Book a park site

Book a park site to reserve a space for a private event. Apply for permission for park activities and check park fees.

A bride and groom pose for wedding photos at Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha.

About our bookable spaces

Brisbane's scenic and well-equipped parks are the perfect setting for outdoor events and activities.

Book a park site to celebrate a birthday, wedding or other special occasion.

Choose a site from parks on the Brisbane River, surrounded by lush gardens and forests, next to playgrounds and picnic facilities, or with magnificent city views.

With an extensive selection of bookable areas across more than 20 parks, there’s a site for every group, occasion and activity.

Looking for something else

Find park facilities and locations

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Find a park site for your event

Celebrate your wedding, hold a community festival or host your corporate event at a park.

Choose from more than 20 parks across the city with bookable spaces.

Make a booking for your private event

You need to apply to book a park site for exclusive use of the space for a private event.

Booking a park site:

incurs a booking fee, plus any other applicable fees based on the planned activity
suits formal gatherings such as weddings, birthday parties and other large private functions
gives you exclusive access to the site for the booked time.

Booking conditions

The minimum booking length is 2 hours.
Sites are generally available for booking between 8am and 7pm daily.
Bookings only apply to the site you choose, which includes any facilities available in that site (e.g. a rotunda or power).
You can’t book barbecues, other shelters or playgrounds. You must share these facilities with other park visitors.

Before you apply

Select a park site.
Understand your fees (if applicable).
Prepare your supporting documents, if required.

To book a site for a large event or activity, you need to provide:

standardised management plans, including
- waste plans
- sanitary plans
- noise plans
- traffic plans
- parking plans
- first aid plans
- emergency evacuation plans
a Certificate of Currency for Public Liability Insurance to the value of $20 million
a site pan and map.

Submit your application

Complete the online form to request a park booking.

If you are bringing equipment into the park, you may also need to apply for vehicle access. You can do this using the park booking form.

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After you apply

We’ll assess your application and get back to you within 10 business days.

Park fees will be invoiced once the park booking is confirmed.

Get permission for park activities

Council regulates activities on public land under the Public Land and Council Assets Local Law 2014.

Under the local law, you need permission to carry out specific activities in Council parks.

You need to apply for permission to use a park for:

commercial activities
use of electricity or other utility
activities involving animals, other than domestic pets
distributing or handing out any notices, literature or promotional materials
affixing or posting any bills or placards
use of any temporary structures covering more than 15 square metres
activities that may impact the park, park users or neighbouring properties
activities or events involving 500 or more attendees.

Some common activities in parks that need permission include:

slacklining
parties with jumping castles
fundraising or promotional activities or events
fun runs, cross country and orienteering events
recreation equipment hires, lessons and tours
social and community welfare outreach services
personal training and other health, well-being and life skills classes
metal detecting involving digging up or disturbing soil to remove targets.

You need permission to carry out a commercial activity in a Council park. This includes activities conducted by a community or not-for-profit organisation for fundraising purposes.

A park activity is considered commercial if it:

involves the exchange of goods or services for a fee or other consideration
is undertaken for the purposes of advertisement, promotion or furtherance of business.

Common commercial activities include:

busking
coffee and food vendors
dog obedience training
events with goods and services for sale, such as markets, fetes and fairs
filming and photography for commercial purposes, including student activities
fundraising or promotional activities or events
fun runs, cross country, orienteering and other sport, recreation and leisure activities and events for paying participants
personal training and other health, well-being and life skills classes
recreation equipment hire, lessons and tours
ticketed events (concerts, festivals and outdoor movies).

Before you apply

Select a park site.
Understand your fees.
Prepare your supporting documents.

To complete your application, you need:

Certificate of Currency for Public Liability Insurance to the value of $20 million (minimum), if your event is high-risk
a marked-up map or aerial photo showing the park area you plan to use. You can use Council’s interactive mapping or other online mapping tools to create your map, or mark-up a hard copy map by hand.

