If your event in Poland makes available to the public 1,000 places outdoors, 500 in a building or 300 in a sports hall, it is an impreza masowa and you cannot hold it without an administrative permit. The relevant law is the ustawa z dnia 20 marca 2009 r. o bezpieczeństwie imprez masowych, whose consolidated text was published as Dz.U. 2023 poz. 616. It sets out the thresholds, the timetable, the minimum security staffing and the medical cover required. What follows is that same framework, worked through against real audience figures.
When does your event in Poland become an «impreza masowa»?
The dividing line is the number of places the organiser makes available, calculated according to building and fire-safety regulations. Art. 3 pkt 2 defines an artystyczno-rozrywkowa impreza masowa as one held «na stadionie, w innym obiekcie niebędącym budynkiem lub na terenie umożliwiającym przeprowadzenie imprezy masowej», with «nie mniej niż 1000» places, or «w hali sportowej lub w innym budynku», with «nie mniej niż 500». For sport, art. 3 pkt 3 lowers the indoor threshold to 300 places, and art. 3 pkt 4 treats any mecz piłki nożnej (football match) with 1,000 places or more as falling under the law.
| Event type | Venue | Capacity threshold | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artistic or entertainment | Stadium, non-building structure or designated open ground | 1,000 | art. 3 pkt 2 lit. a |
| Artistic or entertainment | Sports hall or other building | 500 | art. 3 pkt 2 lit. b |
| Sport | Stadium or other non-building structure | 1,000 | art. 3 pkt 3 |
| Sport | Sports hall | 300 | art. 3 pkt 3 |
| Football match | Stadium or other sports facility | 1,000 | art. 3 pkt 4 |
That same art. 3 pkt 1 excludes a long list of events from the definition: those held in theatres, opera houses, operetta venues, philharmonic halls, cinemas, museums, libraries, cultural centres and art galleries, provided the event matches the venue's intended use; events organised by a school's management for its pupils; children's and youth competitions; sport for people with disabilities; free, open-access recreational sport held outdoors; and closed events a company organises for its own staff. A concert series at a philharmonic hall doesn't need a zezwolenie; the same line-up on an open ground selling 1,200 tickets does.
What permit do you need, and how far in advance?
The permit is granted by the mayor — wójt, burmistrz or prezydent miasta — of the municipality where the event takes place, and the timetable is strict. Art. 25 ust. 1 requires the organiser to submit the application «nie później niż na 30 dni przed planowanym terminem jej rozpoczęcia» and, within the same deadline, to request a report from the Police commander, the Straż Pożarna (fire brigade) commander, the medical emergency coordinator and the district health inspector. Art. 29 ust. 1 closes the loop from the other end: «Organ wydaje zezwolenie albo odmawia jego wydania w terminie co najmniej 7 dni przed planowanym terminem przeprowadzenia imprezy masowej». A copy of the decision is sent within three days to the bodies that issued reports under art. 25 ust. 1 pkt 2 (art. 29 ust. 5).
| Milestone | Deadline | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Zezwolenie application and request for reports | 30 days before the event | art. 25 ust. 1 |
| Shortened deadline in exceptional, justified cases | 14 days before | official biznes.gov.pl guidance |
| Mayor's decision (grant or refusal) | At least 7 days before | art. 29 ust. 1 |
| Decision copy sent to the bodies that issued reports | 3 days from when it is issued | art. 29 ust. 5 |
| Administrative fee (opłata skarbowa) | 82 zł | biznes.gov.pl |
The official procedure page on biznes.gov.pl, the Polish government's portal for businesses, sets out the documentation required: a site plan showing evacuation routes, fire-safety instructions, the event programme, the regulamin imprezy (event regulations) and the reports from the four bodies. The fee is 82 zł for the permit, plus 17 zł more if you act through a proxy. If you don't pay it, the office gives you between 7 and 14 days to do so before shelving the application.
Elevated risk: a decision made by the municipality itself
Art. 3 pkt 5 defines an impreza masowa podwyższonego ryzyka (elevated-risk mass event) as one where «istnieje obawa wystąpienia aktów przemocy lub agresji», based on anticipated threat intelligence or the crowd's track record. The organiser doesn't make that call: under art. 29 ust. 3, it's the body granting the permit that records it in the zezwolenie, drawing on threat intelligence, the Police commander's report, or a request from the body running the competition. That label doubles the security staffing, bans alcohol, and triggers the control mechanism in art. 31, which lets the municipality order the event stopped with immediate effect if the organiser fails to meet the permit's conditions.
How much security staff does Polish law require?
