Permits and Notifications

Applying for permits and notifying required authorities may seem challenging at first, but over time they become routine. Permit and notification policies may change, so please always check with the authority maintaining the permit for the most accurate information related to the permit or notification in question. For large events, it is recommended to submit notifications and permit applications much earlier.
 

Before starting the more detailed planning of the event, you should clarify and agree on the following things:

• Choosing the event venue and making a reservation
• Arranging a safety meeting with the police and fire department (not always necessary)

• Notification of noise to the environmental protection authority (at the latest) 
• Alcohol serving license
• Retail sale of tobacco products

• Permit to use a public area
• Temporary advertising and road signage permit
• Notification of work obstructing traffic on a street or light traffic network

• Notification of a large public event to the health protection authority
• Notification of consumer services to the consumer safety authority
• Waste management regulations
• Delivering a safety and rescue plan to the rescue services

• Notification of organizing a public event to the police (at the latest)

When you organize an event in a city-owned area (e.g. a park or street), you always need a permit to use that place. You must apply for the permit 21 days before the event. Please remember that the event must not cause any damage to the place. The permit to use a public area is free of charge for small free events of less than 500 people.

If your event is partly organized on the street or it affects traffic, you also need a permit for traffic arrangements. In this case, you must to draw up a separate traffic control plan.

Apply for a permit to use a public place (in Finnish)  

Permits to use a public place (in Finnish) 

Ask for more information about using public areas: lupienhallinta@ouka.fi or tel. 044 703 2116 or tel. 044 703 2169 
 

You can find the contact information of the administrators of the most common event areas (e.g. Kuusisaari, Kauppatori and Rotuaari) in the event area cards.

Submit a notification in writing to the police. The notification must be submitted at least five days before the event. Especially in cases of large events, it is advisable to submit the notification much earlier.

Not all events require the police to be notified. Such events include, for example, events with less than 200 simultaneous participants or where special attention to order and security is not required.

You can get more information about the permit and the necessary forms on the police's website.  To make an electronic notification, you need online bank identifiers.

Please note that you must book an appointment to the police department to deliver a printed notification. The printed form can be delivered to one of the police departments below:

 
Oulun keskustan poliisiasema 
Kirkkokatu 13 
PL 45 
90101 Oulu 

Haukiputaan poliisiasema 
Lossitie 1 
PL 44 
90831 Haukipudas 

The permit decision is subject to a fee. The notification fee is 25€ and the decision fee is 55€.
 
You can get more information about matters regarding permits from the Police Customer Service Helpline.

If you organize an event that is expected to be attended by at least 500 simultaneous visitors, you must notify the Environmental Health Care at least 14 days before the event. Include the restaurants and foodstuff vendors participating in the event in the notification. You can supplement the notification and add information about food businesses later, but no later than four business days before the event. In the announcement, also provide information about the event's waste management and toilet arrangements.

You can find the notification form on the Outdoor sale of Food and Public Events webpage (in Finnish). Submit the notification form by email to ymparisto@ouka.fi or by mail to: Oulun seudun ympäristötoimi, PL 34, 90015 Oulun kaupunki.

The organizer of the event should remind food business operators coming from outside the control area of the Environmental Office of the Oulu Region that they must inform the Environmental Office about the sale or serving of foodstuff no later than 4 business days before beginning operations. The notification is free-form and is sent by e-mail to the address: ymparisto@ouka.fi.

If you need more information, contact the Environmental Health Care on-call service tel. 044 703 6700 on weekdays from 9.00 to 15.00 .

Before the event, also draw up a rescue and safety plan and, if necessary, a traffic plan. Submit it to the rescue service 14 days before the start of your event. Send the rescue plan to the Rescue Department of North Ostrobothnia by email: pelastuslaitos.palotarkastaja@pohde.fi

A rescue plan must be drawn up for a public meeting or event where:

• it is estimated that at least 200 people will be present at the same time. If less than 200 people participate in your event, there is no need to make a plan.
• use open fire, fireworks or other pyrotechnic products, or use fire and explosion hazardous chemicals as special effects.
• the evacuation arrangements of the venue differ from the ordinary.
• the nature of the event poses a particular risk to people.

Rescue and safety plan template (in Finnish)

More information from the Rescue Department of North Ostrobothnia:
on-duty fire inspector on weekdays from 8.30 to 15.30 tel. 08 558 41380.

The event must not cause harm or disturbance to the neighborhood. In some case you must submit a notification of noise for your event. A notification of noise must always be submitted for concerts that use an amplified PA system and for motorsport events. Submit the notification of noise no later than 30 days before the event. Especially for large events, it is advisable to submit a notification much earlier. The notification of noise is subject to a fee.

