The Floral Pavilion celebrates its first birthday

15th December 2009

The Floral Pavilion, New Brighton has just celebrated its first birthday with a day of fun for all the family. Hundreds of children and their families attended the event which was held in the venue’s Panoramic Lounge over looking the winter landscape of the Mersey Estuary.

The party was centered around regular performances of a traditional Victorian Punch and Judy show bringing back memories of the golden age of New Brighton in the midst of the resort’s newest attraction. Throughout the day St Mary’s Catholic College provided an exceptionally high standard of Christmas music whilst face painting and other fundraising activity took place on behalf of the new Ronald McDonald House at Arrowe Park Hospital. The party culminated when Wirral’s Head of Arts and Museums, Rob Smith, cut a spectacular birthday cake sculpted into the shape of the venue. This cake was later donated to local nursing homes each receiving a different section of the new building.

Since opening the new Floral Pavilion has proved an exceptionally popular venue, over 130,000 tickets have been sold for shows in its first year with average audiences running at 85% sold out.

The Floral has established great relationships with local schools and have welcomed 60 schools and colleges to performances in the first 12 months as well as beginning new relationships for ongoing educational projects.

The very loyal audience that the Floral had established in its history have been retained but, through exciting developments in its programme, the theatre has welcomed new age groups and people from all areas of Wirral and beyond. 93% of people who booked in the first three months had not been to the Floral before but, since then, a large proportion have returned time and time again. The new programme has included live music, drama, large scale musicals and since opening, not including the amateur hires, the theatre has staged 106 different shows.

Over 500 people have now joined the Culture Club, a membership scheme set up when the building opened, which offers discounts and benefits as well as the chance to feel part of this exciting venue.

However there is so much more to the new Floral Pavilion than just a theatre. The Floral Café is becoming a community focal point for the growing social circle that is using the building for meeting friends and enjoying the surroundings, as well as those attending more formal meetings and events and the Conference Centre, which is a brand new venture in Wirral and has been equally well received. The Conference Centre is now booking for Corporate Events, Parties and Weddings well into the future. The Floral philosophy that no event is too large or too small is proving to be very popular with people from all over the UK.

With 130,000 tickets sold for the Theatre, 75 conferences welcoming over 6000 delegates,10 craft fairs attracting a total of over 10,000 people and an estimated passing trade exceeding 45,000 the venue has engaged with nearly 200,000 people in its first year.

The new season has recently gone on sale and tickets are selling fast proving that after a very successful first year the Floral Pavilion is looking towards a great future. The pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which begins on Saturday 19^th December, has broken box office records by opening with an unprecedented 75% of all tickets sold.

For more information on the Floral Pavilion and to book tickets - please visit  www.floralpavilion.com