Live amplified music in the beer garden

Q: Can I have live amplified music in my beer garden until 11pm under the Live Music Act?

A: If you can sell (not just consume) alcohol in your beer garden then yes, you can have live amplified music there up to an audience of 200 between 8am and 11pm as long as your bar is also open. If your beer garden is not shown on your licensed plans at all then you can still have live amplified music between the same hours and with the same audience limit due to a separate provision for ‘workplaces’ under the Live Music Act (the beer garden is clearly a workplace).

The only difference between the two is that if your beer garden is not shown on the plans then any conditions relating to live music would still apply, whereas if you are permitted to sell alcohol there they would not. The only situation in which licensed premises might need to apply for permission to have live amplified music in their beer garden (if it wasn’t already authorised by the licence) would be if the beer garden was shown on the licensed plans but was not licensed to sell alcohol – some authorities consider this falls outside both the exemptions in the Live Music Act and requires a Variation or Temporary Event Notice. It goes without saying that a more robust Noise Risk Assessment would be required for live music in outside areas.