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Venue Spotlight

The O2 Arena

Venue: The O2 Arena

Formerly known as Millennium Dome

Location: Greenwich Peninsula, London

Website: www.theO2.co.uk

 

Opened in 2007, the O2 Arena was built in the shadow of a failed exhibition space known as the Millennium Dome, a project that many London citizens thought of as a waste of space and taxpayer money. Once the current owners AEG acquired the abandoned building in southeast London, a major transformation took place to the structure as well as the local economy. The O2 took four years and cost roughly $540 million to construct, including a seating capacity of 20,000 people. Since its debut, the O2 has become one of the world’s busiest music arenas. As a result, the surrounding entertainment complex has seen the addition of new shops, restaurants, bars, a nightclub, cinema and more. One of the unique highlights of the arena is ‘Up at The O2’, where visitors can climb onto the rooftop and take in spectacular views of London and its iconic skyline.

The O2 arena is mainly known as a live concert venue for top-tier performers like Madonna, Celine Dion, and Whiz-Kid – just to name a few. The arena also hosts numerous sporting events throughout the year, such as tennis, ice hockey, basketball, and gymnastics. As you can imagine, events at this magnificent venue can sell out fast – so be sure to grab some tickets when you can. Without a doubt the O2 Arena is the place to visit whenever you’re in London.

O2 Arena Facts:

  • Over 1.2 million tickets were sold in 2007, even though the arena was only open for 200 days.
  • It is the busiest music arena in the world in terms of tickets sales (as of 2022).
  • As of 2022, the arena is the ninth-largest building in the world by volume.
  • With a capacity of 20,000, the arena has the 2nd highest seating capacity of any indoor venue in the United Kingdom, just behind Manchester arena.
  • The arena has won several awards, including:
    • 2016 Pollstar International Venue of the Year
    • 2016 Billboard Touring Awards: Top Arena
    • 2016 The London Venue Awards: Best Music Venue
    • 2016 The Drum UK Event Awards: Large Venue of the Year
    • 2017 Pollstar International Venue of the Year