Fall School & Park Festivals in Marin: Permits Handled, Fully Insured

Last updated: September 2026

A school festival isn't judged on the equipment. It's judged on whether the day ran — whether the units were up and inspected before families arrived, whether the paperwork cleared the district or the parks office without three rounds of email, and whether the parent who volunteered for this in September got to enjoy the event instead of managing a vendor. That's the job.

The Marin Complication: Two Sets of Paperwork

In Marin and San Francisco, school festivals split between two venue types and the requirements are not the same. On campus, you're dealing with the district: proof of insurance, equipment certification, site access. At a park — Stafford Lake, McNears, McInnis, or a San Francisco site — you're dealing with a parks department too, and that means a permit, an insurance certificate naming the agency, and rules that differ site to site.

Most committees discover the park requirement about ten days out, which is the worst possible time to learn it. We work with these agencies year round, so the permit filing and the insurance documentation are ours to handle rather than something your event chair has to figure out from a PDF on a city website.

The 4 Setups Marin Schools Order Most

1. Combo Bounce House with Dry Slide

The workhorse of a K–5 carnival. Bounce floor plus a dry slide holds a wide age range in one footprint, which matters when attendance runs from TK siblings to fifth graders. Dry means no towels and no wet blacktop to manage for the rest of the afternoon.

2. Obstacle Course

Field days and upper-grade festivals, and the unit most likely to send your event to a park rather than a campus because it needs a longer flat run. Stafford Lake, McNears and McInnis all accommodate it — and if that's where you land, the permit is ours to file.

3. Bounce & Ball

Our Bounce & Ball setup pairs an inflatable with a ball-play element so attendance splits across two activities instead of pooling at one entrance. When the whole school arrives inside a two-hour window, that split is what keeps lines short enough for families to reach your other booths.

4. Classic Bounce House

Smallest footprint we set up, and the right unit for a dedicated TK and kindergarten zone away from the older kids. It also fits the tighter campus yards common in Mill Valley and San Francisco, where usable flat space is measured carefully rather than assumed.

Why Marin and San Francisco Schools Choose Astro Jump

Three reasons keep Marin and San Francisco schools coming back, and none of them are about the inflatable itself.

Permit handling. If your festival is at a Marin or San Francisco park site, we file the Rec & Park permit paperwork and supply the insurance documentation the agency requires — Stafford Lake, McNears, McInnis and San Francisco sites included. This is the step that most often derails a volunteer committee, and it's the step we take off your plate entirely.

AIG insurance and state-inspected equipment. Every unit we bring onto a campus or into a park is state-inspected and covered under AIG, and we provide the certificates your district or parks office asks for. Nobody on your committee should be chasing insurance documents two weeks before the event.

Backup Unit Guarantee. Every reservation is backed by a replacement unit. An equipment problem is ours to solve before your gates open — not a call your event chair takes on festival morning with families already on the way.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we need a permit for inflatables at a Marin school or park festival?

On a school campus you're generally working under the district's own requirements. At a park site, a permit and proof of insurance naming the agency are typically required, and the specifics vary by park and by department. We file that paperwork as part of your booking for Marin and San Francisco park sites, including Stafford Lake, McNears and McInnis. Tell us the venue and the date on the first call — 415-499-0955 — and we'll confirm exactly what that site needs.

Is Astro Jump insured for Marin school district events?

Yes. Equipment is state-inspected and covered under AIG, and we supply the insurance documentation districts and school sites request as part of booking. Let us know which district you're in and what their office requires.

Can you set up multiple inflatables for a school field day in Novato or San Rafael?

Yes — multi-unit setups are standard for field days and larger festivals, and our crew handles placement, anchoring and the safety walkthrough on each unit. What we need early is the surface and usable flat dimensions, since blacktop, turf and park field each change how a unit is anchored.