Our History

St George’s Hall opens with a
three-day musical festival

1853

Alderman Samuel Smith is the founder and it is paid for by public shares. St George's Hall is to have the effect of ‘suppressing the immorality and vice prevalent among our population’. It goes on to host ‘Grand’ events e.g. Grand Musical Soirees, Grand Masonic Balls, Grand Concerts.

1854

Charles Dickens reads his famous story A Christmas Carol to a packed auditorium. The money raised goes to an educational institute in Bradford. The press describes the audience as ‘riveted from first to last… as was manifest by their frequent cheers and their loud laughter!’

Charles Dickens gives a reading

First performance of the
Bradford Festival Choral Society

1856

Drawn from a choir of over 200 who performed at
St George's Hall’s opening, they present Handel’s
‍The Messiah. The start of a long standing relationship with the venue.

1858

Sir Charles Hallé, the founder of the orchestra, first plays at St George’s Hall as soloist pianist in 1854. Then in 1858 on their first tour Mr. Charles Hallé and his full band comprising 70 musicians perform. The Hallé Orchestra play at the venue to this day.

The Hallé Orchestra plays for the first time

The First Subscription Concert

1865

To help raise funds for the running of St George's Hall, the first subscription Grand Concert presents vocalists Miss Edmonds and Mr Sims Reeves.

1870

Bradford MP W E Forster explains his Primary Education Act, meaning that from the age of 5, it is now law that children should attend school, laying out the framework for our school system used to this day. Strong disapproval and scuffles with the police follow.

Local MP W E Forster presents the Education Act

The Fisk Jubilee Singers perform,
the first of 6 performances

1873

One of the earliest and most famous African American vocal groups, the Jubilee Singers were made up of mainly freed slaves from Fisk University in Nashville.  ‘The Fisk Jubilee Singers changed the spiritual into an art form and introduced it to the world’.

1889

The Shah of Persia, His Imperial Majesty Naser al-Din, attends a grand reception at St George's Hall.
His entourage includes 3 viziers, 6 Amirs
and 33 Persian notables.

The Shah of Persia visits

Legendary Victorian actors perform

1890

Mr. Henry Irving and Miss Ellen Terry play the lead roles in Macbeth by William Shakespeare. This touring version of their hugely successful production is supported by a full orchestra.

1891

This event spills over into disturbances.
The Riot Act is read on the Town Hall steps
and the Durham Light Infantry called.
This is hugely significant in political history
and the trade union movement.

The Lister’s Mill strikers hold a meeting and thousands attend

Dame Nellie Melba sings

1899

One of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era, Dame Nellie Melba sings at St George’s Hall. This is one of her many performances at the venue.

1902

Sydney Carter, the manager of St George’s Hall, is a pioneer in cinema. Moving pictures are first presented here in the late 1890s. In 1902 he forms New Century Pictures and a programme of films are regularly shown at the venue.

New Century Pictures at St George’s Hall

Prince and Princess of Wales visit

1904

The Prince and Princess of Wales (later King George V and Queen Mary) attend a Grand Reception at St George’s Hall, after opening Cartwright Hall, the Bradford Exhibition in Lister Park, the Technical College and unveiling a statue of Queen Victoria.

1905

Harry Houdini, the famous magician and escape artist, appears for one week only. His percentage of the house earns him a $2,150 salary, the highest he has ever received. Whilst in Bradford, Houdini also performs his jail breaking act by escaping from the cells in City Hall.

Harry Houdini, the escapologist, performs

Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst speaks at St George's Hall

1907

Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst of the Women's Social and Political Union is heckled as she speaks at a meeting in support of votes for women.

1910

Prime Minister Asquith speaks at St George's Hall, and two suffragettes, who have been hiding under the stage for 24 hours, interrupt him with a demand for 'justice for women and freedom.' They are escorted from the Hall.

The Prime Minister’s speech is interrupted by suffragettes

Independent Labour Party meeting
with Keir Hardie

1914

The Independent Labour Party (ILP), later to become the Labour Party, was founded in Bradford in 1893. Many of their meetings, including this one celebrating the 21st birthday of the ILP with Labour leader Keir Hardie, are held at St George’s Hall.

1914

St George’s Hall is used to recruit local men, known as the Bradford Pals, to fight in the First World War. Many of the Bradford Pals go on to fight and lose their lives in the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

Recruitment of the Bradford Pals

New Century Pictures buys
St George’s Hall

1926

New Century Pictures buys St George's Hall. After work on the interior it re-opens as a cinema. The main feature for its first showing is The Eagle starring Rudolph Valentino.

1928

Gaumont buys St George’s Hall and runs it as a cinema until 1949. Throughout the 1930s Gaumont has 3 other cinemas in Bradford city centre: The New Victoria, The Empire and The Morley Street Picture House which is now The Studio behind the Alhambra Theatre.

Gaumont British Film Company buys
St George's Hall

St George’s Hall is purchased by
Bradford Corporation

1948

In danger of being demolished, Bradford Civic Society offers to buy the site from Gaumont for £35,000. Bradford Corporation completes the sale.

1953

St George's Hall re-opens as a municipal concert hall 100 years after its original opening. : A concert is given to celebrate, which includes performances from BBC Northern Orchestra and Bradford Festival Choral Society.

The site re-opens as a civic concert hall

Sir John Barbirolli conducts the Hallé
for his 100th subscription concert

1958

The conductor of the Hallé Orchestra, Barbirolli appears at St George’s Hall for his 100th subscription concert. A celebration supper is given in his honour. He describes the venue as ‘having the finest acoustics of any concert Hall in Europe and its non-echo perfection makes my conducting of music therein a pleasure.’

