A nonprofit arts council in Fort Lauderdale is planning its third annual weekend festival along a stretch of downtown riverfront, with two music stages, sixty artist booths, a row of food trucks and a beer and wine garden. The city has approved closing four blocks to traffic, and the organizers expect crowds in the thousands on Saturday night. Three weeks before opening day, the city asks for a certificate naming it as an additional insured, the riverfront district asks for its own, two sponsors send contracts requiring higher limits than the organizers carry, and the beverage vendor wants to know whose liquor policy will apply. Nobody on the volunteer board has bought event insurance at this scale before.
Festival insurance is a set of policies that has to satisfy a city, several landowners, sponsors and vendors at once. Organizers who start with those requirements, rather than with a quote, avoid the last minute scramble.
City permits and their insurance requirements
Florida cities generally require a special event permit for any event on public property or in the public right of way, and the permit application spells out the insurance the city expects. Fort Lauderdale’s special event application is a useful example. It requires an original general liability certificate naming the City of Fort Lauderdale as an additional insured for at least one million dollars, raises that minimum to two million dollars if bounce houses are part of the event, and requires a liquor liability certificate for five hundred thousand dollars when alcohol is served. Events in the Riverwalk area must also provide a certificate for Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale, and the city can require additional insurance up to thirty days before the event. Requirements change and differ from city to city, so read the current application for your jurisdiction before you price coverage, and expect any private landowner or district involved to ask for its own additional insured status.
Street closures and the public right of way
Closing streets brings exposures that a park or fairground event does not. Barricades, traffic control, emergency vehicle lanes and the boundary where festival space meets open traffic all become the organizer’s responsibility for the duration of the permit. Cities often require police officers or approved traffic control for closures, and some require separate liability coverage or hold harmless agreements when city vehicles or personnel are involved. Damage to sidewalks, landscaping, light poles and parking meters during setup and teardown is a common claim, and the general liability policy should be in force from the first truck to the last.
Crowd size and security
Underwriters price festival liability largely on attendance, so give an honest estimate of peak crowd and daily totals. Crowd surges near stages, fights, lost children and medical emergencies in the heat are typical sources of injury claims. Hiring a licensed security company, rather than relying on volunteers in matching shirts, puts trained people at the gates and shifts some of the liability to a contractor who carries its own insurance. The article on event security insurance in Florida covers the security side of event risk in more detail. Your security contract should include indemnity and additional insured status for the organizer, and your liability policy should not exclude assault and battery.
Vendors and food trucks
Every booth and truck on the site is a separate business, and each should provide a certificate of insurance showing general liability, products coverage for food vendors, commercial auto for trucks driven onto the site and the organizer, city and landowner named as additional insureds. Food illness, burns from cooking equipment, propane incidents and generator fires are typical vendor claims that can draw the organizer into a lawsuit. The article on food truck insurance in Florida covers what trucks typically need for events. Collecting certificates as part of vendor registration, with a firm deadline, is the only practical way to manage dozens of them.
Alcohol sales and liquor liability
Selling beer and wine changes the risk of a festival more than any other decision. Whoever holds the alcohol license and pours is in the business of selling alcohol and needs liquor liability coverage, whether that is the organizer, a nonprofit partner with a temporary permit or a licensed beverage vendor. Florida’s dram shop statute, section 768.125, generally shields sellers from liability for injuries caused by an intoxicated adult, but it makes exceptions for willfully and unlawfully serving someone under the legal drinking age and for knowingly serving a person habitually addicted to alcohol. At a crowded festival, wristbands, ID checks at a single entrance to the beverage area and trained servers help keep those exceptions from applying. If a vendor pours, require its liquor certificate and confirm the organizer is an additional insured.
Weather and cancellation
Florida festivals are exposed to lightning, extreme heat, tropical storms and hurricanes, and each can stop an event after most of the money has been spent. Event cancellation insurance can reimburse expenses or lost revenue when weather or another covered cause forces cancellation, postponement or curtailment. The coverage must be bought before a storm is named, and policies generally exclude any weather system that already exists when the policy is purchased. A written weather plan that names who calls a stage hold, where crowds shelter and when the site is cleared protects attendees and supports the claim if the event is stopped.
Umbrella limits
Large crowds, sponsor contracts and city requirements regularly push the limits a festival needs beyond what a primary general liability policy offers. A commercial umbrella or excess liability policy adds limits over general liability, liquor liability and auto, and is often the least expensive way to meet a sponsor’s request for higher coverage. Confirm that the umbrella sits over every underlying policy you rely on, including liquor liability, since some excess policies do not.
Volunteers
Volunteers sell tickets, staff gates, park cars and direct traffic, and they can both cause injuries and suffer them. Make sure your general liability policy includes volunteers as insureds, so a claim against a volunteer is defended. Workers’ compensation does not automatically cover unpaid volunteers, and a volunteer who is hurt lifting a tent or directing traffic may have no coverage at all. A volunteer accident policy pays medical expenses regardless of fault and can keep a minor injury from becoming a lawsuit against the organization.
Worth confirming on your policy
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That your certificates meet the current permit requirements of your city
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That every landowner, district and sponsor requiring it is named as additional insured
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That your liability policy does not exclude assault and battery
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That every vendor and food truck has provided a certificate before setup
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That liquor liability is in place for whoever sells or pours alcohol
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That event cancellation coverage is bought before any named storm threatens your dates
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That your umbrella sits over general liability, liquor liability and auto
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That volunteers are insureds on your liability policy and covered by an accident policy
Talk to us
Prestige Insurance Group builds festival and fair programs through standard carriers, specialty markets and MGAs, matching your liability, liquor, cancellation and umbrella coverage to what your city and sponsors require. Our page on event insurance in Florida covers the full program.
Call the office nearest you. Se habla español.
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Miami: 305-969-8776
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Orlando: 407-993-2331
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Stuart: 772-247-3788
This article is general information, not legal advice. Coverage forms, exclusions and carrier appetite vary and change over time. Prestige Insurance Group, Florida agency license L057894.
