Street Festival Portable Toilets in San Diego

How many toilets does a San Diego street fair need?

For events on City of San Diego property, the Office of Special Events guideline is one chemical or portable toilet per 250 people at estimated peak attendance, with 10 percent of facilities accessible. A fair at the scale of Adams Avenue, which a regional news report put at about 80,000 people, needs a plan that spreads those toilets along the route.

Peak is the figure that counts. A fair that reports 80,000 visitors over two days may hold a fraction of that at the busiest hour, and the city's guideline works from the busy hour. Work that figure out with your committee before you call, even if it is only a range.

Food adds a second ratio. County rules for temporary food events ask for one toilet per 15 food employees within 200 feet of a booth, with approved handwashing. On a street with a long food row, this can matter more than the crowd count.

Where do toilets go on a closed street?

Put them where the crowd is thin enough to let a queue form without blocking the street, and where the service truck can still reach. Side streets at the edge of the closure, plazas and parking lots are typical choices. Avoid fire lanes, hydrants, storm drains and the front of businesses that have not agreed.

Narrow commercial streets leave little room. Banks often end up on a side street or at a corner, with a barricade at the entrance to keep cars out and a gap at the back for service. The provider can describe how much space a bank of ten cabins really takes, which is more than most organizers expect.

Neighboring businesses should know. A restaurant owner whose frontage becomes a toilet bank deserves notice, and a shop that is happy to have a handwash station by its door can make the layout easier.

• Spread banks along the route rather than at one end
• Keep accessible units on level ground, not on a crown or a curb ramp
• Place handwash at the exit of each bank and in the food area
• Leave a lane for the service truck, and agree who moves barricades

What happens if the crowd is bigger than expected?

Queues lengthen first, and then guests start looking for other options. A provider can add cabins or an extra service run only if it has units and a truck free, and the line cannot promise either. Plan for the high end of your estimate, and ask the provider what it can do on short notice.

Reports on San Diego fairs vary. The Ocean Beach fair is described by one source as thousands and by another as more than 50,000, and Chicano Park Day has been forecast at anywhere from several thousand to 40,000 in different years. If published numbers for the same event differ by that much, expect your own forecast to be uncertain too.

Plan a fallback: a reserved spot where more cabins could go, a contact number for the provider, and a person on the committee who can make the call to add units.

Do beer gardens and food rows change the toilet plan?

Yes. Drinking lengthens the average visit and raises the number of trips, and food booths bring the county's handwashing and food-employee rules into play. Tell the provider where the beer garden and the food row will stand so cabins and handwash stands can be placed close to both without crowding the entrances.

North Park's festival has a paid craft beer block, Ocean Beach has a beach beer garden and the Adams Avenue fair has beer gardens among its stages. The area around any of them draws a steady stream to the nearest cabin, so a bank that was meant to serve a quiet end of the street may end up serving the busiest.

A practical step is to give the provider a rough hourly picture. Say when the music peaks, when the beer garden opens and when food service stops. The provider cannot control how the crowd moves, but it can plan servicing so the units are not at their fullest when the pressure arrives.

How early should an organizer book?

As soon as the date and the closure are approved, or earlier if the permit office wants a restroom count with the application. The line cannot promise a date, and providers confirm units only when they have them free. Autumn street fairs and spring festivals often fall on the same weekends across the county.

A neighborhood festival that runs every year has an advantage, since last year's plan becomes a starting point. A first-time organizer can still book well by sharing a map and a headcount range.