If you are an event organiser looking to bring your event to one of St Helens venues, parks and public open spaces, you are in the right place. 

Introduction to the event planning process: 

We appreciate that regardless of whether you are organising a festival for 10,000 people or a community picnic for 50 people, for the event organiser there is always so much to do.  

The St Helens Events Application System has been designed to ensure an efficient, easy to use and streamlined process, whilst also ensuring that your events meet health and safety, statutory/regulatory and other guidance.

On our easy-to-use platform, you will be able to submit your event application, upload all your event documentation and apply directly via the platform (or be signposted) to seek relevant permissions that may be required to stage your event. 

At the point of application, an Event Management Plan, Risk Assessment, Public Liability Insurance and a map/plan of the event site will need to be provided no later than 10 weeks prior to the event taking place. For events taking place on Council Land, a Hire of Land form will also be required. Helpful templates of the required documents can be found in the “Useful Documents” section of this page.

Depending on the scale of your event and the activity being staged, we may also share information with our multi-agency partners, as well as relevant departments of St Helens Council, known as the Events Safety Advisory Group (ESAG). The Events Safety Advisory Group exists to provide advice to event organisers on the standards we expect for events being organised in the borough. You can find our ESAG Policy and Event Planning Guidance Flowchart in the "Useful Documents" section of this page.

As you progress through the application, you will see guidance contained within pop-up boxes to assist you. Throughout the form there will also be linked to documents covering a mix of both statutory / regulatory requirements, best practice guidance, as well as providing additional information to help you meet our Terms and Conditions.  We will inform you whether we require any further information or amendments to your event plan along the way.

Information and guidance have been sourced from a variety of internal St Helens Council departments, as well as external organisations where relevant. In many cases we have only provided an edited summary to help you briefly understand your obligations as an Event Organiser. Where possible, links have been provided to more detailed information.

Notification Timeframes:

Please note that for events with attendances of less than 1,000 attendees, you will need to inform us a minimum of 3 months before your event takes place.
An event with an attendance of 1000 - 5,000 will require a minimum of 6 months’ notice before your event takes place.
For attendances over 5,000, a minimum 9 months’ notice is required.

The notification time frames are necessary to allow the services who may support your event to consider the information provided. Notification provided after these time periods may result in your event not being granted land hire permission if the event is on council land, and/or the required services may not be able to support you with the appropriate advice you may require.


If you need to get in touch, you can reach us at esag@sthelens.gov.uk  or by calling 01744676789 between 9:00 and 17:00, Monday to Friday.