This year the Royal Albert Hall is turning 150 years old, and while they had big plans to celebrate, they were forced to change them because of restrictions that come with the pandemic.
The domed structure which sits adjacent to the Albert memorial in Hyde Park was opened in 1871 by Queen Victoria, who at the time said it reminded her of the British Constitution. The building has survived two World Wars, but it's fair to say that COVID-19 may be the historic venue's biggest challenge yet, forcing it to close its doors to the public during lockdown.
The celebrations have been altered to happen over a year from 29th March (the day that it was opened 150 years ago) and extend into 2022. The celebration includes a special movie on the Royal Albert Hall’s Youtube channel which shows some of the ‘legendary moments in music history, alongside appearances from artists, athletes and activists, in our 90-second tribute to live music and performance, narrated by Sir Mick Jagger.’ (as described by the Royal Albert Hall website). As well as this, there will be a concert led by multi award-winning Bond composer David Arnold and a year-long collaboration will involve hundreds of local schoolchildren, community members and the Chelsea Pensioners.
It is clear that this will be a very different celebration than what was planned, but I am sure it will be wonderfully done. A full line-up of planned anniversary events can be found on the Royal Albert Hall website.
Photo by Raphael Tomi-Tricot
