An event promoted on a social networking site drew hundreds of people to the Gardens Tavern in Castle St, Dunedin, on Monday night, following news the popular student bar was on the market.
Police launched a low-key operation to manage the aftermath of the event after concerns about some of the comments posted on a Facebook event page called "Save the Garden Bar Celebration", which by yesterday had more than 2300 confirmed guests.
Senior Sergeant Kelvin Lloyd, of Dunedin, said after police were called several times to deal with minor disorder and a "noisy party" in Castle St about 9pm, it was decided to keep staff in the area.
Staff from an earlier shift stayed on for an extra hour and a-half in case any trouble ensued.
However, the evening progressed largely without any incidents.
About 11pm, when the pub closed, police started ushering down the street a crowd of about 300 people standing in Castle St outside the premises, while other staff directed pub patrons out the rear entrance and down Leith St, which runs parallel to Castle St.
The managers had stopped people entering the bar several hours earlier and police had no issue with how the deluge of customers was managed by the proprietors, Snr Sgt Lloyd said.
Students told the Otago Daily Times they thought there were about 1000 people around Castle St during the night.
Police tried to stop couch fires as they moved people along, but several fires in Howe St required the attendance of the fire service.
No-one was arrested, largely due to the low-key approach of police and the behaviour of the crowd, Snr Sgt Lloyd said.
