Organisers behind Newcastle’s This Is Tomorrow Festival are gearing up to launch a brand-new music venue that offers a social-distancing preventive measure for the audience. Named ‘the Virgin Money Unity Arena,’ the venue will be situated at Newcastle Rarecourse, Gosforth Park, opening in August.
After months of the devastating outbreak of COVID-19 that has caused damage to a plethora of musical events and business, the UK music scene is slowly returning to its glory days with the latest wonderful news from Newcastle. The city is about to see the emergence of new music venue that safeguards people from the horrific virus while granting them with a complete experience of how a great music festival should be.
The Virgin Money Unity Arena is the emerging music venue that promises an innovative experience for festival enthusiasts with a series of live music and other entertainment events, such as comedy and DJ sets. The audiences can also expect a one-way system, in which they are assigned to their party’s personal viewing platform to watch all performances while remaining socially distanced from other attendees.
What’s more exciting is the organising team has already prepared an exciting line-up with A-listed artists for the first launch of the venue, which will be announced on July 7. Ticket holders can also pre-order food and drinks and full toilet facilities.
According to Chronicle Live, Steve Davis, the SSD managing director, spoke of the new venue: “We can’t be without music during these times so our only thought has been how can we bring music back to the British public safely and responsibly.”
He continued, “We have been hosting loads of live sessions and DJ sets across our social media, supporting local artists and raising money for the NHS. Now, we’re taking it one step further as the UK slowly comes out of lockdown.”
“Working with our brand new partner Virgin Money has been exciting and we think even in these hard times the people of the North East will come out in their thousands to see the artists they love. Further announcements will be coming in the coming weeks, but we’re excited to say we already have several high-profile artists signed up.”
Ged Bell, Newcastle City Council Cabinet member for Employment and Culture, also weighed in regarding the launching of Virgin Money: “The city has a great reputation for hosting music and cultural events. While this pandemic has hit the sector particularly hard, the concert planned at the Racecourse is a brilliant innovation where people will be able to enjoy top bands in a safe, responsible and socially-distanced way. It is fantastic to see such a creative response to enable us to experience live performances once again.”
Newcastle, get ready for an arena like no other… @VirginMoney @zarawoodz @MetroUK https://t.co/krRUfl2Yr6
— Virgin Money Unity Arena (@VMUnityArena) July 6, 2020
The venue is set for wide-ranging events until the end of summer. It also launched an official website for information about the upcoming first festival as well as ticket purchase. Stay tuned for the line-up announcement and be prepared to rise up out of the lockdown very soon!
