![Beacon Hall An audience sit down inside Beacon Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0032.jpg?resize=30%2C12&gravity)
Remember, remember the thirtieth of November – because Bristol Beacon is reopening! As we approach the final stages of our transformation, the finishing touches are beginning to take place. We’re painting the last few walls, hanging the speakers and the lights (175 speakers and 232 lights to be precise!), and doing lots of sweeping up.
We’ve even got a brand new sign proudly displaying our name, shining out to the city centre and beyond.
So, with just over four weeks to go until we open our doors, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how it’s all coming together in Beacon Hall and Lantern Hall, as we invited local artists, staff, family and supporters to join us to help test a few things out.
It was a joy to hear music in our venues again, we can’t wait to welcome you back.
Beacon Hall
![Beacon Hall A band perform on stage to a small audience in Beacon Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0049.jpg)
View 15 images
![Beacon Hall A band perform on stage to a small audience in Beacon Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0046.jpg)
![Beacon Hall drummer A drummer performs on stage in Beacon Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0063.jpg)
![Beacon Hall synth player A synth player performs on stage in Beacon Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0054.jpg)
![Beacon Hall A stage lit with warm bright light](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0001.jpg)
![Beacon Hall A band perform on stage to a small audience in Beacon Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0065.jpg)
![Beacon Hall tiers Tiered seating inside Beacon Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0052.jpg)
![Beacon Hall A band perform on stage in Beacon Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0047.jpg)
![Britton Organ Wooden panels and slats in front of the Britton Organ in Beacon Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0044.jpg)
![Beacon Hall guitarist A guitarist plays an electric guitar](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0035.jpg)
![Beacon Hall A band perform on stage to a small audience in Beacon Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0034.jpg)
![Beacon Hall An audience sit down inside Beacon Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0032.jpg)
![Beacon Hall audience An audience sit inside Beacon Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0025.jpg)
![Beacon Hall Lower Tier Tiered seating inside Beacon Hall lit with warm light](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0003.jpg)
![Beacon Hall Beacon Hall lit with white light](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/Photo-28-10-2022-11-07-55-scaled.jpg)
Last Saturday we were able to access Beacon Hall for the first time. Local act Neko put the staging and some of the PA through its paces and our stewards were able to familiarise themselves with the space. We did the serious jobs of testing the bars and of course making sure the seats were comfy (they are!).
In the gallery you’ll also spot our historic pipe organ – reinstalled after a major restoration by the original manufacturers Harrison & Harrison.
Photography byt Elliot Hingston, Soul Media
Beacon Hall key features
- A new, larger and more flexible stage, including retractable extension
- International standard variable acoustics
- Comfortable and flexible seating technology enabling a range of performances, festivals, corporate events, flat floor banqueting and graduations
- New upper and lower tiers replacing the former single deep balcony
- New ceiling shape, wall finishes and interior with a contemporary look and feel
- Improved stage access and backstage provision so that disabled artists will have direct access to our main stage for the first time
- New accessible viewing platform
- Increased maximum audience capacity from 1,932 to 2,196
Lantern Hall
![Lantern Hall A audience watch a performance in Lantern Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0061.jpg)
View 14 images
![Lantern Hall audience A audience watch a performance in Lantern Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0064.jpg)
![Sun Spot, Lantern Hall A band perform to a seated audience](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0037-1.jpg)
![Lantern Hall, Drum kit A drum kit set up with microphones on a wooden stage](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0024.jpg)
![Lantern Hall guitarist An electric guitarist plays synth on stage](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0027.jpg)
![Lantern Hall A band perform on stage lit with pink light](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0038.jpg)
![Lantern Hall An audience sit in darkness watching a performance](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0039.jpg)
![Sun Spot, Lantern Hall A musician wearing a baseball cap sings into a microphone playing a bass guitar](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0045.jpg)
![Lantern Hall performers An electric guitarist looks upwards as they perform on stage lit with dark red light](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0048.jpg)
![Lantern Hall performers A singer and violinist perform on a stage](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0059.jpg)
![Lantern Hall A singer, violinist and pianist perform on a stage to a small audience](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0070.jpg)
![Lantern Hall audience Audience stand and clap](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0071.jpg)
![Lantern Hall Seats in rows with tiered seating in the background in a hall with a wooden floor](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0001.jpg)
![Lantern Hall audience Audience members take their seats in Lantern Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231021-Lantern-Soft-Launch_WebRes-0035-1.jpg)
Our elegant and versatile second performance space combines Victorian architectural beauty with unbeatable sound quality. It’s a space for some of the most exciting and boundary-pushing elements of our artistic programme, and on Saturday 21 October we invited a small audience and local artists Sun Spot and The Alternative Orchestra to try it out.
In the gallery you’ll notice the beautiful acoustic drapes designed by artist Rana Begum as part of our programme to embed art in the fabric of the building.
Lantern Hall key features
- Restoring and reinstating the historic plasterwork
- New windows, previously blocked up, allowing natural light into the hall when desired
- Retractable seating and staging
- Beautiful reclaimed floors using wood from the original main hall
- Increased maximum audience capacity from 350 to 500
Opening weekend
You’re invited to celebrate!
Trip The Light Fantastic
Thu 30 Nov 2023
![Trip The Light Fantastic - no title Refracted light beams](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/05/TTLF-2000-1.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
Trip The Light Fantastic
Thu 30 Nov 2023
Witness a space reborn as sound and light collide in spectacular fashion.
Paraorchestra and electronic composer Surgeons Girl create electro-orchestral alchemy, with visuals from AV experts Limbic Cinema, for a landmark concert experience.
The Housewarming
Sat 2 Dec 2023
![The Housewarming Yellow illustrated text reading 'The House Warming' on a pink background with blue doodles of a speaker and a hand forming a peace sign](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2022/12/BB_HOUSEWARMING_WEBSITE-HEADER_MOBILE.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
The Housewarming
Sat 2 Dec 2023
A free day-to-night festival bursting with a colourful spectrum of Bristol creativity.
Every corner of Bristol Beacon – from the Terrace to our brand-new Cellars and our renewed transformed concert hall spaces – will come alive with performances, to celebrate our opening with light, sound and of course, music.
Penguin Cafe
Sun 3 Dec 2023
![Penguin Cafe Orchestra 2000 An illustration of a penguin in front of a full moon - the image is reflected in the water below](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/02/Penguin-Cafe-Orchestra-2000-1.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
Penguin Cafe
Sun 3 Dec 2023
Winding up our opening weekend is Penguin Cafe with their beautiful avant-pop combining folk, classical and minimalism in blissful soundscapes. The perfect opportunity to winddown after the party and enjoy the incredible acoustics of Beacon Hall.
Latest News
![Bristol Beacon - The Housewarming Advisory Group. credit Colin Moody 10 59 45 A group of people sit in a concert hall, with lights on the ceiling](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/Bristol-Beacon-The-Housewarming-Advisory-Group.-credit-Colin-Moody-10-59-45-scaled-e1700477126801.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
Meet the Bristol people behind The Housewarming
- Bristol Beacon News
![Beacon Hall An audience sit down inside Beacon Hall](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/11/231028-Bristol-Beacon-WebRes_0032.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
Testing, testing… latest photos of our transformed performance spaces
- Photos
![The Lantern, October 2023. A stone interior with archway underneath a roof with windows letting in daylight. Three LED light fixtures hang opposite busts of six men on the wall.](https://images.bristolbeacon.org/uploads/2023/10/BRISTOL-BEACON-SEP-22ND-2023-PB-9-scaled.jpg?resize=16%2C10&gravity)
Latest photos from inside our transformed venue
- Photos