Include the following matters in the notification of noise:

• the time and place of the event
• what causes noise
• nearest objects exposed to noise
• how the noise is going to be reduced, monitored and measured
• how the noise disturbance is going to be communicated

You do not need to submit a notification of noise in the following cases:

• PA system is only used temporarily for advertising between 7.00 and 22.00
• street music or an activity comparable to it
• fireworks (more about fireworks in its own section on this page)
• events organized in a private person's own home
• activities of the Finnish Defense Forces
• events that have an environmental permit
• other activities comparable to these according to the assessment of the Environmental Office.

Submit a notification of noise online (in Finnish)

More information about notification of noise

The Environmental Office of the Oulu Region fees (in Finnish)

More information is provided by the environmental auditor of the Environmental Office of the Oulu Region tel. 044 7036790.

Important to notice! Arrange also the waste management of the event before submitting the notification, because the organization of waste management and noise are reported on the same form. Read more under waste management.

Arrange waste management for your event. Contact a waste company, which will provide waste containers and emptying. If food is served at your event, you also need organic waste containers and toilets and hand-washing stations.

Waste management regulations in the Oulu area (in Finnish)

Public event waste management: Hailuoto, Kempele, Lumijoki and Oulu

National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health's (Valvira) instructions: Hygienic arrangements and waste management of major public events (in Finnish) (pdf)

You can get more information about toilet arrangements from the Environmental Health Care on-call service tel. 044 703 6700 and about waste management regulations from the Environmental Protection help line tel. 044 7036790.

You can get more information about electricity, heat, district heating and electric power transmission from Oulun Energia's webpage.

tel. 08 5584 3300 
info.oe@ouka.fi

If you need information about your event's water and sewerage related matters, please contact Oulu Waterworks: 
 
tel. 08 5584 3800 
oulunvesi@ouka.fi

Low-risk (for example, grilling sausages, cooking crepes, selling buns and coffee) and small-scale (turnover less than 15,000€/year) food operations do not require separate information.

For questions related to the sale and serving of foodstuff, please contact the Environmental Office of the Oulu Region on-call service tel. 044 703 6700 on weekdays from 9.00 to 15.00 or by email ymparisto@ouka.fi.

You must apply for a music usage license if either live or recorded music that is protected by copyright is played at your event. A license is needed for both events with an entrance fee as well as free-of-charge events, and you must apply for it well in advance so that you get the license before your event.

Teosto and Gramex offer a joint license, called Event License, for event organizers. 
 
More information about music licenses on Teosto's website 

The license applicant must be registered in the Trade Register when applying for an alcohol serving license. It is recommended to apply for a permit no later than 30 days before the start of the event. The decision costs 780€ if the serving area has a maximum of 200 customer seats, and 1,120€ if the serving area has more than 200 customer seats. Reduced processing fees apply to applicants who already have a valid permit.

Alcohol serving license forms on the Regional State Administrative Agency website

More information from Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland, tel. 0295 017 500.

If you want to advertise or put up signs for your event on the side of the street or road, you need a permit. You must apply for the permit 21 days before the event.

Apply for a temporary advertising and road signing permit (in Finnish)

If tobacco products are sold at your event, you must apply for a retail sale permit from the local authorities of the area where the event is organized. Send the application with attachments no later than four weeks before the event.

You can find the instructions for the sale of tobacco and nicotine products. You can find the price of the retail sale permit of tobacco products (in Finnish) from the Environment Office's website.

More information from the Environment Office of the Oulu Region help line tel. 044 7036700 on weekdays from 9.00 to 15.00.

If you organize a lottery where the customer gets a prize in exchange for a payment, you need a non-money lottery license.

More information about non-money lottery license on the police's website  

When do you not need a license (police's website)

Event tents, performance stages and other similar structures to be erected for the organization of events must be notified to Building Control and the rescue service 30 days before the structure is erected (Oulu building ordinance Section 46 Organizing events).

Tents and other similar movable buildings and structures can be erected for organizing an event in the public city space without a permit from the building supervision authority, if they are in place and in use for a maximum of 1 month. Tents must have a sufficient number of guided escape routes and first aid firefighting equipment in relation to the number of people. Tents must be firmly attached to the ground. The event organizer is responsible for the safety of temporary structures, performance stages and tents. The organizer must provide a certificate signed by the person charge that the safety of the above-mentioned structures meets the requirements of the Finnish Building Regulation in terms of the durability and safety in use of the structure. The certificate must be presented to the authority that carries out the inspection of the event area. After the events, all buildings and structures must be removed without delay.

