Bournemouth International Centre

The Bournemouth International Centre (commonly known as the BIC /ˈbɪk/) in Bournemouth, Dorset, was opened in September 1984. It is one of the largest venues for conferences, exhibitions, entertainment and events in southern England. Additionally, it is well known for hosting national conferences of major British political parties and trade unions. At opening it comprised two halls, the Windsor Hall and the Tregonwell Hall as well as a leisure swimming pool which has since been closed to provide further conference and exhibition space.

Bournemouth International Centre
Exterior of the BIC, April 2008
LocationBournemouth, Dorset, England
Coordinates50°43′00″N 1°52′41″W
OwnerBournemouth Borough Council
OperatorBH Live
Built1982–1984
Inaugurated16 August 1984
Opened6 September 1984 (1984-09-06)[1]
Renovated2004
Construction cost
£19.5 million (£66.3 million in 2021 pounds[2])
Classroom-style seating
10–50
Banquet/ballroom2,500 (Purbeck Hall)
1,300 (Solent Hall)
Theatre seating
4,045 (Windsor Hall)
1,100 (Tregonwell Hall)
Enclosed space
  Total space6,982 m2 (75,150 sq ft)
  Exhibit hall floor1,973 m2 (21,240 sq ft)
  Breakout/meeting1,000 m2 (11,000 sq ft)
  Ballroom2,748 m2 (29,580 sq ft)
Parking650 spaces
Website
www.bic.co.uk

Venues

The BIC's location on the seafront

The venue's Windsor Hall has a concert capacity of nearly 4,100 and is one of the bigger indoor music venues in the UK, often included on the arena tours of major artists. This hall has the largest tensile grid in Europe – a tensioned mesh comprising 30 miles of steel wire hung 40 metres above the stage which can suspend approximately 90 tonnes of weight.[3]

In 1990 the circular Purbeck Hall was added at a cost of £6 million.

The Solent Hall can house exhibitions or hold up to 2,000 people for standing music concerts. As part of a refurbishment costing £22 million, this hall controversially replaced the popular swimming pool and wave machine in 2004 after an unsuccessful campaign to save the facility.[3] [4]

Managed by social enterprise BH Live in partnership with Bournemouth Borough Council, the BIC is operated alongside its sister venue, The Pavilion Theatre and Ballroom.

Notable events

Between 1998 and 2000 the BIC hosted snooker's UK Championship. Since 2006 the BIC has hosted the Premier League Darts on several occasions.[5][6][7][8]

