Bristol Beacon celebrates opening weekend

Bristol Beacon’s opening weekend saw ‘The Housewarming’ take place on Saturday, with a staggering 13,000 people exploring the newly transformed venue over the course of the mammoth 15-hour event, in addition to over 1000 performers across six stages.

Orchestras, choirs, DJs, poets, musicians and dancers performed a huge range of genres throughout the day with queues forming from 10am to explore this free celebration of Bristol’s diverse talent.

Following on from the opening night last Thursday when Bristol’s Paraorchestra, Surgeons Girl and Limbic Cinema performed Trip The Light Fantastic, and concluding on Sunday 3 December with Penguin Cafe, it takes the total number of people who have attended Bristol Beacon during its opening weekend to just shy of 20,000 in just 4 days.

The brand new Beacon Hall was opened by the Bristol Reggae Orchestra & Windrush Choir, with choir leader Gena Rose leading a full auditorium in a mass sing-along of Katie Perry’s Firework and Rhianna’s Diamonds later in the day. Performances also came from Elles Bailey, Ishmael Ensemble, Funk Supreme, Da Fuchaman and Doreen Doreen across the day with prolific Bristol DJ Krust completing the first late night DJ set in the new auditorium.

Elles Bailey opened her performance saying:

“I’m Bristol born and bred, I love my city so so much and it just feels so amazing that this stunning venue is now open again. What an incredible space, we are so lucky and we have to support it. Live music needs all of you, so support our local spaces everybody!”

Louise Mitchell, Chief Executive of Bristol Beacon commented:

“Elle’s sentiment summed up a feeling of joy that resonated across the building this weekend as we celebrated over a decade of work to restore the venue. Our goal was to create a place for everyone and for all kinds of music. After such a long refurbishment, we knew we wanted to showcase every corner of this amazing space for free as a way to welcome the city back and say thank you. It’s incredible to have people back in the building, sharing experiences and celebrating Bristol’s incredible music talent. My thanks go to Bristol Beacon’s staff who pulled out all the stops to make this ambitious opening weekend happen, and to everyone who came along - it’s such a great early endorsement of the need for a place like Bristol Beacon. We’re looking towards a huge roster of shows throughout Winter and can’t wait to welcome even more people back.”

The Fantasy Orchestra, Lady Nade and  Bristol Ballroom Community were just some of the artists who drew a capacity crowd in the new Lantern Hall, which has seen a complete rejuvenation with restored original platerwork, new windows and careful acoustic planning bringing it back into use for all times of day.

The new Weston Stage in the cellars at Bristol Beacon hosted a cross-section of DJs and MCs, as people explored this brand new club style venue for the first time.

Commenting after performing at the event, rap artist and wheelchair user Kray-z Legs said online: “Thanks to the Beacon team for having me on board for the opening of this iconic venue and for the great success of The Housewarming - the place was rammo!”

The ‘Housewarming’ follows the opening night with Trip The Light Fantastic, a multi sensory show which showcased the acoustics and technical capabilities of the new Beacon Hall perfectly.

The transformation marks the second largest investment in the arts in England by Arts Council England this century.

The £132 million redevelopment has seen leading experts from an array of fields including sustainability, acoustics and accessibility, brought together to make the Beacon a world-class facility for everyone to enjoy. Hope Solutions have advised on how to achieve the venue’s net zero target by 2030 and Sound Space Vision have steered the acoustic re-design, led by acoustician Bob Essert.   

Looking forward, the December lineup includes high profile music acts like Billy Bragg, Ocean Colour Scene, Jools Holland, Joss Stone, Sophie Ellis Bextor and The Darkness, before the venue launches into its full concert programme in the new year.