Planning Restrooms for Spring Training, Festivals and Races in the Valley

What do Cactus League crowds look like?

The 2026 Cactus League drew 1,753,849 fans at 237 games, up 3.4 percent from 2025, with an average of about 7,400 per game. The largest crowd was 15,788 at Sloan Park for Cubs against Dodgers on March 15. The Cubs averaged 12,644, and the A's drew 98,032 across 17 games at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa.

Those figures come from a season attendance report and a University of Florida review of the league's venues. Ballpark capacities differ between sources, so we quote none as exact: Sloan Park around 15,000, Salt River Fields 11,000, Peoria Sports Complex 11,333 or 12,882, Camelback Ranch 12,000 or 13,000, Tempe Diablo 9,558 and Scottsdale Stadium about 12,000.

What matters for a planner is the spread. A mid-week afternoon is not a Saturday, and the busiest day of the season brought about 78,638 fans across the ballparks in a 105 F heat wave. Toilets outside the parks, at tailgates and fan fests, meet those peaks.

The University of Florida review also scores the parks on fan experience, but its numbers are not about toilets, and we do not use them as a guide to counts. The attendance report is the better source for crowd size.

How do Valley festivals compare?

Tempe Festival of the Arts on Mill Avenue quotes crowds of 150,000 to 250,000 a weekend. The Chandler Ostrich Festival drew 158,390 in 2022 according to an economic-impact report, and the 2026 edition moves to Rawhide Western Town and Event Center. Old Town Scottsdale runs weekly and seasonal events.

Old Town Scottsdale's Western Week ran January 24 to February 1, 2026, with the Arizona Indian Festival on January 31 and February 1 at the Civic Center, according to the City of Scottsdale. Gold Palette ArtWalk is held every Thursday evening, and Scottsdazzle runs in the holiday month.

Each festival has its own organizer, footprint and permits. A planner can still learn from the shape: street events spread the crowd along a line, park events cluster it, and ballpark events surge at the start and end of games.

Chandler's festival is a useful reminder that figures differ by source. Other attendance numbers for the same event conflict, so we use the economic-impact report's figure and no other. When you plan, rely on your own organizer's expectation and a margin, not on a headline.

How should units be laid out for a crowd?

In banks near entrances, food, exits and the places people gather, with accessible units spread through them and a handwash station at the end of each bank. Keep them off fire lanes and clear of food vendors by 25 feet. Place them where a queue will not block a walkway.

Walk the layout with the provider on a map. The best plan on paper fails if the truck cannot reach the far bank.

Distance matters as much as count. A queue that forms thirty yards from a gate holds up the gate. A queue that forms behind a food truck holds up the food truck. Put banks where queues can form without blocking anything, and use signs and volunteers to point people to the far banks.

What about accessible units and handwashing?

Add accessible units spread through the site on firm, level ground, and a handwash station beside each bank. There is no single figure for accessible units that we can give for Valley events, so ask the provider, the venue and the permit office. Put the number in the quote.

At spring training and festivals the crowd spans every age. Older fans, families with strollers and people who use wheelchairs all need units they can reach, and hot pavement or loose gravel makes the approach harder. See the ADA units page.

Where food is sold, the county's temporary handwash set-up applies to vendors. The handwash page lists its parts.

How should servicing work around a crowd?

Plan a visit before the gates open and another between peaks, with a route for the truck that avoids the crowd. Heat adds a reason for tighter servicing. Tell the provider about road closures, credential checks and the hours the lots are open. No visit time is promised before the provider confirms.

At a multi-day event, daily servicing is common. On a game day, a pass before the early crowd and another after a day game, before an evening event, can keep units fresh.

Large events usually have their own sanitation contractor and an on-site lead. If you are a vendor or sponsor, ask your organizer what is provided before you order your own units.

Ask the provider how it handles a delay: a rain delay, extra innings, a late headline act or a race that runs long. A route that works at six o'clock may not work at nine, and the provider needs to know who to call.

What do race weekends add?

Camping, infield parties and multi-day crowds. Phoenix Raceway in Avondale lists seating at 42,000 in one source and about 51,000 in another, so we quote neither as exact. The 2026 weekends were March 6 to 8, with IndyCar, and October 16 to 18, with the NASCAR Cup Round of 8.

Camping areas need banks across the field, servicing every day and accessible units spread through the site. The championship finale, held at Phoenix from 2020 to 2025, moves to Homestead in 2026. See the race weekend page.

If you run an event near the track, ask the lot owner what the provider needs to enter on race days. Roads close and credential checks slow trucks.

Race weekends also bring their own timing. Qualifying, practice and the race itself pull different crowds on different days, so give the provider a schedule by day and let it propose servicing around the sessions.

What is the planner's checklist, and what can a smaller organizer take from big events?

Peak attendance by hour, the footprint, food and alcohol, accessible units, handwash stations, truck routes, servicing times, county registration and the city's permit. Writing these on one page makes the provider's quote better and the event smoother.

The event unit guide covers the county ratio and how to adjust it.

Big events tend to have a sanitation lead whose job is to watch the units. A small event rarely does, so give someone the task. One person with a phone number for the provider and a spare roll of paper can fix most problems before the crowd notices.

Write the plan on one page. It forces the questions that matter: how many people, when are the peaks, where can a truck go, who approves the units, who pays for what. The provider's quote is then easy to check.

Whoever owns the plan should be named. At a small event that may be a volunteer coordinator; at a large one, a sanitation lead. Either way, one person should hold the provider's number, know where the units are and have authority to call for a service visit.

• Peak attendance by hour and by day
• A map of the footprint with entrances, food and exits
• County registration for food, 30 days ahead
• City and venue approvals for closures and units
• Accessible units and handwash stations in the quote
• Servicing times and a truck route that avoids the crowd

How does heat shape a March game or an October race?

Warm weather is not limited to summer. The busiest 2026 Cactus League day came with a 105 F heat wave, and race weekends in March and October can run warm. Shade, ventilation and servicing frequency matter on those dates. Ask the provider for a plan that fits your date, not only the season.

The summer heat guide covers siting, ventilation and servicing in depth. The same ideas apply on a hot spring afternoon. Units in unshaded lots heat up, deodoriser weakens and handwash water warms.

This guide makes no claim about what heat does to a person. Ask a doctor, and read the guidance of the event organizer and the venue.