2025: Parr Hall’s year in highlights
We helped Luke Littler celebrate his record-breaking success – twice!
Warrington united around the inspirational Luke ‘the Nuke’ Littler when he became the youngest ever world darts champion, aged 17. Luke’s had an exceptionally busy year since then and that’s what made his ‘homecoming’ at the sold-out ‘A Night at the Darts’ even more special.
That’s not all. Earlier in the year, it was at Parr Hall that Luke was made an ‘honorary citizen of Warrington’. The world champion was honoured at an extraordinary meeting of the council at our venue in February when Council Leader Hans Mundry spoke of his ‘outstanding achievements’ in darts and ‘inspirational impact’.
Comedian Chris McCausland announced his BAFTA while standing on our stage!
Things went a bit crazy for Chris when he won Strictly Come Dancing at the end of 2024. Warrington audiences truly took the comedian into their hearts which led to two back-to-back sell-out shows at Parr Hall in May. He then only went and topped it all off by announcing he’d won the BAFTA for ‘Memorable Moment’ – the only award voted for by the public – while still on our stage! Truly deserved and it was such a joy for our team watching this unfold in Warrington.
One of the world’s biggest DJs raised the roof at Parr Hall
The Parr Hall date for Fatboy Slim’s Neon Ballroom tour became one of our fastest selling gigs and many revellers described it as the best experience they’ve ever had at our venue.
One said: “I’ve never seen Parr Hall bouncing like it was on Saturday night – unreal.”
Another added: “One of the best nights I’ve had in Warrington since Mr Smiths closed down.”
Other big names that graced our stage in 2025 included Francis Rossi, Skindred, John Lydon and Dara Ó Briain among many others.
We welcomed a giant knitted house!
Who got the chance to step inside ‘Grandma’s House’ when it suddenly appeared at Parr Hall after six months of work? This remarkable achievement by Warrington artist Marie Jones was one of the highlights of Warrington Arts Festival.
A monument to precious memories and family bonds and created entirely out of neon green and white acrylic yarn, this labour of love was based on her grandmother Margaret’s house. A total of 113 people from the community helped create the house using digitally hacked Brother KH950i knitting machines – using the lion’s share of a 150kg bulk load of yarn in the process! Truly unique and bespoke to Warrington.
Parr Hall turned 130
Happy birthday Parr Hall. Back in September 1895, this legendary venue opened its doors, and just two days later hosted a high-profile celebration featuring contralto Clara Butt. She was only 23 then, but went on to become a powerhouse of her era, performing at the Royal Albert Hall more than a 100 times.
Chris Persoglio, Executive Director of Culture Warrington, the arts charity that runs Parr Hall, said: “That story still resonates because, 130 years later, our mission hasn’t changed: Giving emerging talent a stage that matters.”
Farewell to Maureen and a warm welcome to Claire
It was the end of an era when we announced in May that our much loved Chair Maureen Banner was stepping down after 13 years. With a particular focus in supporting children and young people, Maureen has provided leadership and a guiding hand to our teams since Culture Warrington was established in 2012 – and we couldn’t be more grateful.
However, we’re in safe hands with a new Chair that Maureen thoroughly approves of – Claire Lloyd Fitzgerald. A lifelong Warringtonian and well known in the town, you might be familiar with Claire as a former borough councillor where she represented her home ward of Orford.
Or you may have even seen Claire at Parr Hall as she’s a big music fan having seen James, The Charlatans, The La’s and The Boo Radleys on our stage among many others! Welcome to the team, Claire.
We reached new audiences with a big push on family programming
We want Parr Hall to be as inclusive as possible, and we’re thrilled that some youngsters have their first experience of live performance at our venues. So throughout 2025 we did an even bigger push on family friendly events.
From dinos stomping on our stage for Dinosaurs Live to tiaras and swishy dresses in Pop Princesses, we had something for all kids. We also had a couple of fantastic Tom Fletcher productions – There’s A Monster in Your Show and The Dinosaur That Pooped a Rock Show.
We held a huge party for Warrington Pride!
The vibes were immaculate! We always love being part of Warrington Pride but we took it to another level when we hosted the official after party at Parr Hall!
The Voice’s cabaret superstar Fatt Butcher brought a stellar line-up of some of the UK’s best independent queer talent as we all stood united under the disco ball! Such a memorable night.
Pyramid – watch this space
Firstly, thanks everyone for your patience. We know our Pyramid Arts Centre has been closed for what feels like a long time due to the £5m revamp that’s been going behind-the-scenes since the end of July 2024.
Excitingly, it’s taking shape and we can’t wait to share reopening plans with you as soon as we can. In a nutshell, the aim is to make Pyramid more modern, inclusive and fit-for-purpose. We’ll be able to host bigger gigs, for up to 380 people, in Exhibition Hall while Studio Theatre will have a new bar and an entirely new layout.
Also, crucially, an upgraded power supply to the building and acoustic improvements will allow us to host multiple performances in the venue simultaneously.
Pyramid redevelopment project was funded as part of the government’s £3.6billion ‘Town Deal’ and made possible thanks to the building’s owners, Warrington Borough Council.
And finally – a few words about Tony Peers
Certainly not a highlight but a major moment of 2025 was losing Tony Peers. We’ve worked with Tony for many years – crafting Parr Hall’s annual panto that remains so well loved in Warrington.
A big-hearted showbiz veteran with more than 50 years’ experience in the industry, he was the man behind the magic and his legacy lives on through these performances. We miss him but the show must go on – our upcoming panto, Beauty and the Beast, is dedicated to Tony’s memory.