{"id":436073,"date":"2026-02-20T12:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/436073\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T12:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:23:13","slug":"the-new-20000-capacity-arena-that-will-transform-a-major-uk-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/436073\/","title":{"rendered":"the New 20,000 Capacity Arena That Will Transform a Major UK City"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s an arena venue in nearly every\u00a0big UK city. You\u2019ve got the First Direct Bank Arena in Leeds<\/a>, the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham<\/a>, the Utilita Arena in Cardiff<\/a>, the OVO Hydro in Glasgow<\/a>, to name but a few. And this year, they\u2019ll be visited by the likes of Lily Allen<\/a>, RAYE<\/a>, Gorillaz<\/a>\u00a0and Florence and the Machine. However, there\u2019s one core British city that is yet to get its own arena and has\u00a0long missed out on major music tours \u2013 Bristol<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But not for much longer.\u00a0An old hangar in the north of Bristol (famous for being the birthplace of the Concorde supersonic jets) is\u00a0being transformed into the UK\u2019s next major music venue. This week the venue\u2019s name was officially announced, and we\u2019ve been given a\u00a0sneak peak at what\u00a0it will look like.<\/p>\n

Aviva Arena\u00a0will be built\u00a0in the\u00a0Brabazon Hangars\u00a0at Filton Airfield in the north of Bristol. With a capacity of 20,000 it\u2019ll be the third largest\u00a0arena\u00a0in the country (after London<\/a>\u2019s O2 and Manchester\u2019<\/a>s Co-op Live). It\u2019s expected to be ready for\u00a0take off in 2028.<\/p>\n

\"Render
\nImage: Aviva Arena <\/p>\n

Developers reckon that once open, every year the venue will\u00a0welcome 1.4 million people for more than 120 major live music, sports and entertainment events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The arena will be built in the central and largest of the three Brabazon Hangars. It\u2019ll\u00a0make up one part of a complex named YTL Live that\u2019ll also feature a conference and exhibition space. Overall, the complex is expected to bring \u00a31 billion to the wider Bristol economy in its first decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0complex\u00a0is also part of\u00a0a wider Brabazon Park development project, a new neighbourhood\u00a0which will\u00a0have 6,500 homes, a 15-acre park, schools and leisure facilities. A train station at the arena\u2019s doorstep will open later this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Aerial
\nImage: Aviva Arena <\/p>\n

CEO of YTL Live, Andrew Billingham said: \u2018Aviva Arena will put Bristol firmly on the global touring map, delivering unforgettable experiences for fans and artists alike while creating lasting benefits for the city and the wider region.\u2019<\/p>\n

He added that while the venue is preparing to welcome major stars, it will also be a \u2018platform for local talent to grow, thrive, and shine\u2019 and that YTL are already exploring ways to support emerging artists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Did you see that\u00a0another\u00a0vast new \u00a376 million arena is coming to the UK<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Plus:\u00a0This legendary northern stadium will soon become one of the UK\u2019s biggest football grounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stay in the loop:\u00a0sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter<\/a>\u00a0for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s an arena venue in nearly every\u00a0big UK city. You\u2019ve got the First Direct Bank Arena in Leeds,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[152594,59,57,58,128,50,152595,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-436073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-categories-music","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-music","tag-news","tag-news-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}