3 days till BIA- Royal Albert Hall numbers

In 3 days time we will be taking our seats in the famous Royal Albert Hall for the British Insurance Awards 2016. It is always a lively affair as the insurance community come together once again to commend the many achievements in the industry. As it is now the 17th year in a row that the BIAs have taken place in the Royal Albert Hall, it seems appropriate to celebrate the 145 year-old concert hall with a few intriguing facts:

The building’s organ is one of the largest in England, with 9,999 pipes.

The acoustics in the hall were not perfected until 1969, when fibreglass discs were hung from the ceiling.

The Royal Albert Hall is not circular as often thought, but oval in shape. Its distinctive design may have saved it from being bombed during World War II, as German pilots used it as a landmark.

Whilst being seen as a symbol of London architecture, the original dome was made in Manchester, before being taken apart and transported to London.

What is known as Bob Dylan’s live 1966 ‘Royal Albert Hall’ concert – which contained the infamous ‘Judas’ heckle from a member of the audience, for Dylan using an electric guitar – did not actually take place at the Royal Albert Hall at all. It happened at the Manchester Free Trade Hall. The concert was bootlegged and wrongly placed at the hall.

It also hosted the very first Sumo tournament to be held outside Japan in the sport’s 1500-year history, in 1991.