wHAT ARE ALL THE PUBS AND CLUBS OFFERING US ON NEW YEAR?????

Up to now, Ringside will be Free entry. Drink prices will be the same as usual. Ill be doing a drunken disco/Karaoke where just about anything goes.

The pool table will be opened up so you can have free games.

I may put the WII on the big screan for people to play on.

There is nothing booked upstairs but would be willing to listen to anyone who wants to put on a gig/event/party. As long as it does not cost me anything then it will be free (as long as i dont have to pay for a band/DJ/soundman/bouncers)

Also, there is no licence restriction so we close when we close...lol

Mmm, over the past 7 years Ive worked all types of New Year event from local pub ticket dos to clubs and town centre bars and back again! The only problem with booking entertainment for NY is the cost- as expected most artists and bands usually charge at least double. As much as I wouldnt mind paying out for entertainment, people in Hull are very lazy when it comes to events. I could do it as a ticket do (to ensure I could make the money back to pay the entertainment) but people in my experience only buy tickets early if its a stupidly exclusive event or have nothing better to go to or they cant be arsed and whine after the event that they forgot. If we did it as a pay-on-the-door event Id run the risk of having no audience or being stupidly overrun.

The other problem is that the sort of bands we have here usually attract a younger audience who tend to pay for their ticket on the door and dont bring any pennies for drinks- which means we take naff all to cover our bar costs and we end up overrun with tight-arsed people whove got plastered before theyve come out and come to the bar asking for free water all night!!!

The last few NYE have been decidedly quiet, more and more people seem to be staying in for house parties and not venturing out to the pub.

We were considering doing a ticketed event with and all-in bar and buffet price but there doesnt seem to be much interest in that either. As weve got a hugely varied age range of customers itd be hard to find entertainment to suit the majority all at once.

Having spoken to Wayne, wed happily put some sort of event on (probably DJ and not band-led) and pay out the extra cash for it if we could at least guarantee a minimum of 50 people in by 10pm. Id even happily put drinks offers on to keep people happy!

If anyone wants to arrange anything or comes up with any good suggestions, call me at the pub 226698 or pop it on here.

We make absolutely naff all on gigs. Bar normally does no more than £100 (as weve said before) and this has to cover the costs of stock, staff, electric and performing rights society etc. We put on gigs simply because we enjoy them and dont want to see the room empty.

As regards payment for bands, pubs expect to pay more for NYE and Xmas but with the financial climate as it is, not many of us are willing to pay out a lot when were not sure what to expect over the bar takings-wise in case we massively lose out.

It will vary from premises to premises but in my experience pubs which are run by a manager (not leased by a landlord) normally have a bigger entertainment budget than freehouses.

Good luck!

>> Its important you make this clear to people who might otherwise think anyone with a business has a Merc in their garage.

Have you heard that places of worship are exempt from needing a music license? The way around needing one is to get a priest or vicar to bless the venue before the performance starts. Pass the word around and soon youll find out which priests / vicars are progressive enough to do the blessing for you. Everyone benefits. The priest / vicar gets to meet people he may not see in church, the band / pub doesnt have to mess about with licenses!

May as well have a good festive season before the £ goes the way of the ISK (Icelandic Krone)

deja vu doing anything?