Ally Pally partners with DICE in milestone 150th anniversary year
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 21: A view of Alexandra Palace from Priory Park on May 21, 2014 in London, England. Alexandra Palace situated in the London Borough of Haringey First opened as "The PeopleÕs Palace" in 1873. Just 16 days later a fire broke out in the Palace, burning it down in its entirety. On 2 November the world's first regular high-definition public television broadcast took place from the BBC studios at Alexandra Palace. In 1980 fire again burned a large part of the building, the Palace reopened in 1988. Recently awarded a Round 1 pass from The Heritage Lottery Fund the Palace plans to renovate parts of the derelict building including the BBC Studios and Victorian Theatre. (Photo by Miles Willis/Getty Images)
DICE, the live event discovery platform, has been named the primary ticketing partner for Alexandra Palace, one of the UK’s most celebrated and historic independent venues. It marks DICE’s biggest venue partner in the UK to date, with Ally Pally delivering events for capacities ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 across its Theatre, West Hall, Great Hall and award-winning Park.
The partnership comes as the Palace celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, with an exciting roster of events and moments to commemorate its long history as the “People’s Palace”. Joining forces with DICE as its primary ticketing partner forms part of Alexandra Palace’s wider plans to expand its programme of events and community activities in the future, and develop its services for customers, with the audience experience placed at the heart of everything it does.
With a packed programme of indoor and outdoor events taking place at Ally Pally in the coming year, DICE will ticket some of the most sought-after events in London, with fans now able to take advantage of the platform’s Waiting List function, giving them an extra chance to attend sold out shows without participating in the secondary resale market.
Beyond live music – which this year includes gigs from Jessie Ware, The National, McFly and Fatboy Slim, and a summer series of outdoor events featuring Kaleidoscope Festival, headlined by Hot Chip – DICE will be the main ticketing provider for Ally Pally’s community events, such as November’s annual Fireworks Festival and burgeoning Creative Learning programme, which deliver hundreds of activities each year. DICE will also support ticketing of exhibitions and sports events at the Palace.
Russ Tannen, President at DICE, said: “Which Londoner doesn’t have a special memory from a show or event at Alexandra Palace? For the last 150 years they have been delivering the most unforgettable cultural and live music experiences in the city, and have created a space that people love and cherish as part of their community.
“We’re honoured to be working with such a historic venue, giving fans access to their incredible events, securely through DICE, without having to worry about crashing websites or ticket touts.”
Lucy Fenner, Commercial Director at Alexandra Palace, said: “Our events programme at the Palace has grown significantly in recent times, now attracting a million visitors a year, with every £1 we make going back into supporting our community projects and charitable objectives. We continue to host world class performers across our stages in the iconic Great Hall, beautiful Theatre and now outdoors in our Park and we are constantly evolving our services to provide fans an amazing experience throughout their visit. We are looking forward to working with the DICE team to build on this huge progress and deliver fans more amazing live music, festivals and more. It’s a partnership we can’t wait to get started.”
Emma Dagnes, CEO at Alexandra Palace, added: “As a charity and an independent venue, we want to provide truly amazing experiences to millions of people every year, whether that’s through hosting household names on our biggest stages, or via our extensive range of community events. DICE’s ethos and fan-first approach feels a great fit for this, and we are looking forward to working together as we continue to grow our cultural and entertainment programmes here at the Palace.”
As part of its mission to get fans out more, DICE will work alongside Ally Pally to ensure fans can discover the best live events using its Discovery tool, which recommends personalised events and suggested shows for friends to enjoy together. Over 40% of DICE’s sales come via Discovery.
