The Piece Hall Halifax: So many magical moments created

By CEO of The Piece Hall Trust, Nicky Chance-Thompson MBE, DL

And it has certainly felt like the “first day back” at The Piece Hall this month as our unique courtyard has been returned to its state of natural beauty after hosting a phenomenal line-up of global superstars during Live at The Piece Hall 2024.

If I was writing my “what I did in the summer” essay it would be quite the tome this year.

From the iconic and legendary Blondie back in June to rising star Cian Ducrot at the end of August – it was an incredible three months. More than 180,000 tickets were sold for the Live at series and if we consider the free events like Pride, we welcomed well over 200,000 people to watch performances on our now iconic stage.

As we debrief about this year’s season and start planning for next year, we’ve been reading some of the feedback sent in by gig goers after the shows and I must say it’s been emotional. There have been so many magical moments created, with multiple messages praising the events, the accessible offer in particular and the brilliant team which made that happen.

A schedule of 34 shows was a huge challenge for the staff and they delivered spectacularly. I’m very proud and grateful for all their hard work, with so many people going above and beyond. Was everything perfect, of course not, but was it great?

Well according to the hundreds of comments, messages and emails it really was.

And we will carry on improving, reassessing, and striving to make things even greater next year.

As well as providing fantastic nights out and making brilliant memories, I’m passionate the gigs have a lasting legacy too. So it’s great news that we have a free two-week events training course starting in October as part of The Piece Hall Academy in conjunction with the Academy of Live Technology. They are at the top of their game when it comes to live events education, and this Event Production Skills Bootcamp funded by WYCA is a great opportunity for anyone looking to get a start in the most exciting industry in the world!

We’re already being asked when news will start to be revealed about who will be gracing the stage in 2025. All I can say is soon, very soon!

So what else do we have coming up at The Piece Hall now? October will see a groundbreaking new art exhibition by renowned Yorkshire electronic music pioneer, Martyn Ware, following its world premiere at The World Trade Centre in New York.

Then next stop is Christmas. This is the time when our brilliant independent tenants really shine, I may be biased but I genuinely believe you won’t find a better and more varied selection of gifts in shops anywhere.

This year we have our biggest run of Christmas markets yet, over six weekends.

They were so incredibly popular last year, and we’ve listened to feedback about how much people love them. November 2023 saw our busiest day ever since The Piece Hall reopened when the beautiful Christmas parade took place in town and ended in

the courtyard.

This does mean we don’t have the Spiegeltent this year – but I really hope this will mean people can go and explore all the other fantastic venues we have in Halifax and Calderdale, our brilliant theatres, bars and clubs have so much to offer over the festive period in the year of CultureDale! I would urge you to support them.