NSW Hospitality Minister Kevin Anderson has announced an extension to trading hours for venues during major public events, as part of the COVID recovery.
The extensions will apply to venues located in the vicinity of major events, such as Vivid Sydney, the Tamworth Country Music Festival, the Parkes Elvis Festival and the NRL grand final.
Closing time on Sundays will be pushed from 10pm to midnight, and when a major event occurs on a weekday, nearby venues that don’t already have extended trading hours can also get extensions.
“We understand that it has been tough for hospitality venues recently, which is why we are extending trading hours for certain events,” said Anderson.
“This will create jobs and put valuable dollars back into the tills of small businesses.
“NSW hospitality venues are waiting with open arms to welcome patrons through their doors, so now is the time to get out and enjoy yourself in a COVID-safe way.
“We need to recognise and support events that cater to a range of interests and cultures and that are both locally and globally significant.”
Further to the trading extension, Destination NSW is inviting hospitality venues and businesses to get involved with the spectacular that will be Vivid Sydney 2022.
Vivid Sydney is an annual celebration of creativity, innovation and technology, and the largest light festival in the Southern Hemisphere.
Into its 12th year, in 2022 Vivid will transform Sydney’s CBD and surrounds into an illuminating fusion of light, music and ideas, from 27 May to 18 June. Business owners in festival precincts are being invited to get involved in Vivid Sydney’s Local Business Program, aiming to support the local business community and inspire audiences to dine, shop, stay in and experience the city.
“Now Sydney is well and truly open for business, we’re calling on our retailers, hoteliers, hospitality groups, entertainment, travel and tourism operators in the Sydney CBD to join the Local Business Program and truly immerse themselves in Vivid Sydney,” says Stuart Ayres, Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade, Minister for Tourism and Sport and Minister for Western Sydney.
Program participants are encouraged to range experiences, tours or menus inspired by Vivid Sydney. These will in turn be promoted to a large and engaged online audience in the lead-up to the event.
Businesses can access LED screens, window decals and posters to show what Vivid means to them, and are invited to light their facades as part of ‘Our Connected City’ – a large-scale programmed lighting activation of Sydney Harbour.
“Each year, Vivid Sydney brings something new, bigger and brighter to wow the hundreds of thousands of people who visit each year,” adds Ayres. “This program is a fantastic opportunity for business owners to expose themselves to a large audience of potential new customers.”
Vivid Sydney fuses art displays and 3D light projections with exhilarating live music performances, as well as deep-dive discussions from some of the world’s brightest minds.
The Local Business Program is on offer to businesses in and around key festival locations, being Circular Quay, The Rocks, Walsh Bay, Barangaroo, Darling Harbour, Haymarket, Central Station and the wider Sydney CBD.
Vivid is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, and the 2022 Local Business Program is exclusively supported by Red Balloon.
Applications are open from 24 February–15 March 2022, via the Vivid Sydney website HERE.
