The jewel in Swansea’s Copr Bay crown was officially opened on March 3rd 2022, but March 15th, 2023, marks a far more exciting date for lovers of live entertainment!
March 15th marks a year to the day that Swansea Arena threw open its doors for the first time to welcome audiences to its programme of premium entertainment, following a series of test events at the venue, with a sold out auditorium for the Liverpudlian comedy icon, John Bishop.
But since then, the venue has gone from strength to strength, and has seen the likes of rock royalty in Royal Blood, Alice Cooper, and The Cult, as well as emerging icons of the music scene such as Fontaines D.C. and Those Damn Crows, critically acclaimed West End and Broadway productions in Six, Jersey Boys and Bat Out Of Hell, and British comedy luminaries in Kevin Bridges, Katherine Ryan, Alan Carr and Michael McIntyre to name just a few. Most recently, the legendary Welsh comedian Max Boyce took to the stage, delivering a glorious, rousing medley of music and stories to mark his 50th Anniversary of performing.
But top names in entertainment are just the tip of the iceberg, and the venue looks set to hit, if not exceed, its footfall target of 240,000, due in no small part to an exciting secondary programme of commercial, corporate and third-sector conferences, exhibitions, banquets and awards ceremonies.
In addition to this, the venue has found firm footing in a collection of new partnerships with local institutions, with University Of Wales Trinity Saint David, Swansea F.C., Swansea University, Gower Brewery and The LC2, alongside a number of local hospitality and hotel partners in Founders & Co., Rasoi, Delta By Marriott, Morgans Hotel, The Swigg and many others.
Venue Director, Lisa Mart, says, “The twelve months since John Bishop took to the stage for our first premium show at the venue have flown by, and I’m amazed at how far we’ve come as a team of just 22 permanent staff. We’ve welcomed almost 240,000 people to the venue, and laughed, sung and cried alongside them all the way. As any new business can attest, the first year is always hard – but we are all really pleased with the events we have hosted so far and really can’t wait to keep building and improving our offer.
“We’ve a fresh slate of exciting developments to focus on over the next few months; our venue Coffee Shop has relaunched, ready for those spring walks in the beautiful surrounding coastal park, and we’ve a brand new lounge and hospitality offer in partnership with the Welsh company Gower Brewery. I want to extend a huge thanks everyone for your continued support over this past year, and we cannot wait to continue bringing live entertainment and engaging events to this amazing city.”
Developed by Swansea Council and run by Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), the arena sits at the heart of the city’s £135m Copr Bay district that also includes a coastal park, the new bridge over Oystermouth Road and many other features.
The Arena feature of the district is part-funded by the £1.3bn Swansea Bay City Deal.
Cllr Robert Francis-Davies, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Investment and Tourism, said: “It’s hard to believe that a year has now passed since the Arena first opened to the public, but what a fantastic success the venue has been.
“Adding to the offer of the other cultural venues in the city like The Grand Theatre and the Brangwyn Hall, the Arena has brought world-class entertainment of all genres to Swansea and South Wales as a whole, while also creating many job opportunities for local people and boosting other local businesses thanks to partnership and sponsoring agreements.
“The Arena is part of the overall Copr Bay district which is helping revitalise our city centre, generate better links with the waterfront and create spaces for local businesses to set-up or expand.”
