The Empress Ballroom is an entertainment venue in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It is located within the Winter Gardens, a large entertainment complex in the town centre. As part of the Winter Gardens, the ballroom is a

Grade II* Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

. It is operated by Crown Leisure Ltd, on behalf of

Blackpool Council Blackpool Council is the local authority of the Borough of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It is a unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additiona ...

, who purchased the property from Leisure Parcs Ltd as part of a £40 million deal in 2010. It hosts a variety of events including conferences, concerts, dance and darts competitions as well as trade fairs, and for the first time (in August 2018) the British Beard & Moustache Championships. It has hosted the main annual conferences for all three major British political parties as well as a number of trade unions. The owners of the Winter Gardens say that every

British prime minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As moder ...

since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

has addressed an audience at the venue.

History

The venue was built in 1896. It was designed by Manghall and Littlewood of Manchester, and decorated by J.M.Boekbinder. At 110 ft by 189 ft, offering 20,790 sqft of floor space, the ballroom was one of the largest in the world. It has a barrel-vaulted ceiling, decoratively treated as a square-coffered vault with relief patterned panels, with twelve glass chandeliers. The ballroom has a decorated balcony on three sides, It was requisitioned by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

in 1918 for military use during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

to assemble gas envelopes for the R.33 airship, before being handed back a year later. The floor was replaced in late 1934 with 10,000 pieces of oak, mahogany, walnut and greenwood, laid over 1,320 four-inch springs. It is one of the few remaining sprung dancefloors in Britain. A new stage was also built, with space for a lift provided for the Wurlitzer organ console. The

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

organ that was installed in the Empress Ballroom in the winter of 1934/35 was originally from the Tower Ballroom. Its specification was enlarged to match the specification of the new organ at the Tower Ballroom. The console was placed on a lift in the centre of the stage, and the pipe chambers directly above the stage. Horace Finch, pianist and accordionist for Bertini's Tower Ballroom band, was appointed the position of Empress Ballroom Organist from 1935-1962. The organ was removed in 1969 and was installed in the BBC Playhouse Studio in Manchester. It was in use there until its removal in 1988 after which it was purchased and parted out by the Sussex Theatre Organ Trust The Empress Ballroom was a popular dance venue until the 1960s with

British dance band British dance band is a genre of popular jazz and dance music that developed in British dance halls and hotel ballrooms during the 1920s and 1930s, often called a Golden Age of British music, prior to the Second World War. Thousands of mile ...

s playing summer residences of four weeks during the summer seasons. They included the bands of Geraldo,

Joe Loss Sir Joshua Alexander "Joe" Loss (22 June 1909 – 6 June 1990) was a British dance band leader and musician who founded his own eponymous orchestra. Life Loss was born in Spitalfields, London, the youngest of four children. His parents, Isr ...

Ted Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

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, and Ken McIntosh. In 1964, the Rolling Stones caused a riot at the ballroom during a series of UK dates. Fifty fans and two policemen were treated at

Blackpool Victoria Hospital Blackpool Victoria Hospital, known locally as The Vic, is the main hospital for Blackpool and the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, England. It is managed by the Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital was originally ...

. Four of the offending fans appeared in court the following day. The band was banned from performing in the town; the ban was lifted in 2008, 44 years after the event."Sympathy for the Stones as Blackpool buries the hatchet over 1964 riot"
- ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 28 March 2008 In the late 1970s, some of the floor space was adapted for other purposes to reduce the venue's over-capacity. It was used in the summer seasons of 1970-74 as a cabaret-dining venue called ''The Stardust Garden''. The ballroom has been used as a venue for many years by the

Labour Party Conference The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conference season when th ...

Conservative Party Conference The Conservative Party Conference (CPC) is a four-day national conference event held by the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It takes place every year around October during the British party conference season, when the House of Commons is ...

and

Liberal Democrat Conference The Liberal Democrat Conference, also known inside the party as the ''Liberal Democrat Federal Conference'', is a twice-per-year political conference of the British Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the UK by the number of ...

. The ballroom has hosted the World Matchplay darts tournament, run by the Professional Darts Corporation, since 1994, which is shown live on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. It also hosts numerous dance competitions, such as the British Sequence Championships and the

Blackpool Dance Festival The 8-day Blackpool Dance Festival is the world's first and most famous annual ballroom dance competition of international significance, held in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, England since 1920. It is also the largest ...

, an annual ballroom

dance competition Competitive dance is a popular, widespread sport in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as acro, ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, tap, and improv—before ...

, since its inception in 1920. On 1 March 1974, the ballroom was the venue for the opening concert of

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

's first ever headlining tour of the UK. On 14 and 15 January 2017, the ballroom hosted a two-day tournament to crown the first-ever

WWE United Kingdom Champion The NXT United Kingdom Championship was a men's professional wrestling championship that was created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It was primarily defended as the top championship of the NXT UK brand division, a sister brand of WW ...

. On 12 January 2019, it hosted NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool, the first-ever

NXT UK ''NXT UK'' is a professional wrestling television programme that was produced exclusively in the United Kingdom by the American promotion WWE. It aired on BT Sport and 5Action (previously known as Paramount Network). In the United States, th ...

TakeOver event. This was followed one year later with NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II on 12 January 2020.

External links

Empress Ballroom websiteWinter Gardens' official website

References

{{Authority control Grade II* listed buildings in Lancashire Buildings and structures in Blackpool Ballrooms in the United Kingdom Theatres in Blackpool Music venues completed in 1896 1896 establishments in England Event venues established in 1896 Music venues in Lancashire