You can get more information about the need for a permit from the Building Control inspection architects and engineers.

Building Control contact information (in Finnish)

You can get more detailed information about the attachments to the permit application attachments from the electronic application service (in Finnish).

• duty of care
• drawing up a safety document (over 2 000 people or other particular risk)
• accident records
• obligation to report serious accidents and near-misses to Tukes
• providing information about the service to the customers

According to the Consumer Safety Act, event organizers are responsible for both active customers as well passive customers who only observe the activity. In addition, the organizer is also responsible for others affected by the event. The organizer must therefore ensure that the event does not pose a danger to passers-by or those watching the activity from outside the event area. If necessary, Tukes can supplement matters monitored and instructed by other authorities, if it is deemed necessary to ensure the safety of consumers.

A safety document must also be drawn up for various supplementary services, even if these are produced by an external party or a third party. Operators usually have a safety document about their service, from which the event organizer can check the special arrangements required for each function, such as safety distances and isolation. A safety document must be drawn up for, among other things, bouncy castles, swimming areas, horse riding services and motor sports services. The safety document does not need to be submitted to the authorities without a separate request, but it must be in use before beginning the activities.

If your event involves animals (e.g. pony riding), you must ensure that the animals have enough space, food, drink and rest. In case of bad weather, they must also have the option of a shelter. Animals must not be a danger to visitors, and they must not pose a risk to foodstuff.

Production animals such as cows, pigs or camels require registration. No registration is required for an individual bird or horse.

More information about registration on the Finnish Food Authority's website 

Animal Shows

If you organize an animal show, you must notify the Regional State Administrative Agency of the location of the show. Submit a notification by e-mail to the address kirjaamo.pohjois(at)avi.fi with the subject line "Notification of an animal show to the provincial veterinarian". In the notification, state the name of the event, the organizer and the organizer's contact information, as well as the event time and the address of the event location. Also state the event's contact person and their contact information, as well as the species and number of animals coming to the event. After receiving the notification, the provincial veterinarian will contact you and let you know you about the possible requirements.

More information: 
Telephone exchange of the Regional State Administrative Agency provincial veterinarian
tel. 02 950 17500 
Environmental Health Control of the Environment Office of the Oulu region
tel. 044 703 6700 

If people are temporarily accommodated in a cabin, tent, motorhome or caravan in your event area, it is a temporary camping area. A temporary camping area is an area where more than 100 people are temporarily accommodated in tents, travel trailers or motorhomes for a maximum of two weeks.

More information about temporary camping areas (in Finnish)

You can organize a motor vehicle race (e.g. rally) only on a closed road. To close off a road, you need a permit from the police.

More about road closure permits

Oulu Police Department telephone exchange
tel. 0295 416 399, Mon–Fri from 9.00 to 11.00 

Safety in motorsport events (Tukes)

Motorsport event (e.g. an individual race in an area intended for public use or a rally on public roads)

You must submit a notification of noise for individual motorsport events. When the event takes place in the area of a single municipality, submit the notification to the Environment Office of the Oulu region. If the event extends to the areas of several municipalities, submit a notification of noise to ELY Centre of North Ostrobothnia.

Read more about the notification of noise

A motorsport event in off-road terrain or in a water area

If you organize competitions and practise sessions with motor vehicles in off-road terrain or in a water area, you always need the permission of the land owner or the owner of the water area.

If you organize a recurring motorsport event in off-road terrain, you must apply for a permit from the Environment Office in accordance with the Off-Road Traffic Act. Similarly, for motorsports events organized recurringly in a water area, you must apply for a permit from the Environment Office in accordance with the Water Traffic Act.

A permit is not required if the area is reserved for this purpose in the local detailed plan or the activity has an environmental permit.

Read more about off-road and waterway transport permits

Notify the police of a fireworks display at least two weeks prior to the event. Private fireworks is not a display, and therefore the police does not need to be notified of it. However, it requires a permission from the rescue authorities.

More information about fireworks displays on the police's website and Oulu Police Department telephone exchange
tel. 0295 416 399, Mon–Fri from 9.00 to 11.00

You need a permit for oversized transport. You can apply for the permit either from the city of Oulu or ELY Centre of Pirkanmaa. The permit is subject to a fee.

If your transport does not exceed the measurement limits of normal traffic, but the weight limit of the bridge is exceeded, apply for a permit from the city of Oulu.

Apply for a permit from the city of Oulu (in Finnish) 

In other cases, the permission is granted by ELY Centre of Pirkanmaa.
tel. 020 690 300 or email: erikoiskuljetukset@ely-keskus.fi.