Stunning outdoor stage revealed for City of Culture

The 350-seat ampitheatre - made out of a 170-year-old disused dock and overlooking the Rivers Hull and Humber - will provide a unique space for performers.

Hull-based Wykeland is investing £700,000 to create Stage @The Dock, in Hull’s Fruit Market cultural quarter.

Stage @TheDock will be used during Freedom Festival in September and, potentially, other city festivals and events.

It will be run by Freedom Festival Arts Trust, the organisation behind the annual festival, and will be the only new permanent venue created in the city before Hull’s year as Capital of Culture.

Wykeland Managing Director Dominic Gibbons said: “Our expertise lies in physical regeneration to support economic and cultural development. We are not an arts organisation. That’s why, having invested in creating this asset for the city, and, as a long-standing sponsor of Freedom Festival, we are delighted to have forged a partnership with the Freedom Festival Arts Trust to ensure Stage @TheDock will be managed by a highly-credible pillar of Hull’s cultural community.

“We are also pleased to become a Major Partner of Hull 2017, whose expertise will be crucial to ensuring Stage @The Dock is fit for purpose for arts performances and events.

Mikey Martins, Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Freedom Festival Arts Trust, said: “The venue will be a test bed in the first year or so and, as a blank canvas space, we are looking for arts organisations – local and from further afield – to really get behind the venue, use the amazing location to their advantage and help us make it a success.”