The O2 Arena, commonly known as The O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the center of The O2 entertainment district on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the third-highest seating capacity of any indoor venue in the United Kingdom, behind the Co-op Live and Manchester Arena, and in 2008 was the world's busiest music arena. As of 2022, it is the ninth-largest building in the world by volume with a diameter of 365 meters (399 yards) and a height of 52 meters (57 yards).
The arena was built under the Millennium Dome (renamed The O2), a large dome-shaped building built to house an exhibition celebrating the turn of the third millennium; as the structure still stands over the arena, The Dome remains a name in common usage for the venue. The arena, as well as the overall The O2 complex, is named after its primary sponsor, the telecommunications company O2, a subsidiary of Virgin Media O2.
Thanks and credit to Google Earth Studio for this aerial video.
The arena was built under the Millennium Dome (renamed The O2), a large dome-shaped building built to house an exhibition celebrating the turn of the third millennium; as the structure still stands over the arena, The Dome remains a name in common usage for the venue. The arena, as well as the overall The O2 complex, is named after its primary sponsor, the telecommunications company O2, a subsidiary of Virgin Media O2.
Thanks and credit to Google Earth Studio for this aerial video.
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00:00The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the center
00:09of the O2 Entertainment District on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London.
00:14It opened in its present form in 2007.
00:17It has the third-highest seating capacity of any indoor venue in the United Kingdom,
00:21behind the Co-op Live and Manchester Arena, and in 2008 was the world's busiest music
00:26arena.
00:27As of 2022, it is the ninth-largest building in the world by volume with a diameter of
00:32365 metres, 399 yards, and a height of 52 metres, 57 yards.
00:39The arena was built under the Millennium Dome, renamed the O2, a large dome-shaped building
00:43built to house an exhibition celebrating the turn of the third millennium.
00:47As the structure still stands over the arena, the dome remains a name in common usage for
00:51the venue.
00:53The arena, as well as the overall The O2 Complex, is named after its primary sponsor,
00:58the telecommunications company O2, a subsidiary of Virgin Media O2.
01:04Following the closure of the Millennium Experience at the end of 2000, the Millennium Dome was
01:08leased to Meridian Delta Ltd. in December 2001, for redevelopment as an entertainment
01:14complex.
01:15This included plans for an indoor arena.
01:18Construction of the arena started in 2003, and finished in 2007.
01:22In December 2004, after the interior of the dome had been largely cleared and before building
01:28work inside began, the dome was used as the main venue for the annual Crisis Open Christmas
01:33organised by the London-based homelessness charity Crisis.
01:37Owing to the impossibility of using cranes inside the dome structure, the arena's roof
01:41was constructed on the ground within the dome and then lifted.
01:45The arena building's structure was then built around the roof.
01:48The arena building, which houses the arena and the arena concourse, is independent of
01:53all other buildings in the O2 and houses all the arena's facilities.
01:57The arena building itself takes up 40% of the total dome structure.
02:01The seating arrangement throughout the whole arena can be modified, similar to the OU Arena
02:06in Manchester.
02:07The ground surface can also be changed between an ice rink, basketball court, exhibition
02:13space, conference venue, private hire venue, and concert venue.
02:17The arena was designed to reduce echoing, a problem common among older arenas used for concerts.
02:23Damage to the O2's tent.
02:25Above the roof of the O2 Arena, caused by Storm Eunice, 2022, on 18 February 2022 during
02:31Storm Eunice, large sections of the arena's fabric roof were shredded, causing the evacuation
02:36of 1,000 people and the venue to close.
02:40It was later announced that repair works would take place and that the arena was likely to
02:44reopen on 25 February 2022, for a UB40 concert.
02:49The repairs took place as planned, with the O2 Arena reopened as scheduled.
02:53In August 2007, American musician Prince began the Earth Tour, 21 Nights in London, a series
02:59of 21 sold-out nights at the venue.
03:02The record-breaking run featured many of his hits while the setlist changed every night,
03:06so no two shows would be the same.
03:09Beginning in July 2009, Michael Jackson was scheduled to hold a 50-show residency at the
03:14arena, titled This Is It.
03:16However, he died on 25 June, 18 days before the first scheduled show.
03:22During the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, the venue was referred to as the North Greenwich
03:26Arena due to Olympics regulations regarding corporate sponsorship of event sites.
03:31Since March 2013, the arena has hosted C2C, Country to Country, Europe's largest country
03:37music festival, which annually attracts over 20,000 fans.
03:41UK and Irish acts, as well as up-and-coming American acts, perform sets several times
03:47across various pop-up stages in and around the arena, with the main stage accessible
03:51only to ticket holders.
03:53The seventh C2C was held on 8–10 March 2019.
03:58That is all.
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