<h1>Legal risks for large public cultural events: permits, crowd control, insurance, landmark lighting, celebrity publicity and IP issues</h1> A cultural organization and a federation staged a multi-day India Day celebration in Manhattan, culminating in a ceremonial flag-hoisting and the first-ever cricket match performed in Times Square. The event included lighting a landmark building in national colours and participation by national team players and community members. Legal considerations likely implicated public-space use and permitting, coordination with municipal authorities for traffic and crowd control, venue and landmark lighting approvals, event insurance and liability exposure for injuries, and compliance with public-assembly, noise and commercial-activity regulations. Potential intellectual-property or publicity-rights issues could arise from celebrity appearances.