Empress Ballroom

The Empress Ballroom is a concert hall within the Winter Gardens complex featuring distinctive architectural and acoustic design. Suspended from a barrel-vaulted ceiling adorned with coffered panels hang twelve glass chandeliers, while the floor consists of thousands of wood pieces inlaid in varied timber species.

The ballroom emerged as part of the grand Winter Gardens complex and quickly became a favored venue for dance music performances. During World War I, the British Admiralty requisitioned it for wartime industrial purposes, specifically for assembling gas envelopes.

The space hosted legendary performances by British dance orchestras during extended summer seasons, attracting thousands of enthusiasts from across the country. These residencies became central to the ballroom culture of their time and drew people seeking live music and dancing.

The space holds approximately three thousand visitors, allowing good sightlines from most areas. The specially designed dance floor and acoustic configuration make it comfortable for attendees to enjoy performances and events.

A Rolling Stones performance in 1964 generated such a surge of enthusiastic fans that dozens of people and police officers required medical care afterward. This incident illustrates the intense reactions certain performances triggered during that era.