audio podcast
Narrator: Millennium Forum in Derry, Londonderry is playing a key role in bringing together the city’s communities and reviving the local economy.
Woman 1: The Millennium Forum is quite an asset for Derry, we’ve done well out of it and we’ve got a lot of shows here. I’ve been here from the very start; I actually had one of the conducted tours when it originally opened, and I’ve been all around it and made use of it quite a lot. Both in the big shows that are here and some of the conference rooms – I’ve been to events in there as well.
Man 1: I’m here at the moment booking tickets for the Londonderry Music Society’s production of Wizard of Oz. I have been at a lot of productions, mainly on the stage actually (I’m a member of the Londonderry Musical Society) and of course I’ve also been in the audience. I must say it’s a wonderful theatre from both concepts, both being on the stage and watching the show.
Woman 2: We come up when there’s an interesting show on and we were up only a couple of weeks ago for The Sound of Music, which was a great show to have.
To see the West End coming to Derry was very exciting and a good opportunity for the kids to get a bit of the culture that I was exposed to when I lived out in London.
Woman 3: It’s very vibrant. It keeps going very well and there’s an awful lot of shows on. In fact, sometimes there’s too many shows on and I can’t get to see all the ones that I would like.
Man 2: It attracts people from both communities, from all over the place, and of course it attracts people in from Donegal and from further afield as well.
Woman 2: Derry needs as may focal points as it can get, especially with our ‘City of Culture’ event coming up, it’s very important. And I do like the fact that it is quite centralised in the city, but the actual building itself, I do like it very much.
Man 3: It’s a lot more professional now that it was when it opened up. Obviously, the experience of moving forward has helped tremendously. The staff are very good here. You can come in here, you can have a meal or a cup of coffee, and it’s a good place to not just see a show but to do other things as well.
Woman 3: It’s excellent with regards to the theatre part of it. I’ve been to plays, dramas and musicals, and I do come regularly to events like that.
Woman 4: Running events here, you know, I actually went to Irish dancing here not so long ago as well, so I think housing events and making them accessible to the public has brought more people in and made people feel much more that the city is a part of their cultural experience.
Man 4: It’s wonderful. We used to appear in the Rialto Cinema or Alto Theatre as it was called after it closed as a cinema, and while it was acceptable, it was nothing like what this is. I mean, this is up there with the best theatres in the UK.
Narrator: This is a Big Lottery Fund podcast, for more information go to: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
- Project:
- Millennium Forum
- Purpose:
- An arts centre for both sides of the community
- Total cost:
- £14.3 million
- MC grant:
- £5.2 million
Summer used to be the season of community tension in Derry/Londonderry, as both sides of the religious divide marked important dates in their cultural calendars with parades that served to stoke sectarian division.
With the development of the peace process came the opportunity to offer something different to the generation that has been growing up since the end of the Troubles.
“Young people recognise the Millennium Forum offers a great opportunity to meet friends from other communities and to experience the arts in a venue they’ve never been to before”
At the heart of this new cross-community effort is the Millennium Forum, the arts complex opened in 2001, which has the aim of playing a leading role in community regeneration and economic development in the area.
The Lowry
- The Millennium Forum was the first purpose-built theatre in Derry
- It has a seating capacity of 1,000 and is Ireland’s largest theatre
- It has conference space for more than 1,000 delegates
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