Dates Performing Act Event
1-2 March 1985 Wham! The Big Tour
12 March 1985 Tina Turner Private Dancer Tour
3-5 March 1989 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrat Federal (Spring) Conference
15 December 1990 INXS X-Factor Tour
9-12 September 1991 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference
6 October 1991 Morrissey Kill Uncle Tour
21 November 1991 Diana Ross Here and Now Tour
3 December 1991 New Kids On The Block No More Games Tour
8-10 November 1993 Take That Everything Changes Tour
22 January 1996 Bjork Post Tour
14 December 1997 Louise Soft and Gentle Tour [9]
21 December 1999 Gary Barlow For the Fans Tour
17-21 September 2000 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference
13 November 2000 Tom Jones Reload Tour
14 December 2000 Gabrielle Rise Tour
15 March 2001 Kylie Minogue On a Night Like This Tour
23-27 September 2001 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference
15 October 2002 Coldplay A Rush of Blood to the Head Tour
27 January 2003 Counting Crows Hard Candy World Tour
19–23 September 2004 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference
9 October 2004 Rod Stewart From Maggie May To The Great American Songbook Tour
25 February 2006 Kelly Clarkson The Breakaway Tour
1 April 2006 Sugababes Taller In More Ways Tour
31 May 2006 Girls Aloud Chemistry: The Tour
27 November 2006 Pink I'm Not Dead Tour
10 March 2007 Journey UK Tour
25–26 March 2007 Westlife The Love Tour
6 March 2008 Rihanna Good Girl Gone Bad Tour
23 March 2008 Kelly Clarkson My December Tour
21 April 2008 Sugababes Change Tour
3 June 2008 Avril Lavigne The Best Damn World Tour
15-17 September 2008 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference
25 January 2009 The Pussycat Dolls Doll Domination Tour
30 June 2009 Seal Soul Tour
23-25 September 2009 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference
30 October 2009 The Nolans 30th Anniversary Reunion Tour
20 November 2009 Lily Allen It's Not Me, It's You World Tour
15 February 2010 Kelly Clarkson All I Ever Wanted Tour
16 December 2010 Scissor Sisters Night Work Tour
31 March 2011 Katy Perry California Dreams Tour
9 April 2011 The Wanted The Behind Bars Tour
6 September 2011 Dolly Parton Better Day World Tour
28 October 2011 Will Young Echoes Tour
3 January 2012 One Direction Up All Night Tour
2 March 2012 The Wanted The Code Tour
4 March 2012 Florence and the Machine Ceremonials Tour
7 July 2012 Blink-182 Neighbourhoods tour
13 November 2012 Gary Barlow Gary Barlow: In Concert
16 February 2013 Little Mix DNA Tour
8-9 March 2013 Olly Murs Right Place Right Time Tour
18–20 May 2013 Eddie Izzard Force Majeure
12 October 2013 M People 20th Anniversary Greatest Hits Tour
4-5 December 2013 Boyzone BZ20 Tour
13 December 2013 Imagine Dragons Night Visions Tour
28 March 2014 Jason Derulo Tattoos World Tour
23 April 2014 Gary Barlow Since I Saw You Last Tour
21–22 & 28–29 May 2014 McBusted McBusted Tour
4 June 2014 Little Mix The Salute Tour
18–24 August 2014 Lee Evans Monsters Tour
22 September 2014 The Saturdays Greatest Hits Live! Tour
12 October 2014 The Vamps Meet the Vamps Tour
9 March 2015 The Script No Sound Without Silence Tour
14 March 2015 Morrissey N/A
15 March 2015 Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Autumn Tour 2014
26 July 2015 British Gymnastics GymFusion Legends Tour 2015
19–23 September 2015 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference
10 October 2015 Fall Out Boy American Beauty/American Psycho Tour
28 November 2015 Will Young Love Revolution Tour
1 December 2015 Alt-J UK Tour
15 March 2016 Little Mix The Get Weird Tour
4 April 2016 Years & Years UK Tour 2016
21 June 2016 Barry Manilow One Last Time Tour
1 November 2016 Bring Me The Horizon That's the Spirit Tour
19 March 2017 Craig David Following My Intuition Tour
28 March 2017 Olly Murs 24 Hrs Tour
10 June 2017 Anastacia Ultimate Collection Tour
16-19 September 2017 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference
25 November 2017 James Blunt The Afterlove World Tour
27 November 2017 Steps Party on the Dancefloor Tour
30 November 2017 James Arthur Back from the Edge Tour
11 March 2018 Paloma Faith The Architect Tour
26 March 2018 Niall Horan Flicker World Tour
1–2 June 2018 Gary Barlow Gary Barlow In Concert
22 September 2018 Kylie Minogue Golden Tour
10 November 2018 Rick Astley Beautiful Life Tour
2 December 2018 Jess Glynne Always In Between Tour
27 January 2019 Snow Patrol Wildness Tour
9-10 February 2019 Boyzone Thank You & Goodnight Tour
9 May 2019 Olly Murs You Know I Know Tour
22 May 2019 Rita Ora Phoenix World Tour
2-4 August 2019 Love Never Fails! Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses
14-17 September 2019 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference
12 December 2019 & 7-8 January 2020 Jack Whitehall Stood Up Tour
19 February 2020 The 1975 UK Tour
5 March 2020 Whitney Houston An Evening with Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour
20 April 2021 Craig David Hold That Thought Tour
1 December 2021 Steps What the Future Holds Tour

References

  1. Adido. "About The BIC · BH Live". www.bic.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-12-23.
  2. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  3. "Bournemouth venue marks 25 years". 2009-09-09. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
  4. "Letter to the Editor: Council should never have closed BIC swimming pool". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  5. "Darts: Historic achievement can help Taylor bounce back in Bournemouth". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
  6. "Darts: Tickets still available for BIC Premier League show". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
  7. "2015 BETWAY PREMIER LEAGUE DARTS". BH Live Tickets. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  8. "Premier League darts: Anderson to savour BIC atmosphere". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
  9. "Louise Redknapp Setlists". setlists.fm. Retrieved 1 May 2018.

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