Outdoor Atlanta Events Of Less Than 2K OK Beginning In May

ATLANTA — Atlanta will soon allow events outside for fewer than 2,000 people.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Wednesday issued an executive order allowing outdoor events for crowds of up to 1,999 after May 15.

That means the Mayor’s Office will accept permits for events scheduled for the Mid-May date and beyond allowing the specified number or fewer, so long as all involved continue to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for COVID-19 mitigation — providing hand sanitizer, wearing masks and social distancing.

So outdoor events of 2,000 or more, as well as events special events involving or distributing alcohol, remain prohibited under the City’s moratorium. Event planners with existing permits for such events can apply the event fees to dates within a year of the end of the moratorium.

Bottoms issued the moratorium limiting public gatherings to no more than 10 people in March 2020, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic when Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency in Georgia.

As another part of the City's COVID-19 response, Bottoms closed public playgrounds, tennis centers and golf courses in the City of Atlanta in 2020. Wednesday, Bottoms announced that the city’s Parks and Recreation department would replace basketball goals at nearly two dozen parks throughout the City.

The City’s youth baseball program also will restart in April, the Mayor’s Office said.