Art. 6 ust. 2 sets out a formula, not a recommendation. For an ordinary impreza masowa: «co najmniej 10 członków służb: porządkowej i informacyjnej na 300 osób (…) i co najmniej 1 członek (…) na każde następne 100 osób», with at least 20% of that total made up of order-keeping staff. For an elevated-risk event: «co najmniej 15 członków służb (…) na 200 osób (…) i co najmniej 2 członków (…) na każde następne 100 osób», with 50% order-keeping staff. The calculation is based on the number of people who may be present, not on tickets sold.
Applying that formula literally to four capacity levels gives the following figures (our own calculation based on art. 6 ust. 2):
| Authorised capacity | Ordinary impreza | Of which, order-keeping staff (20%) | Elevated-risk impreza | Of which, order-keeping staff (50%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | 17 | 4 | 31 | 16 |
| 3,000 | 37 | 8 | 71 | 36 |
| 5,000 | 57 | 12 | 111 | 56 |
| 10,000 | 107 | 22 | 211 | 106 |
The practical reading: between an ordinary event and one classed as elevated risk, the headcount almost doubles, and the proportion accredited as order-keeping staff multiplies by four or five. If the municipality changes the classification ten days out, the staffing budget falls apart. That's why it's worth budgeting for the elevated-risk scenario whenever there's sporting rivalry, a history of incidents, or heavy box-office demand. The contrast with other markets is stark: in Spain, security staffing comes from each region's own entertainment regulations, as we cover in the guide to event security, while in the UK the new Martyn's Law starts at 200 people for premises and 800 for events with controlled access, not 1,000.
What medical cover do you need to arrange, based on capacity?
The detail sits in the rozporządzenie Ministra Zdrowia z dnia 6 lutego 2012 r. w sprawie minimalnych wymagań dotyczących zabezpieczenia pod względem medycznym imprezy masowej (Dz.U. 2012 poz. 181). Its § 1 ust. 1 breaks the set-up into three components: «zespoły wyjazdowe; patrole ratownicze; punkty pomocy medycznej» (response teams, rescue patrols and medical aid points). § 2 sets minimums for an artystyczno-rozrywkowa or sporting impreza other than a football match, based on the expected number of attendees.
| Expected attendees | Response teams | Rescue patrols | Medical aid points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 5,000 | 1 team without a doctor | 1 patrol | — |
| 5,001 to 25,000 | 1 with a doctor and 1 without | 1 for every 10,000 (or part thereof) above 5,000 | 1 for every 50,000 (or part thereof) above 10,000 |
| 25,001 to 65,000 | 1 with a doctor and 2 without | 1 for every 10,000 (or part thereof) above 5,000 | 1 for every 50,000 (or part thereof) above 10,000 |
| From 65,001 | 1 with a doctor and 2 without, plus 1 extra team for every 120,000 (or part thereof) | 7 patrols for the first 65,000, plus 1 more for every 15,000 after that | From 110,001: 2 points, plus 1 more for every 100,000 |
The meaningful jump is between 5,000 and 5,001 attendees: with one extra attendee, the set-up goes from one team without a doctor to two teams, one of which includes a doctor. For an elevated-risk impreza or a football match, § 3 tightens the minimum from the very first tier, requiring a team with a doctor even below 5,000 attendees. The Polish approach is, in other words, a sliding scale by capacity; in Spain, the medical requirement is split across regional regulations, as we set out in the guide on when an ambulance is mandatory at an event.
What insurance and alcohol rules apply?
Insurance isn't optional if you charge for admission. Art. 53 of the 2009 law requires: «Organizator imprezy masowej, na którą wstęp jest odpłatny, jest obowiązany do zawarcia umowy ubezpieczenia odpowiedzialności cywilnej za szkody wyrządzone osobom w niej uczestniczącym». The scope, the minimum guaranteed sum and when the obligation arises are set out in the rozporządzenie Ministra Finansów z dnia 11 marca 2010 r. on mandatory civil liability insurance for organisers of imprezy masowe (Dz.U. 2010 nr 54 poz. 323), in force since 21 April 2010. The minimum sum depends on the type of event and the number of places at the venue, so you need to ask your broker for a calculation based on the exact capacity before signing. It's the same legal logic we explain for civil liability insurance at events in Spain.
Alcohol has its own rule. Art. 8a ust. 1, introduced by the ustawa z dnia 31 sierpnia 2011 r. (Dz.U. 2011 nr 217 poz. 1280), allows «sprzedaż, podawanie i spożywanie napojów alkoholowych zawierających nie więcej niż 3,5% alkoholu» at an impreza masowa, with an express exception for elevated-risk events, where it's banned outright. It can only be sold in designated zones, by an operator holding an alcohol-sales licence, and rigid glass or metal containers that could be used as a weapon are forbidden. When applying for the permit, the organiser must state where and when it will be sold. A 5% beer stand at a Polish festival is, quite simply, illegal.
