Venue Cymru is a large arts venue in Llandudno, Conwy county borough, north Wales, incorporating a 1,500 seat theatre, restaurant, conference centre and arena. The venue was previously known as the North Wales Theatre and the North Wales Conference Centre.
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There has been a theatre on the Venue Cymru site since 1894. Originally named the Victoria Palace, it was built by Jules Rivière (then aged 75) who for many years had been the celebrated resident conductor of the Llandudno Pier Orchestra and a pioneer of the seaside promenade concert. He established his own 42 piece orchestra at the 1,015 seat Victoria Palace, which attracted eminent visiting soloists including Sir Charles and Lady Hallé who in 1895 gave a piano and violin recital with the Orchestra.[1]
The building was only intended to be a temporary structure but became a landmark on the promenade for over 100 years. It changed its name several times, firstly to Rivière's Concert Hall, then in 1900 it became the Llandudno Opera House and the venue for the Carl Rosa Opera Company. Later it was called the Hippodrome.
In 1915 the theatre was bought by Will Catlin and renamed the Arcadia. 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 and continued until the theatre was bought by Llandudno Urban Council in 1968. The Arcadia continued as a summer theatre under local authority ownership until 1993.[2]
The original Arcadia theatre was abandoned and lay derelict until July 2005 when it was demolished to make way for a £10.7 million project to enhance and re-develop the facilities at the North Wales Theatre and Conference Centre. Where the Arcadia once stood, to the East of the complex, a new conference atrium and suite of meeting and conference rooms was built including a new 1,550 square metre Arena providing space for 1,800 seats theatre style or more than 2,500 people standing. The total capacity of the conference centre rose dramatically to over 5,000 delegates.
The North Wales Theatre, Conference Centre and Arena required a new, shorter and bilingual (Welsh/English) name. In December 2005 a competition was launched in a local newspaper to rename the complex. Almost 300 entries were received and the winning entry Venue Cymru (Cymru is Welsh for Wales) was chosen a few months later. Venue Cymru was officially opened on Monday January 15 2007 by Andrew Davies AM and has been described as the beginning of a new era for Entertainment, Conferencing and Events in Llandudno. Theatrical entertainments include drama, ballet, opera, ice shows, orchestral concerts, brass and military bands, musical comedy and pantomime.