Drinking and dancing could be allowed on York footstreets till 11pm
York’s famous footstreets could be an al fresco party venue after the council put forward plans to license them for drinking and dancing till 11pm at night.
But don’t expect every night to be a street festival. The change in the rules will only come in to play for specific outdoor events.
City of York Council is applying to vary the licence to extend the hours when various leisure activities are permitted on the footstreets – including Exhibition Square.
Proposed new licensing hours are in the table below: the current licence ends footstreet fun at 9pm.
| Activity | Mon-Sat hours | Sunday hours |
|---|---|---|
| Plays | 9am-11pm | 9am-11pm |
| Films | 9am-11pm | Noon-11pm |
| Music (live & recorded) | 9am-11pm | Noon-11pm |
| Dance | 9am-11pm | Noon-11pm |
| Supply of alcohol | 9am-11pm | 9am-11pm |
Footstreet fringe festival
A council spokesperson said the change is being sought as part of preparations for ten-day entertainment festival The Great Yorkshire Fringe.
That is set to bring big name stand-up comedians and theatre productions to a number of temporary venues on Parliament Street in the summer.
These are set to end at about 10pm-10.30pm. There would also be a licensed area to serve drinks.
Organisers plan to stage the festival here for at least the next three years.
To enable this to happen, the council is proposing to change the footstreet licensing regulations. There is now a consultation period until March 18 and any representations will be heard within the following three or four weeks.
If councillors then approve the move, the extended hours should come in to play from mid-April.
The spokesperson then said other event organisers could take advantage:
Anyone wishing to make representations to the council about the changes can email [email protected] or phone 01904 552512.
Really !!!
Love it,on the one hand the council blame pubs and the drinking culture for everything that happens in the city at night and on the other hand they want to allow more. Genius!
Encouraging more drinkers into city centre not a good idea more people peeing in the streets because a lot of toilets are closed at night and more police may be needed and possibly the tax payer will foot the bill by raising council tax.and think of the people who live in the centre of town they’ll have to put up with more noise.hope the council ask residents first before making any decisions but if money involved it will go through. Or will the council spend £1000s on survey and consultancy then decide not to go with it spending money on nothing.
Hope the council just dont make a decision without consulting people who live in the town.will it cause more drinking problems with drunkeness toilets usually closed at night.and who is going to pay for the extra police . hopefully not the council tax payer.
Noooooo why spoil the city
I hope not it is bad enough at weekends
That’s early – I live in the centre and singing and dancing goes on most nights till 4-5.00. Mind you its all amateur stuff!