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Coventry University help Coventry UK City of Culture and Assembly Festival launch new entertainment hub
An artist's impression of Assembly Festival Garden
University news / City of Culture 2021
Tuesday 25 May 2021
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Coventry University has provided the site of the former Civic Centre buildings to the City of Culture team for use as an exciting new entertainment hub.
The university has cleared the area for development but is giving use of it for free during the city’s year in the national spotlight.
Assembly Festival, a leading venue producer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, will run Assembly Festival Garden at the site.
The entertainment, food, drink and events space will be a centrepiece for the city’s year of cultural celebrations and will run from 1 July to mid-October 2021, hosting a series of productions spanning cabaret, circus, comedy and children’s shows, high-profile comedy and music gigs and provide a new platform for local artists and entertainers.
The site will eventually become Coventry University’s new hub for academic and research facilities, with public spaces for the wider community.
In demolishing the old buildings we saw there was an opportunity before we begin redevelopment of the site for it to be used as part of the City of Culture year.
It represents a significant investment for us to get the site ready for use but one we are delighted to be able to make in what is such an important year for the city.
We are certain the City of Culture team and Assembly will stage a tremendous celebration for Coventry and we can’t wait to be a part of it.
Professor John Latham CBE, Vice-Chancellor of Coventry University
The Garden and performance spaces have been designed to include COVID-19 specific adaptions and will have flexible configurations to align with UK Government guidance. This will be combined with a number of measures including contactless payments and ticketing, increased ventilation and a robust contact tracing process.
Our year as City of Culture will see a wide variety of events in all sorts of spaces and venues as we tell our story and celebrate our year, and the Assembly Festival Garden will offer something new and exciting to the city for residents and visitors to enjoy.
A real partnership approach has made this possible and a particular thank you to Coventry University for its generosity in making such a wonderful site available and adding yet another attraction to the coming year.
Leader of Coventry City Council, Cllr George Duggins
Tickets are set to go on sale for the first major events at the end of May, with further line-up announcements to follow.
Find more information about Coventry City of Culture.
