Gastronomy Biel/Bienne restaurants may open their terraces for longer in summer

From July to September, the city of Biel is conducting a second test run for so-called Mediterranean nights. As part of this, restaurants will be allowed to open their terraces for one hour longer on twelve weekends.

Interested businesses can submit an application to the commercial police, as the city of Biel/Bienne wrote in a press release on Thursday. The condition is that the terrace is licensed and the business can be open until midnight.

The police inspectorate decided to carry out another test run based on the positive experience last year. At that time, 21 businesses were allowed to operate their terraces until 1.30 a.m. on eight weekends. The extended opening hours were not particularly lucrative, but the closure of the outdoor areas at the end of the day could have been carried out in a more relaxed manner.

After evaluating the second test run, the city of Biel will decide how to proceed with the extended opening hours for the summer months from 2025.