Venue Cymru Arena

[born2run]

I guess it was put to good use all last weekend hosting an extremely popular free event for families and children as the car park was absolutely full on Saturday and Sunday.

The event last weekend was called Take pArt and it was excellent.  It's pretty much all free, we had to pay a small fee for our kids to use the roller skating rink, but there were events taking place right throughout the building.  There were all sorts of arts and crafts, circus skills displays, workshops (including one run by Connie Fisher off of the telly), music performances, dance exhibitions, storytelling, etc, etc, etc.  The event attracts people from far and wide and I'm sure it filled a few hotel rooms over the weekend as well as filling VC.

That sounds really good, I would have gone. But I saw it advertised nowhere 

[born2run]

Fester can relate to this, just bought two Tom Jones tickets, and had to pay the booking fee on BOTH TICKETS 

[Bri Roberts]

That sounds really good, I would have gone. But I saw it advertised nowhere 

It was certainly advertised in the Venue Cymru brochure and spread over two full pages.

Apparently, Venue Cymru was buzzing all weekend.

[Fester]

Fester can relate to this, just bought two Tom Jones tickets, and had to pay the booking fee on BOTH TICKETS 

Indeed B2R, as you know I purchased seven tickets for the darts tournament in Colwyn Bay.
I was charged a booking/admin fee on EACH TICKET.

i.e. I was charged 7 times for the administration of paying ONCE, and the use of ONE envelope. 

[FatAndy]

I guess it was put to good use all last weekend hosting an extremely popular free event for families and children as the car park was absolutely full on Saturday and Sunday.

The event last weekend was called Take pArt and it was excellent.  It's pretty much all free, we had to pay a small fee for our kids to use the roller skating rink, but there were events taking place right throughout the building.  There were all sorts of arts and crafts, circus skills displays, workshops (including one run by Connie Fisher off of the telly), music performances, dance exhibitions, storytelling, etc, etc, etc.  The event attracts people from far and wide and I'm sure it filled a few hotel rooms over the weekend as well as filling VC.

That sounds really good, I would have gone. But I saw it advertised nowhere 

It must have been advertised somewhere because we knew it was on, I can't remember where I saw it advertised though.  It is an annual event, it's been running for a few years, and always happens in January so maybe you're more likely to notice the ad, or at least look out for one, if you've been before and know what the event is all about. 

If it happens again in 2015 I'd definitely recommend it for anyone with kids/grandchildren to occupy.  There's loads going on so you could probably squeeze a day's free entertainment out of it (although you may have to fork out £1 for a go on the roller rink if those kids are anything like mine).

[wrex]

a have managed very well to bring in Olly Murrs,Little Mix and now Sir Tom Jones to Eirias arena over the last 3 years yet trying to bring in any bands into the Llandudno Arena they can;t manage ant,something very wrong going on here.

[nwpo]

a have managed very well to bring in Olly Murrs,Little Mix and now Sir Tom Jones to Eirias arena over the last 3 years yet trying to bring in any bands into the Llandudno Arena they can;t manage ant,something very wrong going on here.

Yes, but Access all Eirias is organised by an external commercial company (http://www.orchardentertainment.co.uk/) who have to make money.

Venue Cymru is run by the council and subsidised to the tune of ~£1.5m annually (the subsidy Budgeted for in 2013/14 incidentally is £1,599,531). If Venue Cymru doesn't make money, we just bail it out.

[wrex]

Access all Eirias may be run by a private firm,but it is with full support of CCBC ,Venue Cymru Arena is not even used for gigs anymore ,they have abandoned it as a venue for bands.

[DaveR]

I believe Access Al Eirias is subsidised very heavily by CCBC. I very much doubt it could occur without their cash.

[wrex]

I just wish they would put a fifth of the effort to bring a band into the Arena and bring in 2,500 people into town,once a month should;nt be too hard but to bring in nothing in 12 months is a joke,if we put it in Colwyn Bay they would have it usedonce a week.

[Bri Roberts]

Wasn't Mike Peters and the Alarm there over the weekend with the Gathering Festival?

[Jack]

Wasn't Mike Peters and the Alarm there over the weekend with the Gathering Festival?

Certainly was and very good he was too, 4 hour set on Saturday night in the Venue Cymru arena (which never has any live music!!) while Sarah Millican played two nights in the theatre itself.

[wrex]

Well Bri,nice one,can;t say i knew about it so i take it was a sell out,i must admit i feel people are more interested in proving me wrong instead of  supporting the fact that the management are not bringing in any bands besides the Alarm who i would have gone to see,maybe if i say the bands in the Arena are brilliant somebody may say WHAT BANDS .

[FatAndy]

Well Bri,nice one,can;t say i knew about it so i take it was a sell out,i must admit i feel people are more interested in proving me wrong instead of  supporting the fact that the management are not bringing in any bands besides the Alarm who i would have gone to see,maybe if i say the bands in the Arena are brilliant somebody may say WHAT BANDS .

The Gathering is an annual weekend long event organised by Mike Peters that has been running for decades - this year was The Gathering 22.  It's been held in Venue Cymru in the past but for the last few years it's been held at Pontins in Prestatyn.  I think most of the tickets go to fan club members rather than locals and it's supposed to attract visitors from right across the globe (this year Llandudno's hotels got the business rather than Pontins).  From what I've heard they're guaranteed to sell out so there's never any advertising other than on The Alarm website, it's really more of an Alarm convention than a concert. 

http://www.thealarm.com/archives/20981

p.s. I've never been to The Gathering but I'd like to get there one day, it's always sold out by the time I hear about it....should check The Alarm website more often  .  I did however once see The Alarm in they heyday when they played Colwyn Bay Leisure Centre in about 1987 or 88.

[Fester]

The Alarm are OK for this area, but are certainly not a MAJOR draw these days.   It is a 'Gathering' and a convention more than a Gig.
They have a regular and sizeable following, (which always puzzles me) and I saw a few Alarm fans around the town on Sunday.

However, Wrex is undeniably correct.... the Arena is massively under-utilised.  There should be a MAJOR act here on a monthly basis at the very least.   Other events such as exhibitions and darts/snooker etc should be more prevalent too.