Outdoor Locations

There are plenty of great reasons to hold your event outdoors, but planning an outdoor event has a number of logistics that are important to know. Below is a collection of outdoor locations and what you need to know if you want to host an event there. As university policies and guidelines change, so might this information. Please check back before requesting one of these spaces.

Requests & Approvals

Outside locations must be requested six weeks in advance of the event date. Requests submitted less than six weeks in advance will not be considered. This lead time is necessary for:

  • the approval process which takes one to two weeks, and
  • the time need to apply for any permits or licenses from the City of Boston or Town of Brookline (applications must be submitted no less than 30 days prior to the event date).

Six weeks from today is this date, so your event date must be on or after this date in order to request an outdoor location.

Approvals may not be granted due to the potential impacts that an event could have on offices, classes, activities, and events happening in nearby buildings.

Approvals may be granted on the condition that a certain aspect of the event is eliminated, such as entertainment or amplified sound.

Outside locations are typically reserved for the entire day for setup and takedown regardless of the length of the event to prohibit more than one event per day per location.

Additional considerations

  • Entertainment licenses are usually required for any event that has entertainment, amplified sound, and/or lawn games. Carnival licenses or special event permits are required for any event with carnival games (inflatable bounce houses, mechanical bulls, dunk tanks, and the like).  All licenses and permits have a fee that must be paid to the City of Boston or Town of Brookline by the host organization. E&C will submit an application to the City or Town on an organization’s behalf.
  • For tent rentals, the tent company will usually be responsible for procuring the appropriate tent and fire permits from the City of Boston or Town of Brookline and will include those fees in the tent rental fee. Events in outside locations must end by 10 PM from Sunday – Thursday and 11 PM from Friday – Saturday. Additional setup and takedown time will be required if a tent is rented.  Rentals must be provided by an approved University vendor.
  • Outside locations do not have any inventories of event furniture (tables, chairs, etc) so these items must be rented at the host organization’s expense from an approved University vendor.
  • Furniture from a nearby indoor location cannot be taken outside to be used in an outside event location.
  • Bathroom cleaning in nearby buildings may be required to accommodate your guests.
  • Events & Conferences reserves the right to deny requests in outside locations in order to allow for grass rest between events.

Locations

These outdoor locations can be requested in 25Live five to six weeks in advance of the event date. Additional details and photos are available in 25Live.

Marsh Plaza

The plaza in front of Marsh Chapel can be requested via 25Live (new as of October 2022.) (Note: Reservations of Warren Alpert Mall/BU Beach is done via 25Live using the above link.)

Athletic Spaces

For Case Athletic Center, New Balance Field, Nickerson Field, Softball Field, Tennis Courts (indoors), Track & Tennis Center, and Walter Brown Arena, contact Jill Cardella, jac@bu.edu, 617-353-8076.