Well known as the home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club, The SSE SWALEC, formerly Sophia Gardens, is returning to its roots to become the hottest entertainment venue in Cardiff.
We take a look back at the days when Sophia Gardens was hosting iconic acts like Tom Jones, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd at the Pavilion.
Indeed the Sophia Gardens Pavilion, as it was called back in the 1980’s, was the place to go for first rate entertainment in Cardiff. And with the Kaiser Chiefs, Dizzee Rascal and Simply Red, taking to the stage at The SSE SWALEC this summer, the heritage of the venue is being truly revived.
Chief executive at The SSE SWALEC, Hugh Morris said, “We are delighted to be opening up the stadium as a venue for concerts and gigs this summer and returning the stadium to its former legacy.
“With our open air seating arrangement and beautiful surroundings, it is the perfect venue to host an all-day summer festival, where people can enjoy music, dancing, food and drink in the sunshine."
Long before it became home to Glamorgan County Cricket Club in 1968, Sophia Gardens had a long standing heritage as an entertainment venue after it was originally established by the Marques of Bute’s wife Lady Sophia Rawdon-Hastings in 1858. She was concerned there wasn’t enough open space for recreation so commissioned an area to be generated.
The area rapidly became a hub for entertainment and hosted everything from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in 1891, to the Festival of Britain in 1951, when the pavilion was built, and boxing and wrestling competitions in the Commonwealth Games of 1958.
From the 1950’s it was regularly used as a concert venue and swiftly built up a reputation as the only place to go to experience performances by big names like Slade, Danny Kaye, Cliff Richard and Tommy Cooper.
Hugh added “Over the next few years we are planning on holding more summer festivals as well as other events such as outdoor cinema with the view to regenerating the reputation of the old pavilion to become the amongst the best outdoor entertainment venues in Cardiff.”
Following in the footsteps of the original Sophia Gardens Pavilion, The SSE SWALEC is bringing the people of Cardiff an action packed calendar of events this summer. Not only is the stadium holding seven NatWest T20 Blast home fixtures for Glamorgan cricket club, it is also throwing its gates open for a weekend of festival style gigs and Foster’s Pro Darts Masters.
The SSE SWALEC presents On the Pitch music weekender on Saturday 17 July and Sunday 18 July as The Kaiser Chiefs and Simply Red headline two days of live open-air music and entertainment.
To secure your seats head to www.TheSSESWALEC.com/presents or call the Glamorgan County Cricket Club box office: 02920 419311. Tickets also available from Ticketmaster, See Tickets, Ticket Line UK
CLICK HERE for more nostalgia images from past greats at the old Pavilion
