How many people should be allowed on rink at once?

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ouch never good when 200 people turn up on a session.  I do know the coaches were all informed of this group booking and they in turn advised their own private students and the reason why I thankfully didn't go.  I don't think these group bookings get listed in the online numbers or they dont seem to be, so you dont find out until they turn up.

around school holiday time it's always worth a phone call to check if there's any group bookings

[spinZZ]

ouch never good when 200 people turn up on a session.  I do know the coaches were all informed of this group booking and they in turn advised their own private students and the reason why I thankfully didn't go.  I don't think these group bookings get listed in the online numbers or they dont seem to be, so you dont find out until they turn up.

around school holiday time it's always worth a phone call to check if there's any group bookings

But it's not always a large group (e.g., a busload of 50 skaters on a special outing) booked in advance that causes such a crowd.  Especially during holidays, often they'll be many small groups (e.g., a family of 4 or a group of 6 friends) who show up spontaneously. Forty groups of 5 skaters on average will quickly add up to 200 skaters.

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True, though since covid a lot of UK rinks and other leisure facilities are pre-book only.  In general I find it's pretty easy to predict how busy a session will be, and usually the only time it varies hugely from my expectations is from large group bookings, which are fairly unusual in my experience.


Skating outdoors on wheels, weather permitting, and being able to access daytime weekday public sessions outside school holiday times, work for me in terms of having space to do things.

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But it's not always a large group (e.g., a busload of 50 skaters on a special outing) booked in advance that causes such a crowd.  Especially during holidays, often they'll be many small groups (e.g., a family of 4 or a group of 6 friends) who show up spontaneously. Forty groups of 5 skaters on average will quickly add up to 200 skaters.

Agreed but most of small groups book through the online system so you can see how many are booked to skate on a particular session.  Big groups get a reduced rate so are booked through the box office and don't get listed in the online system.  So you can book on the system and think it will be a quiet session but then find 200 turn up. 

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This probably sums it up! 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MN_86DhhzME

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This probably sums it up! 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MN_86DhhzME

Indeed, though I can't stand patch either, nor quiet weekday sessions with people having lessons.  My favourite session is with a bunch of unruly kids on wheels in a school hall.  Bit of a handicap!

[spinZZ]

True, though since covid a lot of UK rinks and other leisure facilities are pre-book only. 

Agreed but most of small groups book through the online system so you can see how many are booked to skate on a particular session.  Big groups get a reduced rate so are booked through the box office and don't get listed in the online system.  So you can book on the system and think it will be a quiet session but then find 200 turn up.

Ah, I see now.  Thanks for the clarification.  Operations are different in the US, at least for the rinks near me.  When rinks started cautiously re-opening during COVID (~ Sept 2020), online pre-booking was mandatory.  With one or two exceptions, online pre-booking became optional ~ July 2021.  And again with one or two exceptions, online pre-booking was discontinued in 2022.

I'm friends with most of the front-desk staff.  So if there is a large group scheduled, someone will usually alert me in advance.  The surprises occur during the summer.  Many kids attend outdoor camps.  If there is heavy rain, the camp staff needs to quickly arrange for indoor activities, such as movies, arcades, bowling ... or ice skating.  But by now, I know to anticipate busloads of campers when there is heavy rain during the summer.

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Different context, but today I noticed this document which states the maximum number of people for different venues.
Jump to Page 166 (toolbar) or Page 156 (document) and there at number 6 is skating rinks detailed at 2.0!
Yes, that's 2 metres squared per person. Square root of 2 x 100 = a square with sides of 141.4cm.

Then check this site for rink sizes;
https://www.dimensions.com/element/ice-hockey-rink-international
"International ice hockey rinks measure 200.13’ (61 m) in length, 98.42’ (30 m) in width, and have corner radii of 27.88’ (8.5 m). The total area of an International ice hockey rink is 19,000 ft² (1,765 m²)."

1,765 / 2 = 882.5 theoretical maximum people, which is shocking right?

Be interested to learn how exactly they arrived at 2 metres squared, and there's possibly an opportunity for NISA/BIS to do a risk assessment to help improve safety.

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A couple of recent bookings I have made on 56x26 rinks, which would give a theoretical maximum of 728, suggested to me they had maximums of 500 and 300, which sounds more realistic - still a lot of people, but reasonable given that not all of them will be on the rink at the same time and there is a sizeable surrounding area.  I think I have once or twice been on a rink where they had those kind of numbers - around Christmas, public session.  Not very interesting for those of us who like to get  a bit of speed up, but people seemed to be enjoying themselves.


If you think about it, theatres and cinemas would be densely packed too.  A rink has the added handicap of people with skates on their feet, but a theatre or cinema has a bunch of seats and narrow aisles to obstruct an escape.