Qualla: Olympia London https://qualla.com/olympia-london en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:14 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/u/olympia-london-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Olympia London https://qualla.com/olympia-london Olympia London: Introduction https://qualla.com/olympia-london/ Photo credit John Salmon, CC BY-SA 2.0. Few buildings in London have stood through so many different kinds of crowd. Olympia's Grand Hall opened in 1885 as the National Agricultural Hall, intended for cattle shows and military tournaments. Within a few years it was hosting circuses, motor exhibitions, the world's first Scout Jamboree, and political rallies that ended in fistfights. Jimi Hendrix played here in 1967. The Cure played four nights in 1992. RuPaul's drag fans queued outside for hours in 2020. And in October 2025 it was announced that the Shubert Organization - the great Broadway theatre dynasty - would jointly operate the new Olympia Theatre, the largest new theatre built in London since the National Theatre opened in 1976.

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Image: John Salmon | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/u/olympia-london-wp/gcpu-olympia-london-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Olympia London: Edwyn Burnaby's Big Idea https://qualla.com/olympia-london/ Photo credit John Salmon, CC BY-SA 2.0. The project was conceived by Edwyn Sherard Burnaby (1830 to 1883), a Leicestershire MP who wanted to see the Royal Tournament and other military and agricultural spectacles staged on a larger scale than the Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington could manage. He picked a former mar...

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Image: John Salmon | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/u/olympia-london-wp/gcpu-olympia-london-edwyn-burnabys-big-idea.mp3 0:06 2 full Olympia London: From Cattle to Cars to Concerts https://qualla.com/olympia-london/ Photo credit David Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0. The original agricultural rationale lasted about ten minutes. Olympia evolved into a general-purpose exhibition palace in the tradition of the 1851 Great Exhibition, hosting whatever could draw a paying crowd. The International Motor Exhibition ran annually from 1905 to 1936. The...

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Image: David Smith | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/u/olympia-london-wp/gcpu-olympia-london-from-cattle-to-cars-to-concerts.mp3 0:06 3 full Olympia London: The Mosley Rally https://qualla.com/olympia-london/ Photo credit Phillip Perry, CC BY-SA 2.0. Olympia has staged its share of political theatre, and not all of it has been edifying. On 7 June 1934, Sir Oswald Mosley held a mass rally of his British Union of Fascists in the Grand Hall. Some 12,000 attended, many in the movement's blackshirt uniform. Anti-fascist demonstrat...

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Image: Phillip Perry | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/u/olympia-london-wp/gcpu-olympia-london-the-mosley-rally.mp3 0:06 4 full Olympia London: Music Through the Decades https://qualla.com/olympia-london/ Photo credit Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK, CC BY 2.0. The list of bands and performers who have played Olympia reads like a fragment of British popular music history. The Jimi Hendrix Experience played here on 22 December 1967. Status Quo on New Year's Eve 1975. Procol Harum the day after that. Bad Company in January 1977, then Rod ...

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Image: Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK | CC BY 2.0

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/u/olympia-london-wp/gcpu-olympia-london-music-through-the-decades.mp3 0:06 5 full Olympia London: Rebuilt for the Next Century https://qualla.com/olympia-london/ Photo credit Sebastian Ballard, CC BY-SA 2.0. In May 2021 demolition began on the non-listed parts of the complex, the start of a comprehensive redevelopment intended to keep significant exhibition space alongside new uses. The plans, in addition to the 1,575-seat Olympia Theatre, include a 4,000-seat music venue, hotels, re...

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Image: Sebastian Ballard | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/u/olympia-london-wp/gcpu-olympia-london-rebuilt-for-the-next-century.mp3 0:06 6 full