The UK has had to shut down 10 music venues and theaters due to infrastructure issues over the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which is beginning to pose dangers to building across the country.

RAAC is a lightweight building material that was utilised between the 1950’s and the 1990’s in the UK and has been the reason behind the controversial recent closures of schools across the nation.

Upon review, the government has recently revised the guidance on the material, regarding it to be dangerous and at risk of collapse. Around 150 schools have been forced to close, either fully or partly. The material has also affected universities, airports as well as hospitals just to name a few.

The affected venues are:

Guildhill, Preston

The Orchard, Dartford

Dixon Studio, Westcliff-on-Sea

The Forum Theatre, Stockport

Royal and Derngate, Northampton

The Sands Centre, Carlisle

Core Theatre, Solihull

The Brunton, Musselburgh

YMCA Theatre, Scarborough

St David’s Hall, Cardiff

These venues have been forced to cancel their entire calendar for September and it is currently unknown when the venues will be allowed to reopen for events again. Many local councils are making sure the likes of schools and hospitals are a priority in terms of reopening therefore it could possibly be a long time before some of these music venues and theaters are able to open.

This will no doubt be a massive blow for the venues as the live entertainment industry is still trying to financially recover from the losses made as a result of the COVID pandemic in 2020.

Preston’s Guildhall has been closed since 2019 but was due to re-open in November for the Preston Weekender music festival. The festival is still scheduled to go ahead but fresh questions are now being raised over the safety of the venue.

Preston City Council has said in a statement: “The venues themselves are not currently in use, but we have been working inside both on a range of safety and associated works. A small number of future events were planned for this year, and we are in discussion with the organisers about these.”

A spokesperson for the venue has also stated in an interview with IQ: “We are taking a cautious and ‘safety first’ approach by securing the Grand Hall and Charter Theatre auditoria, until specialist consultant structural engineers can carry out a more detailed inspection. Unfortunately, we understand that this may take some time, as the experts required to carry out this very particular type of work are naturally prioritising school inspections.”