A HISTORIC Warrington venue has had to shut its doors in its 125th anniversary year as the coronavirus outbreak continues to take its toll on the entertainment industry.

The Parr Hall has temporarily closed along with other Culture Warrington venues, the Pyramid centre and Warrington Museum and Art Gallery, until at least March 31.

It comes after around 10 shows were cancelled at Pyramid and Parr Hall on Tuesday.

Now the Culture Warrington team are now working from home and are busy liaising with promoters and event organisers to re-arrange shows wherever possible.

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The charity is also calling on the support of concert-goers – with many donating their booking fees for cancelled shows – at a time of unprecedented uncertainty.

Chris Persoglio, venues and events manager for Culture Warrington, said: “It is with great regret that we have had to take the decision to close but the health and wellbeing of our customers and the community is of paramount importance.

“We are striving wherever possible to ensure customers don’t have to wait too long to see postponed shows and are working as quickly as possible to contact customers affected by this closure.

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“We would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for their understanding and look forward to welcoming them back to our venues very soon.”

Parr Hall now lies empty in a milestone year that was supposed to be full of celebration.

For more than a century, Parr Hall has been the beating heart of Warrington’s Cultural Quarter, playing host to the great acts of old, such as Ken Dodd and The Rolling Stones, to modern-day marvels such as The Stone Roses, Arctic Monkeys and Jimmy Carr.

Just last year, thousands of people waited in line to see the globally-acclaimed Museum of the Moon, a free art installation and replica of the Moon, that opened the door to a whole new audience – particularly families – during the annual Warrington Arts Festival.

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This festival welcomed a series of events for people of all ages, ranging from silent discos, family film screenings, an art battle and Warrington’s first Light Night, featuring interactive installations in Palmyra Square.

Leah Biddle, Culture Warrington’s cultural manager, said: “Last year’s Warrington Arts Festival was such an amazing experience.

“People of all ages came together to see the incredible Museum of the Moon and take part in the wide programme of activities we had on offer.

“For me, the highlight was our first Light Night as it was a real family affair and it brought such a fantastic atmosphere to the town centre.

“This year’s festival is particularly exciting as it coincides with Parr Hall’s 125th birthday.

“We already have a number of fantastic events in the diary and it’s shaping up to be a celebration you really won’t want to miss.”

With plans to make this year’s festival bigger and better, Culture Warrington say support from the community has never been more needed.

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Chris, from Latchford, added: “As a charity, we greatly rely on ticket sales to fund our wider work in the community, whether that’s free public events such as Warrington Light Night, our free museum or our fantastic education offer.

“Already we’ve been bowled over by the generosity and support of our visitors as we’ve seen customers opting to donate their booking fees to us or make even larger donations.

“We’d just like to say a huge thank you to all those people for their generosity at this difficult time and that we’ll be back soon enough with more brilliant events for you and your families to enjoy.”