The International Convention Centre Wales (ICC Wales) ( cy, Canolfan Gynadledda Rhyngwladol Cymru) is a 5,000-capacity venue in the city of Newport,

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. The venue has a main auditorium with fixed seating for 1,500 delegates, six rooms of exhibition space, and of pillar-free space. ICC Wales is located on the

Celtic Manor Resort Celtic Manor Resort is a golf, spa and leisure hotel and resort in the city of Newport, Wales, Newport, South East Wales. Owned by Terry Matthews, Sir Terry Matthews, the resort is located on the south-facing side of Christchurch, Newport, Christ ...

site which hosted the 2010 Ryder Cup and 2014 NATO summit. The venue is a public/private enterprise with

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...

providing £22.5m grant funding and taking a 50/50 share of ownership with Celtic Manor.

History

International Convention Centre Wales April 2022 (2)

The construction work, which was carried out by

Sisk Group Sisk Group is a construction and property company founded in Cork, Ireland in 1859 with operations in Ireland, United Kingdom, Belgium, Poland, Sweden and the Middle East. History After an apprenticeship as a plasterer and at the age of 22, Joh ...

, began in 2017 and the facility opened its doors for the first time on the 14 September 2019. It was officially opened 24 September 2019.

Floor space

The venue totals 26,000 square metres and has a stated delegate capacity of over 5,000. The main hall is approximately 4,000 sq metres and also has a 1,500 seated auditorium. The outdoor plaza is 2,500 sq metres.

Transport

The venue is served by an hourly bus service from

Newport railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Newport_railway_station_MMB_32_43187.jpg , caption = Newport railway station looking eastbound. , borough = Newport, Wales , country = Wales , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid reference ...

and

Newport bus station Newport Central bus station ( cy, Gorsaf fysiau Canol Casnewydd) is a bus terminus and interchange located in the city centre, Newport, South Wales. It is the largest road transport hub for public services in the county. It is situated on the ...

, with a journey time of 25 minutes from the city centre to the venue door. The service runs between 6.25am and 6.35pm every hour at ten to the hour drop off and ten past the hour pickup. It is four miles east of

Newport city centre Newport city centre is traditionally regarded as the area of Newport, Wales bounded by the west bank of the River Usk, the George Street Bridge, the eastern flank of Stow Hill and the South Wales Main Line. Most of the city centre is containe ...

and the major road access is

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...

junction 24, then B4237 Chepstow Road. The site is equidistant from both Bristol Airport and

Cardiff Airport Cardiff Airport ( cy, Maes Awyr Caerdydd) is the only airport offering commercial passenger services in Wales. It has been under the ownership of the Welsh Government since March 2013, operating at an arm's length as a commercial business. Pa ...

(31 miles).

Events

2022 Welsh Open snooker quarter-finals 13

The first event held at the centre was the annual three-day Association of Stoma Care Nurses UK 2019 conference. On 18 September 2019, the venue hosted the "An Experience With" series, where

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

spoke to an audience. On 20 September the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

held its annual party conference at the venue. The venue held the first

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is b ...

Live debate on 22 September, which is a new ''

Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...

'' style debate show focusing on Welsh issues. This was shortly followed by the inaugural UK Space Conference from 24 to 26 September, whose headline speaker was astronaut

Tim Peake Major Timothy Nigel Peake (born 7 April 1972) is a British Army Air Corps officer, European Space Agency astronaut and a former International Space Station (ISS) crew member. He is the first British ESA astronaut, the second astronaut to bear ...

. The venue hosted the WaterSource 19 conference on 1 October led by

Welsh Water Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

. This was followed by the

Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...

national conference on 4 October. The venue was used for the Welsh Open snooker events in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

. In August 2022, Comic Con Wales (not

Wales Comic Con Wales Comic Con (WCC; dually-branded as Wales Comic Con: Telford Takeover since 2019 and as Wales Comic Con: Homecoming since 2022) is a tri-annual fan convention in the United Kingdom, first held in Wrexham, North Wales in 2008, until the ...

) was hosted at the venue, organised by Monopoly Events. With another scheduled for August 2023.

References

External links

* * {{City of Newport Buildings and structures in Newport, Wales Buildings and structures completed in 2019 2019 establishments in the United Kingdom Exhibition and conference centres in Wales