Venue

Cymru Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2 ...

is a theatre, conference centre and arena in

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craig ...

Conwy County Borough Conwy County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy) is a county borough in Wales. It borders Gwynedd to the west and south, and Denbighshire to the east. Other settlements in the county borough include Abergele, Betws-y-Coed, Colwyn Bay, Conwy ...

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, ...

. Formerly known as the Aberconwy Centre and the North Wales Theatre and Conference Centre, it is now a large arts, conference and events venue. Venue Cymru has a theatre, conference centre, and arena.

Victoria Palace

The site lies at the edge of ''Ty'n-y-ffrith'', the 'house in the sheep pasture'. The first theatre at the site was the Victoria Palace, which opened in July 1894. It was intended to be a temporary building, and it was designed as a 1,150-seat

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that ma ...

for Jules Rivière (then aged 75) and his 42-musician orchestra. Rivière had previously performed at the Pier Pavilion before he fell out with the Llandudno Pier Company. Victoria Palace attracted eminent visiting soloists including Sir Charles and Lady Hallé who in 1894 gave a piano and violin recital with Rivière's orchestra. The Victoria Palace was the first part of a project that would have later seen the construction of a pier.

Llandudno Opera House

In 1900 it was renamed the Llandudno Opera House. It hosted the

Carl Rosa Opera Company The Carl Rosa Opera Company was founded in 1873 by Carl Rosa, a German-born musical impresario, and his wife, British operatic soprano Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa to present opera in English in London and the British provinces. The company premiered ...

Hippodrome

It was renamed as the Hippodrome, and was used as a roller-skating rink, a

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub. The majority of towns and cities in ...

and for summer shows.

Arcadia

The theatre was purchased by

Will Catlin Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

on 3 June 1916. It was renamed as the Arcadia. The theatre had 1,147 seats, and was one of six theatres in Llandudno to last for many years. It was the home of Catlin's Peirrots and Catlin's Showtime.

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances. A lifel ...

was a regular performer. The Arcadia provided 1,147 seats in the auditorium and was the last of Llandudno's many theatres and cinemas to offer traditional seaside entertainments. It was the home of Will Catlin's Pierrots, which eventually became presented as "Catlin's Follies with an all star cast". Catlin's Follies survived the sudden death in 1953 (aged 82) of Will Catlin. The shows continued until 1968, when Llandudno Urban Council purchased the theatre. The Arcadia continued as a summer theatre under local authority ownership until 1993. It closed on 22 June 1994, and was derelict for the next decade, before being demolished in July 2005.

Aberconwy Centre

The Aberconwy Centre opened to the west of the Arcadia theatre in 1982. The conference venue had space for over 1,000 conference attendees. It also featured

squash court Squash is a racket-and-ball sport played by two or four players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow, rubber ball. The players alternate in striking the ball with their rackets onto the playable surfaces of the four walls of the court. Th ...

s, sun beds and

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

courts. The centre was redeveloped in 1994, and it was renamed as the North Wales Theatre and Conference Centre. It hosted a 1,500-seat auditorium/theatre, as well as a conference hall with capacity for 800 seated, or 1,000 standing, people.

Venue Cymru

In July 2005 the Arcadia theatre was demolished to make way for an atrium and meeting and conference rooms adjoining the North Wales Theatre and Conference Centre. The building was also extended to the west. After the redevelopment, the venue hosted a new arena, capable of hosting 1,800 seated, or 2,500 standing people, increasing the overall capacity of the venue to over 5,000 people. The western extension incorporated a café, restaurant and a box office, as well as office space. The redevelopment cost £10.7 million, which was provided by

Conwy County Borough Council Conwy County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy) is the local authority for Conwy County Borough, one of the principal areas of Wales. History Conwy County Borough was created in 1996 under the Local Government (Wales) Act 199 ...

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

's Objective One Fund program, the

Arts Council of Wales The Arts Council of Wales (ACW; cy, Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru) is a Welsh Government-sponsored body, responsible for funding and developing the arts in Wales. Established within the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1946, as the Welsh Arts C ...

, Visit Wales and the Welsh Development Agency. A competition to rename the building was launched in December 2005. Several months later, the name of ''Venue Cymru'' was chosen. It was re-opened on 15 January 2007 by Andrew Davies. On 27 August 2010, Irish vocal pop band

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporar ...

held a concert for Where We Are Tour supporting their album '' Where We Are'' and in 2016, a solo concert by the lead vocalist

Shane Filan Shane Steven Filan (born 5 July 1979) is an Irish pop singer. He is one of the two lead singers of pop vocal group Westlife, which was formed in 1998, disbanded in 2012, and regrouped in 2018. Westlife have released thirteen albums, embarked on ...

. The Arena space been used for live rock band performances from acts including

Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English rock band, composed of Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, sampler), Russell Lissack (lead guitar, keyboards), Justin Harris (bass guitar, keyboards, saxophones, backing vocals) and Louise Bartle ...

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

and Feeder. In April 2020 Venue Cymru was handed over to

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) ( cy, Bwrdd Iechyd Prifysgol Betsi Cadwaladr) is the local health board of NHS Wales for the north of Wales. It is the largest health organisation in Wales, providing a full range of primary, commun ...

where the arena was used to provide additional beds during the

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

pandemic; it was named ''Ysbyty Enfys Llandudno''. In May 2021 it was decommissioned, and was subsequently used as a Covid-19 vaccination centre.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://venuecymru.co.uk Theatres in Wales Music venues in Wales Opera houses in Wales Dance venues in Wales Tourist attractions in Conwy County Borough Buildings and structures in Llandudno Snooker venues Exhibition and conference centres in Wales