Most of the big names touring the South Coast end up here. The Bournemouth International Centre — the BIC to anyone who lives nearby — is the largest indoor venue in this part of the country, and it stands close enough to the water that you can leave an arena show and be on the promenade within a couple of minutes. If your stay happens to overlap with a concert, a comedy tour or a weekend of televised darts, this is almost certainly where it is happening.
What it is
The BIC opened in 1984 and is run by BH Live, the charity behind several of the town’s venues. Behind its long seafront frontage sit four separate halls. Windsor Hall is the big one — an arena-scale space that holds several thousand people standing and takes the touring music acts and the darts. Solent Hall looks out over the bay, Purbeck Hall sits under a timber domed roof with its own bar, and the smaller Tregonwell Hall handles meetings and lesser events. By day the same rooms turn over to conferences and exhibitions, which is the other half of what the building does.
What’s on
Programming is broad and turns over constantly. In a single season you might find an arena music tour, a stand-up comedian midway through a UK run, a tribute act, a televised darts weekend, a comic-con, a beer festival and a business conference — sometimes several at once across different halls. Because the calendar moves so fast, the surest way to see what lands during your stay is to check the current what’s on listings, or the venue’s own site, before you book.
Where it is
The venue stands on Exeter Road, at the western edge of the town centre, with the Lower Gardens on one side and Bournemouth beach and the pier a short, downhill walk on the other; it is plotted on our map of the bay. There is a multi-storey car park on site, though it fills fast around a big show. If you are staying centrally you can almost certainly walk, which spares you the post-concert scramble for a space — see our guide to getting around without a car.
Good to know
Tickets are sold online through BH Live, and popular shows sell out well ahead, so book before you arrive rather than hoping on the night. The venue is step-free, with wheelchair spaces in the stalls and balcony, a Changing Places facility and assistance dogs welcome, and there are licensed bars inside. Times, prices and the seating plan vary by event, so check the specific show before you go.
