Scarborough Open Air Theatre fan zone for Euro final 'very unlikely'
The Borough Council says it is because it does not own a giant screen.
Last updated 5th Jul 2021
Scarborough Council says it is “very unlikely” to have a fan zone at its Open Air Theatre if England reach the Euro 2020 final because it does not own a giant screen.
The question was raised at today’s meeting of the Full Council with the football team just one game away from a historic final, potentially the country’s first since 1966.
Should England triumph over Denmark on Wednesday night they will face a final against either Italy or Spain on Sunday.
Cllr Neil Heritage, of the Yorkshire Coast Independents Alliance, asked if the Open Air Theatre could be used to host a fan zone as it had in previous tournaments as a thank you to the residents of the borough for all they had gone through during the pandemic.
He said that those attending could be required to take Lateral Flow Tests before they were allowed entry adding he hoped something could be worked out as “this could finally be the year that football comes home”.
In response, cabinet member Cllr Jim Grieve said he had to be the “bearer of bad news” but did not completely rule out the possibility.
He said:
“I would love to have seen the Open Air Theatre opened up to fans, however, there are some real limitations with Covid restrictions and everything we have got going on there.
“But there is also a potentially bigger issue and that is that we do not actually own the screen and we have to rent them for when we do these kinds of things and to get them on a short notice is difficult but we are looking into it.”
He added that North Yorkshire Police had raised concerns as it had not budgeted for the potential event and there were issues with trying to put security and staff in place at short notice.
He added:
“It is not an absolute no but it is very, very unlikely at this stage unfortunately.”
The 8,500 capacity venue is used for concerts during the summer with the venue currently being set up for the Stereophonics who are due to open the 2021 season on July 28.