1959

In the 1950s blues artists, jazz orchestras and big bands perform. A young Shirley Bassey sings Kiss Me Honey with the Eric Winstone Orchestra and is described in the programme as ‘a charming person of fantastic talent.’

Shirley Bassey with the
Eric Winstone Orchestra

Rock ‘n’ roll star Jerry Lee Lewis performs

1962

In the 1960s rock ‘n’ roll bands play at St George’s Hall. Audiences go wild dancing to hits such as
Jerry Lee Lewis’s Great Balls of Fire.

1964

Formed in 1962 this was the band’s second British tour. Playing covers, their hard-driven sound came to represent the youthful rebellious counter-culture of the day.

The Rolling Stones perform two shows

Leeds/Bradford airport terminal is opened at the venue

1964

Air travellers check in with their luggage at St George’s Hall, relax in the lounge, then take a coach to the airport at Yeadon to fly out to destinations around the world. The terminal remains at the venue for 5 years.

1965

Big Mama Thornton, influential African American blues singer/songwriter performs alongside some of the greatest blues artists in the world at the American Folk Blues Festival.

Big Mama Thornton appears at the American Folk Blues Festival event

Professional Wrestling Matches
draw crowds

1969

St George’s Hall hosts a wide variety of events including brass band championships, religious meetings, magic shows, cookery demonstrations, flower shows, school speech days and, on Monday evenings, a highly popular programme of wrestling matches.

1973

Heavy rock band Led Zeppelin performs, as does legendary artist David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust with The Spiders from Mars. A golden age of rock and pop at the venue.

Rock legends perform at St George's Hall

Queen, Hawkwind, Status Quo and Slade

1974

Young audiences enjoy live performances of their music providing unforgettable experiences.  
‘It was very magical...I was 15 when I first went and it was there I saw all my heroes… it was magic!'
‍Jeff Willacy - Audience member

1980

Punk band The Clash rocks the venue as heavy metal gives way to punk, new wave, ska, reggae, bhangra, rap and pop at St George’s Hall. The Clash goes on to play here for a third time in 1985.

The Clash perform at St George's Hall

St George's Hall re-opens
after major refurbishment

1984

After a year-long closure and £2m of work the venue re-opens. The renovations include new ramped access along Bridge Street, clean-up and repair to the exterior and re-configured front of house areas.

1985

Following the tragedy of the fire at Valley Parade football ground in Bradford, three nights of benefit concerts are given to raise money for the victims. Kiki Dee, The Cult and Smokie perform.

Three nights of benefit concerts

British bhangra band Alaap performs

1986

Along with other hugely popular British bhangra bands such as Heera and The Sahotas, Alaap performs British bhangra which combines roots in the Punjab with Western, rock-influenced beats; a music which affirms the identity of young British Asian audiences in Bradford.

1988

A great number of LGBT+ artists and performers have appeared at the venue over the years. In this era performers begin openly celebrating their sexual orientation through performances on stage. Erasure is hugely popular with LGBT+ audiences, for whom the openly gay singer Andy Bell is an icon.

Synth pop duo Erasure performs

Take That performs

1992

Take That performs as part of their first ever tour, and to promote their first album, Take That & Party. They go on to have 12 number one hits, including Back for Good, Never Forget, Patience and Greatest Day, and are the most successful boy band in UK chart history!

1994

Comedy becomes the new rock ‘n’ roll with sell out shows filling the auditorium.  Alongside the ever popular Ken Dodd, new comedians such as... Lee Evans, Lenny Henry, Lily Savage, Jack Dee and Jo Brand appear.

Stand-up comedian Jo Brand performs

Benazir Bhutto speaks

1999

Thousands of people pack St George’s Hall to hear politician and former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto speak.

2003

Welsh rock band Stereophonics play. Despite a change in the music business meaning popular bands play to vast crowds in huge arenas, emerging bands continue to draw new, young audiences to the Victorian venue.

Stereophonics appear

The Sugababes perform

2008

Pop and rock bands like the Sugababes, James and Ash perform. Soloists Dionne Warwick, Boy George and Hayley Westerna pack out the venue.

2012

Comedy continues to take centre stage as comedy legend Billy Connolly performs a show which sells out in hours. Part of his Vetruvian man tour.

Billy Connolly gives a sell out performance

Yorkshire Regional Brass Band Championships

2016

One of the last events held at St Georges Hall prior to its major refurbishment is the Yorkshire Regional Brass Band Championships. This involves 58 bands (and over 1700 bandsmen and women) competing to represent Yorkshire at the finals of the National Brass Band Championships at the Royal Albert Hall. The winner in 2016 is the Black Dyke Band.

2019

Following a much needed multi-million pound refurbishment, St George’s Hall re-opens with a gala celebration. Beverley Knight, Sarah Millican, Collabro and Escala star, as well as some of Bradford’s local groups and performers. The Bradford Festival Choral Society and other local artists sing the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s The Messiah.

St George’s Hall re-opens to the public after a 3 year closure

St George’s Hall closes to the public due to the Covid-19 pandemic

2020

The venue is later used as a Covid testing hub. Members of the public without obvious symptoms of Covid can walk in and have a test, with results delivered in 30 minutes. Part of the strategy to fight the pandemic on a local level.

2021

After first opening in 1853 and having survived two world wars, change of ownership and a global pandemic, staff prepare for re-opening the venue once more. St George’s Hall continues as its founder intended to provide for our ‘instruction, amusement and entertainment’ and to reflect the spirit of the day.

St George’s Hall looks to re-open for public performances