Edinburgh bars and restaurants set for extended hours for festivals
Licensed premises in Edinburgh are set to be able to open for an extra two hours when the city’s festivals return this summer.
Bars, restaurants and nightclubs will be able to take advantage of the extra trading time if the current strict Covid restrictions are eased by then.
Under the Scottish Government’s current route map, all of Edinburgh’s licensed premises have to close at 10:30pm.
However if the timetable for the easing of restrictions goes as planned over the next few weeks, they will be able to revert to their normal hours by the end of June if the city is able to be moved to “level 0.”
Some licensed premises are normally able to stay open as late as 5am during the city’s main festivals season in August, with city centre pubs able to trade until 3am, depending on their normal licence.
Edinburgh’s licensing board agree to restore the late licensing hours for between 6 and 30 August to coincide with the planned dates of the Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe.
Live events are expected to return at indoor and outdoor venues across the city if the easing of restrictions across Scotland continues as planned.
However, the Scottish government has yet to set out a timetable for the staging of events in July, August and September, and what social distancing measures organisers may have to enforce.
Licensing board convenor
Norman Work said: “It’s been a tough year for the hospitality sector and as a board we recognise the need to do everything we can to support licensed premises to help them operate as normally as they can within any Covid restrictions in force at the time.
"The majority of pubs and restaurants have seasonal variations in their licence covering the summer festivals.
“That means that as long as public health guidance allows, many businesses will be able to take advantage of increased trade with extended opening hours during August, which is great news for the city.”
Garry Clark, development manager for the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “The extension of licensing hours during the festival period will be good news for many city businesses.”