Special Licence

Special Licences

Christmas Trading Hours: With Christmas fast approaching and being the season for events, please bare in mind.

A minimum of 20 working days is required to process a Special licence.

You will need to lodge and pay for your application before 21 November to help ensure your licence is ready for issue prior to Christmas.

If you require a Special licence for early 2025, please note that between 20 December and 15 January there is only one ‘working day’ during this period. This means that Special Licenses for events up until 14 February 2025 will be affected.

What is a Special Licence?

A special licence allows for the sale of alcohol at special occasions or events. They are normally used to licence one-off events where no licence is currently held, such as a food and wine festival or a fundraising event. A special licence can also be used to extend the hours or area of licensed premises for a special occasion or event.

Which events require a Special Licence?

You need a Special Licence if:

• you are selling alcohol at an event,
• charging a fee such as an entry fee or ticket price, or collecting donations where alcohol is being supplied for free.

A Special Licence is intended for an event or activity which is outside the usual or regular activities of the applicant, i.e. has some ‘Speciality’ and is not just normal business.

Social clubs and Community clubs may need special licences where membership fees go towards buying alcohol.

A Special Licence can cover a series of related events or activities. The events must be located in the same place, e.g. community hall.

Examples include:

• private functions (birthdays, weddings)
• farmers' market
• festivals
• concerts
• sporting events
• bus excursions
• ticketed events
• wine tastings
• functions in a public venue where public access is not restricted.

If you are not sure if a special licence is required - please ask us and we will advise you.

Types of Special Licence

There are two types of special licence:

• On-site special licence – allows the licensee to sell or supply alcohol for 'consumption on the site' to people attending an event.
• Off-site special licence – allows the licensee to 'sell the licensee’s alcohol for consumption somewhere else' and to supply free samples (tastings).

Applications must be lodged at least 20 working days before the date of the function. This is to allow for the processing of the application and for the reporting agencies and Inspector to be able to make any necessary enquiries. The bigger the event, the more time you should allow for your application, so the earlier the application is received, the better.
Exceptions can be made for unforeseen events, such as funerals.