Permissions and Licensing

If you are organising an event in Powys, there are some specific contacts you might need, and certain procedures you’ll need to follow. On this page you’ll find a comprehensive Guide to Organising Events Safely written by Powys County Council.

Permissions and licences needed for your event will depend on your venue, location, timings, programme of activity and proposed participants and audience. As soon as you have the outline of your event you should check what permissions and licences you need and allow plenty of time to get them in place.

Many permissions are a legal requirement. But even legal requirements can change, so always check you are working with the most up-to-date information!

Generally, if your event features any of the following, you will need a licence. The number of people at your event will affect which licence you need.

• retail sale and supply of alcohol
• performance of a play, dancing, exhibition or a film
• performing live music
• playing of recorded music
• providing facilities for making music or dancing
• supplying hot food or drink after 11pm until 5am.

Most of the above can be covered by a Temporary Event Notice, which gives you a licence for any of the above activities for up to 168 hours for up to 499 people.

For full legal information about licensing in the UK, you can check the Licencing Act 2003.

For specific questions about licensing in Powys, you can contact: email 01597 827380.

Running a bar

The sale of alcohol needs to comply with legal requirements.

Consider whether there will be enough people at your event to justify running a bar and take into consideration the local traders and pubs who sell alcohol.

If you do decide to run your own bar:

• Arrange ‘sale or return’ from a wholesaler.
• Consider the safety and environmental impact of the drinking vessels you use noting that extruded (polystyrene) cups and single-use plastic plates, stirrers and straws are banned in Wales as are some other plastic disposables.
• Remember to stock soft drinks.
• Make sure you have enough staff. Depending on the type of drink, an experienced bar person can serve about 60 drinks an hour, but this will be a LOT less if staff are inexperienced.
• Payment – If you will be accepting cash make sure you have enough float for giving change. If you are using a card machine, check what signal there is on the venue site/s.
• Ensure you have all the technical equipment you need to run the bar – such as power for a cooler – and a supply of ice, if appropriate.
• Arrange wash facilities for glasses and staff.
• It’s easier to serve cans, but wholesalers may be helpful in providing small kegs.
• Contact your local brewery and serve local beer.

REMEMBER – You MUST have a licence to sell alcohol and you also need to check that your bar and staff will meet legal requirements under Powys County Council’s Trading Standards.