Public performances at restaurants

Public performance covers shows at an establishment where the performance of one or several artists involves elements of nudity or hazards, such as striptease, knife throwing or juggling with flaming batons. Topless serving and nude dancing are also considered types of public performance.

 

According to the Danish Act on Restaurants and Alcohol Licences (restaurationsloven), a performance is public when it takes place at an establishment, such as a restaurant or bar, to which the general public has free access. Private parties are not comprised by the Act.

 

The provisions of the Act on Restaurants and Alcohol Licences as regards public performance apply to establishments serving strong alcoholic drinks, that is, drinks with an alcohol content of more than 2.8%. Other types of public performance, for example in public open spaces, are governed by the Danish Executive Order on Police Measures to Maintain Law and Order (ordensbekendtgørelsen) from which it appears that it is prohibited to conduct indecent or offensive behaviour that is suited to offend others or cause public offence.

 

Live music and dance competitions do not fall within the rules applicable to public performance at establishments and therefore do not require permission.

The purpose of section 26 of the Act on Restaurants and Alcohol Licences, which governs public performances at establishments, is to maintain public order and ensure that citizens are not unintentionally exposed to offensive or hazardous performances when visiting an establishment to which the general public has free access.

An establishment that makes its premises available to public performances is responsible for ensuring that the event can take place in an orderly manner. The establishment must therefore take measures to ensure proper conduct of the event, for example through a suitable arrangement of seats for the audience or by the use of security guards.

 

If deemed necessary by the police, the police may order the establishment to use security guards to ensure that the event takes place in an orderly manner. This will typically be relevant in connection with striptease and other nude shows where, in the experience of the police, it may be necessary to use security guards to keep the audience at a distance from the artists.

The premises must be suited for the purpose. This means that there must be sufficient space to ensure that the event can take place uninterrupted and without anyone getting hurt.

 

In the case of striptease and other nude shows, the police will make it a requirement that the show takes place in a sufficiently large room with a distance of at least 4 metres between the artist and the audience. Further, any windows must be shielded to prevent passers-by from witnessing the performance from the outside.

In the case of nude shows or shows involving hazardous elements, such as open fire, you can expect that the police will make it a requirement that the artist keeps a distance to the audience throughout the entire evening. Therefore, the artist is not allowed to roam among the audience during the performance.

In the case of striptease and nude dancing, so-called live shows where two or more artists interact by undressing, washing, soaping, caressing, etc., each other, are not allowed. The police will normally make it a requirement that genitals are covered.