While Fridays and Saturdays generate the lion’s share of revenue for most pubs, for many venues those two nights alone no longer cover the rising cost of doing business.
To stay viable, operators need the rest of the week to contribute more meaningfully toward wages, overheads, licensing costs and profitability.
For generations, popular entertainment such as trivia nights, televised sports and live music have been used to increase patronage, but there are other options that are drawing in customers and creating community hype.
‘Open deck’ nights, where the public is invited to bring and DJ their own tunes, continues to gain popularity. Often held on Thursday nights, the feel can be laid back or hyped, depending on the venue’s style.
Paint and Sips have also risen in popularity over the last few years, and with outside vendors providing supplies, all patrons need to do is show up.
Themed concepts also help some bars stand out where competition is high.
Buddy’s Bar in Sydney’s vibrant inner west is Australia’s first self-serve bar, where patrons pour their own wines and pints, while Alcotraz, which provides an ‘immersive prison experience’, has venues in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Sydney, currently experiencing a resurgence of pinball, has more than two hundred machines publicly available, largely in pubs such as Newtown’s Courthouse Hotel, or arcades – or a hybrid of the two.
Located near Redfern station, Beercade is one such hybrid. While it attracts visitors for its pinballs and video games, locals also enjoy the venue. Community-led groups such as Z Belles, a pinball social group for women, regularly hold events here.
Owner Roger Robertson told the South Sydney Herald that the venue, which has been running since 2022, is now expanding into a neighbouring space.
In the UK, general manager of the Ship Inn in Hampshire, Mark Dawsonm has put on a wide range of events, from trivia through to fireworks and weddings.
“We got a wedding licence so we became an alternative venue for customers spending the usual 10,000 pounds on a function hall,” he told the Morning Advertiser.
“It has a bit more character and we’ve done about ten so far.”
Other events Dawson has put on include a Pride party drag show, sourcing an oompah band for Oktoberfest and a mariachi band for Cinco de Mayo, hosting Dungeons and Dragons nights, and ‘Lager and Lego’.
The Inn has a room upstairs where they do what’s known as ‘soft sales’, which includes Paint & Pinot, Paint Your Pet, and Pints & Ponytails – specifically for fathers with daughters who, at some point Dawson says, are going to want their hair braided.
He reports not just an uplift in sales, but an equally important impact on his community, and advises venues to foster advocacy with return guests, and encourage them to help with event promotion.
But most of all, Dawson encourages venues to keep trying new ideas and don’t judge attempts as failures if they don’t work out.
“It could be timing or just something you’ve missed,” he says. “Try it again and if that doesn’t’ work, try something else, but don’t give up.”
