Ahoy Rotterdam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ahoy Rotterdam (often called merely Ahoy, or in Dutch Ahoy Gebouw) is an indoor sporting arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The capacity of the arena is 10,000.
The basis of the present Ahoy was laid in 1950. After the devastation caused by the Second World War, the city of Rotterdam had worked flat out on reconstruction and Rotterdam port was virtually complete. To mark the occasion, the Rotterdam Ahoy! exhibition was held in a purpose-built hall on the site where the medical faculty of the Erasmus University now stands.
The exhibition hall was called the Ahoy'-Hal. The apostrophe is a remnant of the original exclamation mark. The hall was used for a series of national and international events, such as the exhibition of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s work. During the North Sea flood of 1953 the hall also proved its worth as a reception centre for victims.
Ahoy Rotterdam as we now know it was built in 1970. The complex’s striking design won various national and international awards for its special steel structures. The first event to be held there was the Femina family exhibition. Since then, Ahoy has been expanded on a number of occasions, and was renovated and refurbished in 1998 to create today’s multifunctional venue.
The venue has been used for:
- Large-scale music concerts such as Anastacia, Gloria Estefan, Led Zeppelin, Tori Amos, Rush, U2, Diana Ross, Cher, Roger Waters, Tina Turner, Mariah Carey, Juan Luis Guerra, Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, Shania Twain, Kylie Minogue, Destiny's Child, Bruce Springsteen, Queen + Paul Rodgers, Fleetwood Mac,Britney Spears, P!nk, Christina Aguilera and Shakira. In 2005 and 2006 there were two single DJ sets of Armin van Buuren called Armin Only.
- The 2007 Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
- On 15, 16 and 17 July 2005, the WSR05 (World Skateboarding Rotterdam 2005), which was won by Bastien Salabanzi.
- The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament ATP Tour event.
The band Rush filmed a concert DVD of their Snakes and Arrows tour there in October, 2007 during the European leg of the tour.
Symphonic Metal band Within Temptation filmed a concert called Black Symphony on February 8th 2008
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Sala Polivalentă Bucharest |
Junior Eurovision Song Contest Venue 2007 |
Succeeded by Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center Limasol |
