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Earlier this year, London was named the world’s best city for music lovers, and in 2026 the capital’s music offering is set to get even better. While it’s not all been good news for the capital’s music venues in 2025 (the legendary Corsica Studios and G-A-Y both recently announced closures), there’s a whole host of new spaces opening up in 2026 – from Peckham Palais to the Jazz Cafe in Stratford to Upstairs at Ronnie Scotts. Now, there’s a brand new music venue in west London to add to that list.
We’ve known that a new venue would be coming to west London’s transformed Olympia London (formerly Kensington Olympia) since 2020. But now, we finally have all of the details.
The 3,800 capacity music and events space will be named British Airways ARC (British Airways is the venue’s naming rights partner) and will be located above the existing west exhibition hall. And it’s due to open next year.
The venue will be operated by AEG Presents, the same people behind BST Hyde Park and All Points East, so it’s fair to expect that there’ll be some big names. And Olympia already has plenty of experience in welcoming huge stars. Over its 140 years of existence, it’s hosted performances from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Rod Stewart, Primal Scream, The Cure and The Chemical Brothers. Anyone who wants to be the first to find out about events at ARC can sign up to its mailing list here.
Andrew Spencer, the chief operating officer at AEG Presents Europe said: ‘This is a pivotal moment as we open the diary for bookings and reveal the name of British Airways ARC. We’re delighted to be working with British Airways and as we take the next step towards opening all the teams are very excited. Olympia is a place that has an incredible musical history which we want to honour whilst creating a venue that is thoroughly modern with world class facilities for artists and fans alike.’
The enormous £1.3 billion redevelopment of Kensington Olympia will also feature a 1,575-seat theatre, 30 bars, restaurants and eateries, two hotels and 550,000 sqft of office space.
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