Submit your application

Complete the online form to request permission.

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After you apply

We’ll get back to you within 10 business days and invoice you for any applicable fees.

For more information about events and activities in parks, contact Council or download our guidelines for using Council parks.

Use of Council Parks Community Guidelines

PDF • 248 KB • Last modified July 2023

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Park fees and related approvals

Fees apply to booking park sites and carrying out commercial activities in parks.

Some activities and events incur a security bond and other charges.

All fees include GST.

Park activity	Fee
Booking a park site	$199.60 per hour (minimum 2 hours)
Commercial activities and events with up to 100 attendees	$463.50 per day
Commercial activities and events with 101 to 500 attendees	$721.90 per day
Commercial activities and events with 501 to 2,000 attendees	$1,006.70 per day
Commercial activities and events with more than 2,000 attendees	$1,308.70 per day
Mobile food vendor	$85.90 per month or $450 per year
Recreation equipment hire business	$85.90 per month or $667.40 per year
Hot air balloon landing in a Council parkland	$146.75 per month or $1224.50 per year
Helicopter landing in a Council parkland	$587.80 per day
Commercial sport, health, well-being and life skills activities, animal training, outdoor education	Up to 10 participants: Free More than 10 participants: $133.40  per month or $1329.20 per year
Car parking in a Council parkland	$4.85 per car per day or $530.55 per day, whichever is greater
Council officer on duty	$103.25 per hour

Religious, welfare and not-for-profit community organisations are exempt from park use fees.

The Schedule of Fees and Charges lists the organisations that qualify as:

Type 1 Religious or Charitable
Type 2 Essential Welfare or Community Service
Type 3 Not-for-Profit Community.

To find out more, read the Concessions for fees and charges section in the Schedule of Fees and Charges.

A security bond may apply, depending on:

your activity or event
the equipment you plan to bring into the park.

We may:

cancel your event or activity if you fail to pay the bond
keep the bond payment if you damage the park or don’t clean up after the event.

You may also need to pay other charges for services provided by Council, including electricity, cleaning and additional set-up costs.

You may need other approvals, permits or licences to hold an event or commercial activity in a park.

This includes:

a temporary food stall licence to provide or sell food
approval for vehicle access
an event permit for events with more than 1,000 expected attendees or certain assessable risks.

Frequently asked questions

You can organise a range of events and activities at parks with the appropriate permits, approvals and/or permission.

They include:

You need Council approval to access park grounds in your vehicle. You can request vehicle access for activities related to a park booking or park use, such as:

delivering equipment for an approved activity or event
carrying out construction work within the park
accessing private property through the park.

Dropping off equipment

You need approval to deliver equipment related to a park site booking or permission for use.

You must request vehicle access as part of your application.

If access is approved, you will be invoiced for a $110 key bond to collect a gate key.

A security bond may also apply for any vehicle requiring access into parkland. Council may keep part or all the bond if your vehicle damages the parkland.

Construction work

You need approval to access Council parkland by vehicle to:

carry out construction work within the park
access stormwater/sewer within the park
access private property.

You can apply for temporary vehicle access online. You must provide:

each vehicle's registration number
Certificate of Currency for Public Liability Insurance for $20 million
any plans for work within the park, including a site map.

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We’ll get back to you within 10 business days.

If approved, you must pay a $110 key bond to collect a gate key.

A security bond for the parkland may also apply depending on the type of work being carried out.

Book a park site

On this page

About our bookable spaces

Find a park site for your event

Make a booking for your private event

Booking conditions

Get permission for park activities

Park fees and related approvals

Frequently asked questions

Translate this website

Book a park site

On this page

About our bookable spaces

Find a park site for your event

Make a booking for your private event

Booking conditions

Get permission for park activities

Park activities

Commercial activities

Park fees and related approvals

Fees

Exemptions

Security bond and other charges

Related approvals

Frequently asked questions

What activities and events can I organise at parks?

Can I access park grounds in my vehicle?

Translate this website