What's the penalty for organising without a zezwolenie?
The penalty is criminal, not administrative. Art. 58 ust. 1 states that anyone who organises an impreza masowa without the required permit, outside the permit's conditions, or against an imposed prohibition, «podlega grzywnie nie mniejszej niż 240 stawek dziennych, karze ograniczenia wolności albo pozbawienia wolności od 6 miesięcy do lat 8». Art. 58 ust. 2 imposes a minimum of 180 stawek dziennych on anyone who fails to meet the security conditions in art. 6 ust. 1.
Those «stawki dzienne» (daily rates) are converted into money via art. 33 of the Kodeks karny: under § 3, a single stawka «nie może być niższa od 10 złotych, ani też przekraczać 2 000 złotych». Within those bounds, the minimum under art. 58 ust. 1 works out at 2,400 zł if the court sets the lowest rate, and 480,000 zł if it sets the highest (our own calculation: 240 × 10 zł and 240 × 2,000 zł). The threshold under art. 58 ust. 2 ranges between 1,800 zł and 360,000 zł using the same method. The actual figure depends on the convicted party's income and assets, which is what the court assesses. On top of that comes the power to halt the event under art. 31 ust. 4, with rygor natychmiastowej wykonalności (immediate enforceability).
What rights does the ticket buyer have in Poland?
Here, the relevant law is no longer the mass events act but the ustawa z dnia 30 maja 2014 r. o prawach konsumenta (Dz.U. 2014 poz. 827). Its art. 27 recognises that «konsument, który zawarł umowę na odległość lub poza lokalem przedsiębiorstwa, może w terminie 14 dni odstąpić od niej bez podawania przyczyny». But art. 38 pkt 12 excludes from that right contracts «o świadczenie usług (…) związanych z wypoczynkiem, wydarzeniami rozrywkowymi, sportowymi lub kulturalnymi, jeżeli w umowie oznaczono dzień lub okres świadczenia usługi». In plain box-office terms: a dated ticket can't be returned under the right of withdrawal, just as in Spain under the equivalent exception in the consumer directive, which we cover in the ticket refund policy guide. What does bind the organiser is its own regulamin and whatever it provides for cancellation or postponement.
For-profit resale has an old and blunt answer in Poland. Art. 133 § 1 of the 1971 Kodeks wykroczeń penalises anyone who «nabywa w celu odprzedaży z zyskiem bilety wstępu na imprezy artystyczne, rozrywkowe lub sportowe albo kto bilety takie sprzedaje z zyskiem» with arrest, restriction of liberty or a fine; § 2 adds that attempt, inducement and complicity are also punishable. For football, art. 13 further requires the organiser to identify attendees, and art. 15 requires an ID document to be shown on purchase and only seated tickets to be sold. If you're selling for a Polish club, your ticketing system needs to support named tickets with identity verification.
ZAiKS, invoicing, and what changes in January 2027
Two costs sit outside the zezwolenie file and show up afterwards. The first is copyright: art. 17 of the ustawa z dnia 4 lutego 1994 r. o prawie autorskim i prawach pokrewnych reserves for the author «wyłączne prawo do korzystania z utworu i rozporządzania nim na wszystkich polach eksploatacji oraz do wynagrodzenia za korzystanie z utworu». In practice, the licence is arranged through ZAiKS, which publishes its author royalty rate tables, including table 14 for live performances (accessed 3 October 2026). The specific rates sit in each table's PDF, and it's worth requesting the calculation before locking in the artist's fee; the structure is the same as the one we describe for managing SGAE, AGEDI and AIE in Spain or for Italy's SIAE.
The second is electronic invoicing. The Krajowy System e-Faktur becomes mandatory in phases: from 1 February 2026 for businesses with sales above 200 million zł in 2024, and from 1 April 2026 for everyone else, according to the official scope published by the tax authority. Anyone whose documented monthly turnover doesn't exceed 10,000 zł gross is exempt from the obligation to issue invoices through the system until the end of 2026. Receiving invoices via KSeF, by contrast, applies to everyone from 1 February 2026. The legal bases are the law of 16 June 2023 (Dz.U. 2023 poz. 1598), the one of 9 May 2024 (Dz.U. 2024 poz. 852) and the one of 5 August 2025 (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1203). It's the same Europe-wide shift driving VeriFactu in Spain and Germany's E-Rechnung.
