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Gloucester Guildhall

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Gloucester Guildhall - Gloucester's liveliest entertainment venue situated in the heart of the city of Gloucester

Gloucester Guildhall

The Guildhall in Eastgate Street (next door to the C&G Building Society) is the county's liveliest, most diverse venue, boasting two cinema screens, a concert hall, theatre, galleries, workshops and delightful café-bar.

Up to 250,000 people visit the venue each year to be entertained by fantastic new live music, comedy & theatre. Many of the acts that have appeared at the venue since it opened are now major household names.

The Guildhall's unique cinema is housed in the sumptuous oak-panelled former council chamber, and its diverse mix of classic films, art-house releases and big screen blockbusters is the most exciting in the county.

The Guildhall's main auditorium was originally a Victorian civic ballroom, and features one of the best sprung dance floors in the county. The auditorium now hosts regular concerts and performances, including The Big Laugh Café, the county’s longest running comedy club, and Acoustica, Gloucestershire’s finest acoustic new music night.

The Guildhall also stages hundreds of workshops every year, from Jazzjive to breakdancing, yoga to life drawing, and has a year-round programme of cutting edge new art and photography exhibitions.

The Place café-bar is a laid-back and peaceful haven just a step away from the hustle and bustle of Eastgate Street, offering fresh cooked, home-made lunches, many suitable for vegetarians. The café-bar is open from 10am – 4pm in the daytime, with food being served from 10.30am – 3.00pm, and is open in the evening for performances.

Over the years the Gloucester Guildhall has hosted many acts who have since become household names, including stadium-filling bands and artists such as Muse and Radiohead, current chart stars The Cribs and Maximo Park and big name comedians like Jimmy Carr, Jo Brand and Dara O’Briain. With great comedy nights at the Gloucester Guildhall like 'Giggle at the Guild' and the 'Big Laugh Café', the chances of seeing another future big name star is very likely!!!

Plus In 1990, young Gloucester and Forest Of Dean upstarts EMF became one of the biggest musical acts on the planet, thanks largely to the almighty anthem ‘Unbelievable’, whose video was filmed at the climax of a chaotic and memorable Friday night gig at the Gloucester Guildhall. The band, all suffering from flu and exhaustion from hard touring and even harder partying, rose to the occasion in front of the home crowd and a bit of pop video history was made, with the wild euphoria of the live gig experience captured perfectly on film. The video shoot ended with a huge glitterbomb exploding above the stage and showering the audience and Guildhall staff still found bits of glitter up in the lighting rig some 18 years later.

The Gloucester Guildhall has also given many Gloucester bands, artists and performers the chance to perform to wider audiences, and has helped inspire a generation to make music, create art or perform in the city. International film star and Gloucester boy Simon Pegg spent his formative years watching live comedy, bands and performing in the Guildhall’s youth theatre group, and has cited the venue as a factor in his success! He came back to host a special screening of his number one box office film ‘Shaun Of The Dead’ in 2004, and said:

“I will never forget how proud I was to be able to bring my first film, Shaun Of The Dead, back home to Gloucester and show it at the Gloucester Guildhall. It's a very special memory.”

As the Gloucester Guildhall looks to the future it will continue to seek out the best up and coming bands, comedians, performers and artists, and to look to stage new and exciting ‘exclusive’ events such as the wild ‘Maximum Reality’ interactive film screenings, which are unique to Gloucester and are admired all across the UK.

The Gloucester Guildhall is there for everyone – you don’t have to be an ‘arty’ type to enjoy the many things that go on there, so if you’ve not sampled it during the first twenty years, now’s the time to give it a try!