the decision period is longer.

You can submit events until Oct. 1 for the following year's events calendar.

You can object to the decision on your application. Do this within 6 weeks. If you disagree with the decision on the objection, you can lodge an appeal with the court.

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