NEW ZEALAND – Ed Sheeran’s tour in Dunedin this week has been called the city’s biggest event ever, and is hoped to bring its biggest economic windfall since the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Pop superstar Sheeran will play three shows in Dunedin – last night was the first, then tonight (Saturday in New Zealand and Sunday – following on from his three sold-out shows in Auckland).

More than 60,000 visitors will descend on the city over four days, bringing a predicted $34 million into the local economy.

His visit was at the forefront of the debate about relaxing Easter trading laws in the city, a controversial bylaw was passed allowing retailers to open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

His concerts are also why more than 30 bars will be able to open on those normally sacrosanct days and why part of the Octagon will be converted into a pedestrian-only hub for his fans at a cost of $60,000.

Sheeran’s presence would also have a positive impact on local charity. For the bars in town to open early on the sacrosanct days of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, a door charge had to be in place under the Supply and Sale of Alcohol Act.

After-midnight patrons would pay a one-off $5 charge to get into their first bar and be provided with a stamp to allow them to move among venues.

All the money raised from that would be donated to the Otago Community Hospice.

Dunedin Venues chief executive Terry Davies said the benefits were huge.

“To try and comprehend it, when we put it on sale, the sell-out of show two took about six minutes. So, this is the scale of the individual,” Mr Davies said.

“We are forecasting around a $34 million economic impact for the weekend. So when you talk about significant, I don’t know if there’s been anything as significant as this for a very long time.

“We’ve got 100,000-plus tickets sold here, 60,000 people coming here and some are going to do multiple shows and be here for the whole weekend. That multiplier effect of the economic impact is significant.”

In the singer’s honour, Dunedin has been rolling out the “Ed carpet” for the singer-songwriter.

Many city shops have dressed their windows in keeping with the “Paint the Town Ed” theme, with several restaurants offering Sheeran-themed meal options.

The council created an Ed Sheeran Governance Group to handle logistics and its head, Simon Pickford, said it had been a huge undertaking.

“Dunedin won’t have seen anything like these before,” he said.

“This is the biggest event, or series of events, we’ve had in Dunedin ever.

“Up to 120,000 people, with 70 percent of those coming from outside of Dunedin, descending over those four days for those three concerts.

“We’ve never seen anything quite like that and that’s why we’ve really ramped it up to make it a special event for their visit, not just at the concert but for their experience of Dunedin.

“As much as possible we think we have accommodation and transport covered,” he said.

The Transport Agency said motorists should expect between 5000 to 7000 extra cars on State Highway 1 between Christchurch and Dunedin over Easter each day over the long weekend.

- PNC Sources