Set in the heart of Cardiff city centre, St. David’s Hall is the national concert hall and conference centre of Wales, playing host to some of the world’s most popular entertainers.
Located in The Hayes, amid the capital’s fabulous ranges of shops, bars and restaurants, St. David’s Hall provides the venue for the Welsh Proms every July. It also hosts the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition every two years. The prestigious contest was first held in 1983 to mark the opening of the hall and is open to opera and art singers from across the globe.
As well as classical music, the hall welcomes jazz, pop, rock, soul, dance and R&B artistes as well as children’s performers, light entertainment acts and musicals.
The centre’s foyers are open to visitors and host regular free music performances. Along with the venue’s balconies and bar areas, they are also used to stage art exhibitions.
The construction of the centre itself proved quite a task, the architects having to find a way to accommodate a 2,000-seat auditorium, and everything that goes with it, into a tight city centre space. Every inch of room had to be used and the unusually shaped complex is actually built around and on top of St. David’s Shopping Centre.
The hall offers plenty of choice when it comes to refreshments, with tapas and hot dog lounges, an air-conditioned café and two bars, one of which has a giant screen showing rugby matches being played at the nearby Millennium Stadium. Cardiff Castle is also only a short walk away.
