Brisbane Festival Hall
Interior view of Festival Hall, 1959
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| Address | Charlotte St Brisbane QLD 4000 Australia |
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| Owner | Stadiums Limited, City of Brisbane |
| Type | indoor arena |
| Genre(s) | music, concerts, sporting events |
| Capacity | 4,000 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 27 April 1959 |
| Closed | 29 August 2003 |
| Demolished | 2003 |
Brisbane Festival Hall was an indoor arena located on the southern corner of Albert Street and Charlotte Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
The Festival Hall was originally known as Brisbane Stadium, which was built in 1910. In 1958, the venue was demolished and a new building constructed, by then leading Queensland Construction Company E.J.Taylor & Sons, as part of the Centenary of Queensland. It was opened on 27 April 1959 and renamed Festival Hall. With a capacity of 4,000 people, it was the largest indoor public venue, in the Brisbane inner city area and it remained the city's primary indoor venue for more than forty years. It was designed in a postwar modern style, similar to its namesake, the Royal Festival Hall in London.
Like similar venues in other Australian cities, Festival Hall originally had been built as a boxing stadium, but as the popularity of boxing and wrestling waned after the introduction of television, it began to be used more often for other forms of entertainment, including the imported American sports craze "Roller Derby", and as a venue for concerts and theatrical presentations. Boxing events for the 1982 Commonwealth Games were held at Festival Hall. Also, many professional boxing events were held at the Festival Hall, including a number headlined by Australian boxing legend Hector Thompson.
Brisbane Festival Hall hosted performances for virtually every major tour by visiting overseas artists. On 28 June 1964, The Beatles played the first of four concerts at the venue. Other well known performers who entertained at Festival Hall include The Seekers, Fugazi, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, The Bee Gees, The Kinks, Nirvana, The Ramones, AC/DC, Pantera, U2, Stone Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool, Ozzy Osbourne, Lemonheads, Hoodoo Gurus, Public Enemy, Regurgitator, Beck and Massive Attack.
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