‘full crowds’ hope for stadium
THE Welsh Rugby Union is expecting Cardiff’s Principality Stadium to host a raft of huge concerts in 2021 as artists prepare to tour once more.
In what would be a big boost to the Union’s finances, a busy 2021 schedule on the concert front is being forecast for next year.
Lockdown restrictions are currently being eased across Wales, but last month First Minister Mark Drakeford said a return to hosting open mass gatherings was “quite a long way further down [the road]” – and certainly not “by the end of the school holiday period” this year.
In England, open-air gigs, festivals and theatre shows have resumed, but under strict limited conditions, including stringent social distancing rules.
The home of Welsh rugby has acted as a field hospital for longer this year than it has a Welsh rugby ground, being quickly transformed into a temporary 1,500-bed field facility called the Dragon’s Heart Hospital.
Despite the facility being downgraded to standby status back in June, there will be no rugby played at the ground for the remainder of this year.
WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips has confirmed they will be extending the contract for the hospital until the autumn, followed by a return to rugby in the 2021 Six Nations.
He said: “We plan to be back playing at the Principality Stadium, hopefully in front of full crowds against England and Ireland in the Guinness Six Nations in February 2021.”
As well as international matches being a big earner for the Union – raking in around £4m per game – the venue has also been used by some of the world’s biggest music artists since it opened in 1999.
Any additional income generated through venue usage by top artists for concerts would be well received, with the WRU already predicting losses of £50m as a result of Covid-19.
Addressing next year, Mr Phillips added: “2021 has the potential to very busy as promoters and acts look to return the stage after 2020 was wiped out for large events.”
And live music to bumper crowds isn’t the only thing on the agenda: the WRU’s luxury four star-plus hotel development on Westgate Street – set to be run by the Celtic Manor Resort – is hoped to open in the second half of 2021.
A stone’s throw from the Principality Stadium, the listed County Court and Post Office buildings will be transformed into a four-star, 175-bed hotel, whereby the historic Westgate Street buildings would be refurbished and a six-storey extension built at the back.
Developer Rightacres and Union have previously said the new Westgate Hotel would have a “prestigious” entrance hall, function room with space for 350 guests, a bar and 120-seater restaurant facing Westgate Street and a leisure spa with views across the city.
Mr Phillips added: “We also hope to have our Westgate Hotel open during the second part of next year. We have inevitably experienced delays but I’m pleased to say these have thus far been kept to a minimum and we are looking forward to adding the hotel to the event day experience at the stadium.”