ESA Announces Publication of a New American National Standard for Parade Safety

WILMINGTON, NC -- The Event Safety Alliance (ESA) proudly announces the publication of a new American National Standard: ANSI ES 1.42-2025, Parade Safety. This consensus industry standard was the product of ESA’s collaboration with the Event Services and Technology Association (ESTA) to create authoritative guidance regarding various aspects of event safety.

ESA Vice President Steven Adelman, who led the task group that drafted the document, explains, “Although one might wonder what safety issues could arise during a slow-moving parade, serious incidents occur at large and small parades in every geographic region, including a fatal incident involving a child at a Memorial Day parade last weekend. Because parades are civic celebrations, any incident harms not only an individual, but also their family and their community. This standard will help organizers and public safety officials to mitigate the most foreseeable safety hazards.”

The drafters of this standard included the operational leaders of parades in major metropolitan areas and at private entertainment venues, parade consultants, and other event professionals. Their work then went through multiple stages of internal and public review under the auspices of the Event Safety Working Group. It was published as an American National Standard by ESTA’s Technical Standards Program.

This is ESA’s eighth American National Standard published since 2020. Previously published standards include ANSI ES 1.9-2020, Crowd Management; ANSI ES 1.7-2021, Weather Preparedness; and ANSI ES 1.40-2023, Event Security.

ANSI ES 1.42-2025, Parade Safety, is available as a free download at the Technical Standards Program home page by clicking “Download Standards” and then entering “parade safety” into the Live Search box.