Everyone loves a good party and taking advantage of the seasons by throwing an outdoor bash is a sure fire way to have everyone enjoying themselves.
You’ve probably thought of everything from food and decorations to entertainment and even got your guest list down to a tee, but have you thought about whether or not you’ll need to acquire an alcohol license for your do?
Major problems can come about if you don’t have an alcohol licence when you need one so, don’t bury your head in the sand, just follow this guide to find out whether or not you need an alcohol license for your outdoor party.
When you’ll need an alcohol licence
Simply put, you’ll need a licence for your outdoor party if you plan on selling alcohol or serving alcohol to members of a private club at the event.
However, it’s worth taking note that you may also need a licence if you plan on doing any of the following:

• Serving hot food or drink between 11 pm and 5 am.
• Providing entertainment such as dance, indoor sports, or music.

Temporary Events Notice (TEN) 
The ideal way to get an alcohol licence for your outdoor party is to get a Temporary Events Notice (also known as a TEN), which also encompasses any relevant entertainment and the serving of hot food and drink. 
We spoke to personal alcohol licence training providers, Hospitality Training Solutions who said: “If you’re going to be selling alcohol at your outdoor party, we strongly recommend that you get a Temporary Events Notice.”
“They’re fairly simple to apply for and will certainly cover everything you’re going to need for an outdoor party involving serving hot food between the specified hours, selling alcohol, and lavish entertainment.” 
You can apply to acquire are TEN from the gov.uk website.
Restrictions of a Temporary Events Notice 

• You must be aged 18 or over to apply.
• There must be fewer than 500 people present at any one time (this also includes any members of staff present).
• The event must not last any longer than 168 hours (the equivalent of 7 days).
• You can only apply for up to 5 TENs each year, even if each event is held at different premises.
• Individual premises can hold up to 15 TENs each year, provided that to total event time held does not exceed 21 hours.
• Your TENs must be cleared at least 10 days before your event takes place.

Keeping your TEN
You must keep your TEN in a safe place at the venue where the event held.
Penalties and fines 
If you make false statements in your application, you could be fined. Similarly, if you breach the terms of the TEN, you could be prosecuted.
Hopefully, this has cleared up whether or not you’re going to need an alcohol licence for your outdoor party. If you want to throw an outdoor party but are unsure about how to go about it, check out this post for some ideas.