Parades outside of downtown area.
Houston Code of Ordinances § 25-104
in effectSec. 25-104. - Parades outside of downtown area.
(a) Permits for parades outside of the downtown area shall be issued in conformance with all the provisions of this article. No permit shall be issued for a parade that includes streets located both inside and outside the downtown area.
(b) Subject to the approval of the MOSE director and Director of Houston Public Works, a special event organizer may design its own parade route for a parade to be held outside the downtown area with the following restrictions:
(1) The route may not exceed one and one-half miles in length and may not include more than 25 intersections, whichever is less.
(2) The maximum time necessary for completion of the parade may not exceed three hours.
(3) A parade held on a day other than a Saturday, Sunday, holiday, or special event holiday, must be completed in no more than one hour, and must begin at 10:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., or 7:00 p.m.
(4) If more than one parade is to be held on the same calendar day and time, the parade routes and staging and disbanding areas of each parade may not be within five miles of one another.
(5) No parade route shall contain any portion of the following streets, roads, or highways:
a. Interstate Highway 610 Loop, including its service roads.
b. U.S. Highway 59, including its service roads.
c. Interstate Highway 45, including its service roads.
d. U.S. Highway 290, including its service roads.
e. Interstate Highway 10, including its service roads.
f. State Highway 288, including its service roads.
g. Controlled access portions of U.S. Highways 90 and 90-A, including their service roads.
h. The Hardy Toll Road, including its service roads.
i. Beltway 8, including those portions known as the Sam Houston Toll Road, and its service roads.
j. State Highway 225, including its service roads.
k. Controlled access portions of State Highway 249, including its service roads.
l. State Highway Spur 5, including its service roads.
m. Westpark Toll Road.
n. State Highway Spur 527, including its service roads.
This provision shall not be construed to prohibit a parade route from crossing one of the listed streets, roads, or highways while traveling along or upon a non-listed street, road, or highway.
(Ord. No. 2010-911, § 2(Exh. A), 12-1-2010; Ord. No. 2018-11, § 49, 1-10-2018)
Source: City of Houston, Code of Ordinances and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tx/houston/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH25SPEV_ARTIIIPA_S25-104PAOUDOARFetched: 10/26/2026