Following the Saturday meeting I was tasked to find out more information about the permitting process for electricity and sound.

The Portland Parks and Recreation has a disastrously incomplete guide to this here: http://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/article/261042 (pdf)

I called this morning and got some ball-parks on the process from a very informative person:

If we have no electricity and expect less than 150 people there is no need for a permit.

If we have electricity ( amplified sound) and less than 500 people we can expect the following costs:

$160 application fee $155 permit fee ~$100 noise permit $400 General Liability Insurance (this is just one quote from one company estimating 500 people)

Plus we need to get signatures from the Portland Police, the Neighborhood Association, and Noise Control, and possibly others.

If we expect over 500 people, the costs of the permit fee increase from $155 incrementally, to $270 and beyond, I believe. If we solicit donations at the event, our costs increase as well. In addition, many of these costs increase if we do not complete and turn in everything before 10 days prior to the event (June 25th, next Tuesday). Complicating all of this: an individual or group will need to be legally accountable for the whole thing.