nz bars open at easter?

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richgamer

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#19981 8-Mar-2008 20:17

are new zealand bars allowed to open and serve alcohol at easter on easter friday,saturday,sunday?

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#115456 8-Mar-2008 20:34

It's my understanding that they can open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday if, and only if, they have a special license to do so.

There have certainly been a couple of Easters over the last few years where I have gone out on on Saturday night and was able to continue drinking past midnight.

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#115462 8-Mar-2008 20:50

alasta: It's my understanding that they can open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday if, and only if, they have a special license to do so.

Correct.

A number of establishments in Wellington have applied for special licenses, especially as the Rock 2 Wellington festival is on over easter, but my understanding is these are only going to be dished out for a 2 hour period, with some fairly strict requirements around host responsibility.

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#115481 8-Mar-2008 22:32

I heard that the Dunedin bar (pictured below) will also be open for business on Easter Day
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#115560 9-Mar-2008 13:54

cokemaster: I heard that the Dunedin bar (pictured below) will also be open for business on Easter Day

Hmmm, that look more like a brothel than a bar.

richgamer

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#115690 10-Mar-2008 12:03

just checked out the ers website

http://www.ers.dol.govt.nz/audienceinfo/shop.html

it says bars have to close on good friday and easter sunday.

not all of us are christian and we would like to go to a bar. man these laws punish everyone else who aint christian. it is only a $1000 fine for a bar to open so i wonder how many will be open. anyone been to a bar on these days that was open?

i wonder if nightclubs will be open. anyone know?

alasta:
It's my understanding that they can open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday if, and only if, they have a special license to do so.

There have certainly been a couple of Easters over the last few years where I have gone out on on Saturday night and was able to continue drinking past midnight.

alasta

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#115717 10-Mar-2008 13:29

richgamer: just checked out the?ers website

http://www.ers.dol.govt.nz/audienceinfo/shop.html

it says bars have to close on good friday and easter sunday.

Unless this is a recent thing it can't be correct. I was definitely out drinking in the early hours of Sunday morning in New Plymouth over Easter in 2005 (the REM concert was on that Saturday night), and also in Dunedin over Easter in 2004. I was in Taupo last year but went to a private party so I don't know whether bars were open then, and I can't recall exactly what I was doing in 2006.

However, interestingly when Anzac day fell on a Sunday four years ago all Christchurch bars were all strictly shut by midnight.

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#117570 19-Mar-2008 17:41

I was out last easter in auckland, was good stuff

just be prepared to hunt around a little and ask people

some get special permission or loop holes

others will wait until midnight to open up (or close early at midnight, depending on the day you are referring to etc)

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#117695 19-Mar-2008 23:47

Brad has been trying to get me to go to that bar, coke. I have heard nothing but good reviews about the place. Even our very own Rscole has been there.

Rscole: That bar is amazing, the sheep:person ratio is 100:1, its insane. I'll go back next time i'm in the awesome city that is Dunedin.

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#117710 20-Mar-2008 01:35

not all of us are christian and we would like to go to a bar.

I'm sure (and I would too), but I bet you don't complain about having the "Christian" holidays though...

My understanding is that trading under the Sale of Liquor Act is based around host responsibility - one of the requirements of which is to have food available. This means a whole lot more than putting a bowl of fries on the bar for the patrons to help themselves...

Establishments which do provide food can apply for special licenses which will allow them to trade for limited periods on certain public holidays. If they are able to satisfy the DLA (District Licensing Authority) and the Police liquor licensing person (usually a sergeant) then a limited entertainment license will be granted.

If you want/need further information, your best bet is to ring your local Council and ask to be put through to the DLA. Perhaps you may want to do that as a matter of interests and post your findings here?

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#117753 20-Mar-2008 11:16

richgamer:
it says bars have to close on good friday and easter sunday.

not all of us are christian and we would like to go to a bar. man these laws punish everyone else who aint christian.

Not sure if you've even thought of this, but as you're nice and happily getting fridays off and maybe sunday too from work maybe the people who work in the bar industry would like those days off too? If it wasn't for all the "christian" holidays there wouldn't be a whole lot of days off throughout the year without taking leave. Do you get upset at christians over christmas, when you're sitting there with presents and good food too?... don't think so.

retardinator

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#117870 21-Mar-2008 11:38

Reply to Pebbles.

I consider richgamers comments to be fair and within reason, people that do not hold christian beliefs; whether they be Muslim, Buddist, or like myself - Athiest and subscribers to Darwin's Theory of Evolution, Shouldn't have christian based legislation designed around restricting their freedoms.

If it wasn't for all the "christian" holidays there wouldn't be a whole lot of days off throughout the year without taking leave.

Crap. There would just be other days legislated for. But that comment was designed to skew the argument. The argument is whether or not restrictions should be placed upon individuals and businesses, during days of religious significance, the most common restriction being trade. The answer is no.

Do you get upset at christians over christmas, when you're sitting there with presents and good food too?... don't think so.

Eh??! This is starting to remind me of the outcry that occured in Palmerston North when the Christian Cross fell off the civic clock tower. And the few (but most vocal) christian groups advocated relentlessly for it to be 'resurrected'. Cokemaster's blog drew the attention of a Christian troll who was hellbent on forcing his religious ideal, by way of commenting on Cokes blog. (I hyperlinked it above, it's a good read :P )

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alasta

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#117905 21-Mar-2008 14:13

Back to the original question, I went out drinking last night and got kicked out of the bar that I was in at 12am sharp, but the friends who I was with knew the local hospitality scene and were able to locate another bar hidden away that was still open. A brief walk along Dixon Street, Manners Street and Courtenay Place at about 1am revealed that the vast majority of bars were closed but there are definitely exceptions if you know where to look.

Just a word of warning for those who might be planning a night out this weekend - it was really hard to find a taxi to get home. In Wellington taxis usually queue up and wait for passengers, but last night passengers were queuing up for taxis. It might be worse on Saturday night with so many people in town for Rock2Wgtn and a mass exodus of people from bars at midnight.

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#117922 21-Mar-2008 17:47

same, I was out in auckland on thursday night. only there for less than an hour and most of it was walking from one bar to another as everywhere looked dead, and then we had to go before midnight as everywhere was closing. My mate had had the bright idea town would be awesome as it is the last day of the work week before the long weekend, guess not. Oh well, it was not all bad. I had to leave anyway before midnight to catch the last bus home and I did get the number of a cute girl

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alasta

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#117923 21-Mar-2008 17:57

dman: same, I was out in auckland on thursday night. only there for less than an hour and most of it was walking from one bar to another as everywhere looked dead, and then we had to go before midnight as everywhere was closing. My mate had had the bright idea town would be awesome as it is the last day of the work week before the long weekend, guess not.

It was actually quite a good night in Wellington, but it was just unfortunate that everyone got turfed out onto the street at exactly the same time. From that point of view the compulsory closure at midnight is a bit stupid.

dman

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#117925 21-Mar-2008 18:20

my view of it is there are two options:

a) have everything close at midnight and get a day off from work

b) not have bars close and midnight and not have a day off from work

I'll pick option b over option a any day of the week :)

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