Royal Albert Hall – Grand Tour

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Royal Albert Hall – did you know?

There are 13,000 “A”s for Albert around Hall
The Hall is home to the world’s largest single woven carpet design, made of 326,666 sheep fleeces and 49 million tufts getting it into the Guinness World Records
The world’s biggest Christmas pudding was made at the Hall and weighed ten tonnes
The first ever body-building contest and Sumo wrestling tournament outside Japan took place in the main auditorium
The Elgar Room used to be home to the Central School of Speech & Drama, giving a stage to names including Sir Lawrence Olivier and Dame Judy Dench
5,500 bottles of champagne and 1,800 bottles of gin are drunk at the Hall every year
Afternoon Tea was introduced to Britain by Queen Victoria. The first tea party was held at the Hall in 1912. The tradition continues today in the Hall’s Verdi Restaurant

The Royal Albert Hall Grand Tour is fully accessible. 

Some time slots and/or dates are unavailable due to events taking place in the auditorium.

The Royal Albert Hall was built to fulfil the vision of Prince Albert (Queen Victoria’s consort) of a ‘Central Hall’ that would be used to promote understanding and appreciation of the Arts and Sciences and would stand at the heart of the South Kensington estate, surrounded by museums and places of learning.

The Hall is a Grade I Listed building; and has been in continuous use since it was opened in March 1871. It was always conceived as a multipurpose building to host not only concerts of music but exhibitions, public meetings, scientific conversations and award ceremonies. It is a registered charity held in trust for the nation and is financially self sufficient, receiving no funding from central or local government.