Bristol Beacon will be 'world class' once reopened

The Bristol Beacon will be a "world class" music venue when it reopens later this year, its artistic director has said.

Formerly known as The Colston Hall, it has been closed since 2018 for a refurbishment costing more than £100m.

Todd Wills said they hope to re-open this autumn, with an announcement expected in the coming weeks.

"Bristol deserves a world class concert hall and that is what we are going to get," he said.

"We will be getting those bigger artists back in again and we will be starting up our orchestral season, so there is a lot to look forward to," added Mr Wills.

He told BBC Radio Bristol the Victorian music venue, owned by Bristol City Council, is "looking amazing".

"The cellar is the new space and that is going to be the education centre and a small performance space. That is looking incredible and that is a completely new venue," he said.

"The Lantern (hall), will look spectacular, they have really worked on the architectural mouldings of the space and it is going to look absolutely beautiful and the main hall is going to be world class.

"The seating is going to be very colourful. We have been working with artists as part of a public art scheme, so it is going to be bright and interesting," added Mr Wills.

Mr Wills said that while they are "having to be careful" when it comes to booking in any potential big names for the reopening, they are working on a number of their own events which he said will be "really exciting".

He added: "It's been such a long time coming we do want everybody to come in here and check it out and realise the hall and the space is for them.

"Bristol is an amazing city for audiences, for a relatively small city we punch well above our weight in terms of audiences, so to have people coming back in their droves would be really good."

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