Chow Down Leeds set to reopen after easing of lockdown restrictions

The director of Chow Down Leeds said it is set to reopen to the public once lockdown restrictions for the sector have eased.
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Director Stu Butterworth opened Chow Down in Leeds city centre at the end of July last year as a venue 'designed around Covid'.

The purpose built outdoor drinking and socialising space attracted over 30,000 people during the summer, and it will now be allowed to reopen on April 12 as part of Boris Johnson's roadmap to bring England out of lockdown.

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The website has been updated to say bookings will be 'open soon' with a short statement.

"It really is great": This is when Chow Down Leeds will return as bookings set to reopen"It really is great": This is when Chow Down Leeds will return as bookings set to reopen
"It really is great": This is when Chow Down Leeds will return as bookings set to reopen

The statement read: "We’re ready to swing open the doors (once its safe to do so) for another season of amazing music, food and drink.

"In the meantime please keep an eye on our social channels to keep up to date on the latest news.

"We look forward to welcoming you again.

"Team CD."

"It really is great": This is when Chow Down Leeds will return as bookings set to reopen"It really is great": This is when Chow Down Leeds will return as bookings set to reopen
"It really is great": This is when Chow Down Leeds will return as bookings set to reopen

Mr Butterworth said that the news announced by the Prime Minister on Monday (February 22) is positive for venues such as his at Temple Arches, but possibly not for others who don't have as much of an outdoor luxury.

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He added: "Broadly speaking, it's positive that there is a roadmap of the way out of this.

"We're fortunate as we designed our venue around Covid and it was set up as a purpose built outdoor space, but other venues don't have that luxury.

"It really is great for us though and although it is still condition dependent that we can open in April, we can start to look forward to opening.

"We have a lot of covered areas and we designed the space to cover for the pandemic restrictions and the weather.

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"However, more needs to be done to support the majority of venues in the wider industry with no or limited outdoor spaces because it's going to be really hard to last until May for them.

"They will find it really tough and some just won't reopen if it's not worth it, for example it's going to be really difficult to work with these rules in a small beer garden space."

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