Your fall festival is one of the highlights of the school year—a chance for families to have fun and raise funds for your PTA. But with big crowds, games, food, and rentals, there’s also risk. The right insurance coverage keeps your event protected from accidents, property damage, and liability claims. Here’s what you need to know to plan your fall festival with confidence.
Why You Need Fall Festival Insurance
A little preparation goes a long way when it comes to protecting your PTA. Fall festival insurance helps prevent financial and legal stress if something unexpected happens. Here are the key coverages you need to protect your organization:
General Liability Insurance
Protects your PTA if someone is injured or a third party’s property is damaged at your event. This coverage includes medical payments and helps with legal costs if you’re sued.
NOTE: If your organization hosts but one event each year, AIM’s single-event insurance provides affordable coverage for an event lasting up to four days. If you host several events each year, our General Liability/Event coverage is a better value and covers all your PTA-sponsored and run events for a full year.
Property Insurance
Covers your PTA-owned and rented/borrowed items such as carnival supplies, decorations, sound systems, and other equipment if they’re stolen, lost, or damaged.
Embezzlement Insurance
Unfortunately, crime at fundraising events is all too common. Embezzlement insurance protects your hard-earned funds from theft or fraud.
Learn more about what our embezzlement insurance coverage entails.
Directors & Officers Liability
Directors & Officers Liability insurance protects board members from legal claims about decisions they make (or don’t make).
Learn more about our professional liability insurance.
What Does Event Insurance (General Liability) Cover?
Event insurance protects your PTA from the most common festival risks:
- Injuries such as slips, falls, or accidents
- Medical costs if someone gets hurt at a booth or game
- Property damage at the event site
- Liability from bounce houses, dunk tanks, food booths, or similar attractions
- Medical payments for minor injuries (up to $5,000 per person)
Example: If a parent trips on a power cord and sprains an ankle, your General Liability insurance covers medical costs and any claim that follows—because it’s a PTA-sponsored event.
Take note that your event must be officially run by your PTA, PTO, or booster club to qualify for coverage. That means your board planned, scheduled, approved, and staffed the event. Certain high-risk activities—like motorized rides or zip lining—are excluded from our General Liability policy.
Fall Festival Liability Insurance Coverage Details
Your General Liability policy covers bodily injury and property damage coverage, in two parts:
1. Liability
This covers injuries or property damage caused by your event activities. For these types of claims, we offer coverage limits of either $1 million or $2 million per occurrence (depending on which one you choose), with a $2 million general aggregate.
2. Medical Payments
A $5,000 standard limit per person covers minor medical expenses outside of a lawsuit. This includes volunteers, board members, or third parties at an organization-sponsored event. If you would like a policy with higher limits, contact us for a custom quote.
To summarize, if someone sues your PTA over an injury or damage, the Liability portion covers legal defense and any court-awarded damages. The Medical Payments portion covers smaller medical bills directly—often resolving incidents before they become lawsuits.
Property Insurance Coverage
Property insurance protects your PTA’s physical assets before, during, and after your festival. This includes carnival supplies, fundraising merchandise, and portable equipment stored on or off campus.
AIM’s property insurance covers damage from fire, theft, or vandalism. AIM’s property insurance covers damage from fire, theft, or vandalism. It also extends to items that your PTA is responsible for, even if they’re not owned by the PTA. Keeping an inventory of your PTA’s equipment and other items in your care helps ensure you have the right coverage limits in place.
Other Considerations Before the Fall Festival
Before the big day, take these simple steps to keep your festival safe and compliant:
Vendor Insurance
It’s a good idea to ask each of your vendors to provide a Certificate of Insurance (COI).
Additional Insureds
Your school or venue may also ask to be added as an Additional Insured on your policy. This shares your policy limits with them, which is standard practice. You can also ask your vendors to add you as an additional insured on their policy.
Waivers
Consider having attendees or parents sign waivers for activities like inflatables or athletic games. A waiver won’t prevent all lawsuits, but it helps demonstrate that participants understood the risks and will deter a lawsuit in some cases.
Other Coverages
We also offer Social Media Liability insurance, which covers claims related to online communications—contact us to learn more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do vendors need insurance?
While it’s not required for your event insurance policy, it’s a best practice to select vendors who have at least $1 million in general liability insurance. You can ask them to provide proof of coverage.
What if a vendor doesn’t have insurance?
While your policy does not require that you choose only vendors who have insurance, it’s a best practice to select vendors who have at least $1 million in general liability coverage.
Does General Liability cover volunteer injuries?
Yes, however, this coverage is secondary to any personal health insurance the individual may have.
Can PTA insurance cover a school event?
No. It only covers events organized and staffed by your PTA.
Will a liability waiver stop someone from suing us?
Not always, but when participants take responsibility for the risk, it often deters a lawsuit.
How do we show proof of insurance?
Request a Certificate of Insurance for your school or venue. You can request a certificate by calling our office or printing one from your customer portal.
Get PTA Fall Festival Insurance in Minutes
With AIM, protecting your PTA’s biggest event of the year is quick and affordable. We’ve insured over 22,000 PTAs, PTOs, and Booster Clubs nationwide for more than 30 years.
- General Liability starting at $65 per year, with $0 deductible and $5,000 medical payments included
- Fast online quote and purchase
Make your fall festival fun and worry-free. Call us at 1-800-876-4044 or get a quote online.