Ed Sheeran’s gift to Dunedin hospo scene
It will be a Good Friday, if not a quiet day for Dunedin next Easter, as bars gear up to stay open all weekend, thanks to Ed Sheeran.
The British pop star will perform two Dunedin shows next year, on Holy Thursday and Easter Saturday. He is also scheduled to play three Auckland shows earlier that week.
Generally, bars are forced to close on Good Friday and Easter Sunday mornings, but the Dunedin City Council is signalling a special clause may provide bars an out from Easter trading restrictions.
Dunedin City Council community services manager Simon Pickford said the act allowed bars to stay open on Easter mornings if there was a special event.
American rockers Aerosmith played to Dunedin crowds in 2013 on the eve of Anzac day. Pickford said that concert set a precedent for the council, as bars were allowed to stay open later.
Pickford would alsdo to talk with restaurants about staying open later. ‘‘You walk out of a concert late, and you want food, so we will be talking with restaurateurs about opening late to allow people to get a bite to eat.’’
Each bar would have to apply individually for a special license, which Pickford said was a ‘‘straightforward’’ process.
Enterprise Dunedin director John Christie said they were yet to iron out hospitality plans for Easter.
The council said it was starting to make plans with police, the hospitality industry and the medical officer for the weekend.
About 80,000 people are expected to see Sheeran perform in Dunedin, which has a population of 120,000.
Tickets are yet to go on sale to the general public, but Dunedin’s accommodation options are already under pressure.
Major third party booking agencies said they had sold out or were running out of accommodation in Dunedin.
A Hotels.com spokeswoman said the company no longer had any rooms left in Dunedin for Thursday night. Bookings had ‘‘flooded in quickly’’, as soon as it was announced Sheeran would perform in Dunedin. Some options were still available on Trivago.
Half of the tickets to Sheeran’s first Dunedin show have already sold. The remaining tickets will go on sale at 2pm on May 23.