With ‘living’ selfie walls, a funky shell hangout, Pimm’s swings, pool pods, 120 tonnes of sand and an extended amusement parade, the Nottingham Beach is certainly back with bucketfuls of bang for 2019.
Yes, Skeggy meets Santorini in Slab Square this year as the traditional seaside family fun of City-by-the-Sea is joined by a luxury-style beach club and restaurant for the first time.
Officially launched this afternoon (July 12) both attractions will be operating full opening hours from 10am tomorrow.
Greeting party people at the Playa Day Club and Restaurant will be a feature ‘living wall’ of faux greenery intended for the perfect selfie op as well as the ‘Social Shell’ wooden lounge hangout.
Inside there are three areas for visitors to enjoy (although these must be booked separately and in advance playadayclub.co.uk). These are the luxury pool pods, day beds and pop-up restaurant headed by MasterChef: The Professionals winner Laurence Henry.
Drawing its inspiration from beach clubs from overseas and bringing a touch of class and glamour to the city centre, the pool pods are reached by little wooden bridges to ensure toes remain dry – unless you want a paddle, of course.
Sat in around a foot of water, the hexagonal booths can fit up to eight people with artificial grass in the middle and a table on top. £100 for a five to seven hour session, the money is transferred to a bar tab.
Over at the day beds, which will be bathed in sunshine (if we get any again) thanks to the club’s ‘world first’ retractable marquee roof, there are 20 spaces for those that love to lounge in luxury. £100 for up to six people, again the price of the day or evening session will be converted into a bar tab.
Keeping to beach club traditions, special brunch events will be taking place on various Sundays throughout the summer (July 14, August 4 and August 25).
Booking a space in the restaurant will set you back £30 per person (again credited as a food and drink tab) and guarantee a table for two hour and 15 minutes.
And chef Laurence is looking forward to being back on home turf.
“I’m looking forward to local people having the opportunity to taste the dishes that we have created especially for the restaurant at Playa Day Club,” he says.
Nottingham Beach, now back for its 10th outing, has also supersized for 2019 with more sand and even more entertainment, now located in Long Row.
A number of traditional rides and attractions as well as a beach barbeque and bar are in place for people to enjoy and the entertainment schedule is packed full of live music from local bands and artists, movie nights under the stars, beach volleyball tournaments and Just Ben hosting Variety on the Beach.
As usual it will be free of charge and open to everyone throughout the school holidays.
The company behind this summer’s entertainment offer in Old Market Square is the Mellors Group. For the Playa Day Club they have teamed up with club promotions ACES Events, who will be organising live entertainment which will include a programme of DJ performances late afternoon and into the evening every Saturday.
“We hope that people enjoy the return of the popular Nottingham Beach which will be great for families during the school holidays but we are also delighted that we have been able to introduce something more aspirational in the form of the Playa Day Club to cater for a different market. This means that there will be something for everyone in Nottingham city centre this summer,” says Edward Mellors, a director of the Mellors Group.
Councillor Dave Trimble, portfolio holder for leisure and culture at Nottingham City Council adds: “We are very happy to be able to bring the Beach back for the people of Nottingham. It is a great place to spend time with the family in the summer and to have a fun day out and a great holiday experience for free.
“People can spend the whole day there or just pop out for a break at lunchtime or after work. The entertainment offer is also great from beach sports, to films, to live music. Having the Playa Day Club this year offers a new dimension and a different kind of holiday experience for people and we look forward to seeing how our visitors enjoy these two very different spaces.”