And there's a change on the way. The Sejm's ELI register notes that the mass events law is amended by the ustawa z dnia 11 czerwca 2026 r. simplifying administrative procedures resolved by decision or by silence (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 875), taking effect on 1 January 2027. The register doesn't specify here which articles it touches, so the honest reading is this: before planning the 2027 season, you need to re-read the zezwolenie deadlines in the consolidated text, because this reform may affect them.
Checklist before applying for the zezwolenie
- Count places, not tickets. The art. 3 threshold is calculated on available places under building and fire-safety rules. Get a written capacity certificate from the venue.
- Mark day 30 on the calendar. The application and all four report requests go in on the same day, 30 days before the event. The 14-day shortened deadline is exceptional and must be justified.
- Budget for the elevated-risk staffing level. At 5,000 attendees, the difference is 57 versus 111 security staff. Make sure your contract with the security company covers that scenario.
- Lock down medical cover by tier. Above 5,000 attendees, a team including a doctor kicks in; check who's contracting and accrediting each zespół.
- Ask for the policy's minimum sum in writing. The art. 53 insurance is calculated on capacity; your broker should cite the 2010 rozporządzenie in the quote.
- Check your bars. Maximum 3.5% alcohol, a designated zone, a licensed operator, and no rigid glass or metal containers.
- Put your refund terms in the regulamin. The 14-day right of withdrawal doesn't apply to dated events: anything you offer beyond the legal minimum must be in writing and enforceable.
- Get ready for e-invoicing. If you invoice sponsorships or services in Poland, check with your adviser which KSeF phase applies to you from April 2026.
And what part does Futura Tickets cover?
No ticketing platform replaces the zezwolenie or accredits your security staff: that's the organiser's job with the municipality. What the software does handle is the sales and control side: capacity by zone, named tickets where the law requires them, and attendee data for the reports. Futura Tickets is a Spanish SaaS ticketing platform for professional organisers, selling in 9 languages across 11 country domains, with no monthly fee: €0 a month, just a commission per ticket sold. You can check how it fits your operation on the ticketing software page.
Conclusion
Poland's imprezy masowe law is more arithmetic than interpretation: thresholds of 1,000, 500 and 300 places, 30 days' notice, 7 days for the decision, an 82 zł fee, a fixed staffing formula and a tiered medical table. What really drives the budget isn't the permit itself but the elevated-risk classification, which doubles the headcount and bans alcohol. And what determines whether you stay on the right side of criminal law is applying on time: art. 58 turns an administrative oversight into an offence carrying a minimum fine of 240 stawek dziennych.
Sources
- Ustawa z dnia 20 marca 2009 r. o bezpieczeństwie imprez masowych, tekst jednolity Dz.U. 2023 poz. 616 (Sejm RP, ELI register)
- Ustawa z dnia 31 sierpnia 2011 r. o zmianie ustawy o bezpieczeństwie imprez masowych, Dz.U. 2011 nr 217 poz. 1280 (Sejm RP)
- Rozporządzenie Ministra Zdrowia z dnia 6 lutego 2012 r. w sprawie minimalnych wymagań dotyczących zabezpieczenia pod względem medycznym imprezy masowej, Dz.U. 2012 poz. 181
- Rozporządzenie Ministra Finansów z dnia 11 marca 2010 r. w sprawie obowiązkowego ubezpieczenia OC organizatorów imprez masowych, Dz.U. 2010 nr 54 poz. 323
- Zezwolenie na imprezę masową: procedure guide (biznes.gov.pl, Government of Poland)
- Ustawa z dnia 20 maja 1971 r. Kodeks wykroczeń, art. 133 (Sejm RP)
- Ustawa z dnia 6 czerwca 1997 r. Kodeks karny, art. 33 (Sejm RP)
- Ustawa z dnia 30 maja 2014 r. o prawach konsumenta, Dz.U. 2014 poz. 827 (Sejm RP)
- Ustawa z dnia 4 lutego 1994 r. o prawie autorskim i prawach pokrewnych (Sejm RP)
- Zakres obowiązkowego KSeF (Krajowa Administracja Skarbowa, podatki.gov.pl)
- Podstawy prawne oraz kluczowe terminy KSeF (podatki.gov.pl)
- Tabele stawek wynagrodzeń autorskich (ZAiKS)
- Ustawa z dnia 11 czerwca 2026 r. o zmianie niektórych ustaw w celu uproszczenia procedur administracyjnych, Dz.U. 2026 poz. 875 (Sejm RP)