Hire us

The Riverfront is renowned for its unique combination of performances and bringing the best in drama, dance, music and comedy to Newport, the region and beyond.

With two theatres, two art galleries, dance studio, conference room, three workshop/function rooms, bar, café and foyer areas, The Riverfront can provide a dramatic and memorable venue for conferences, events, meetings, presentations, training, corporate entertaining and more.

The Riverfront offers:

  • Large theatre auditorium for up to 489 delegates, that also includes a large stage for your speakers with the option of using theatre lights, sound and projection screen.
  • Smaller studio theatre auditorium for up to 128 delegates which offers a versatile space that can be configured into boardroom, cabaret and traditional theatre style seating.
  • Conference Room for 20 delegates theatre style or 15 delegates boardroom style
  • Upper Bar Area for up to 200 people
  • Meeting Rooms that can accommodate up to 25 people
  • Smaller Breakout Rooms available with space for 8 to 15 people
  • Discounted theatre tickets for conference delegates and corporate entertaining opportunities
  • Wireless internet access available
  • Full range of audio visual equipment with technical support
  • Stage Technicians on hand for technical expertise including lighting design
  • Professional Marketing Support available
  • Ticket sales through a computerised box office system capturing essential data on your delegates
  • Professional attendants ensuring the safety of your delegates
  • High quality catering from teas and coffees, informal buffets to silver service meals offered by in-house catering franchise
  • Gallery spaces for displays or functions

Equipment is available for hire and includes:

  • Projection facilities for presentations
  • Radio microphone facilities (includes lapel and roving microphones)
  • Theatre lights to give your event some extra impact

Turning your conference into an event

The Riverfront is a unique setting for conferences, with a wide range of rooms available to hire and offers something different compared to a regular run of the mill conference venue.

Full technical support is included within the hire fee, with the majority of equipment available on site, with no need to hire in from other external companies. Alongside all the regular facilities that you would expect, you are also able to offer extra value by entertaining clients the night before or after your conference.

The Riverfront offers excellent meeting and conference facilities and can cater for groups between 2 and 450 people. Two examples of previous events are provided here to give you an idea of the extra value we can offer to your event:

Staff training event for 100 people

Conference facilities for 100 people, using projectors, AV equipment and dramatic lighting were provided in the studio theatre. A large buffet and drinks were provided in the bar area for lunch and all delegates were offered discounted tickets to go to either the Comedy Shed or a live music event taking place in the main auditorium.

Large conference for 450 delegates

We worked with organisers to provide a ‘non corporate’ venue for a large health conference and provided;

  • Lapel microphones for speakers
  • Roving microphones for question and answer sessions
  • Bespoke lighting designs for the studio and main theatre spaces
  • AV support which includes projection equipment and screens
  • Powerpoint equipment and film projection on a big screen
  • Spaces for specialist exhibitor stands throughout the foyer
  • Full catering facilities

Previous clients have included:

  • The BBC have filmed episodes of Dr. Who and broadcast Question Time live from the venue.
  • Gwent NHS Trust for their annual Nursing Conference and National Stroke Conference.
  • BMW who launched the new 3 series car in 2005 with two cars set up on our stage.
  • University of Wales, Newport use the facilities regularly for their performing arts courses, fashion shows, conferences and symposia.
  • The Plaid Cymru Spring Conference was broadcast live from the venue.
  • Newport City Council use the venue for a wide ranging set of meetings and conferences.

“The Theatre provided a perfect venue for our session and we were very happy with how the evening went.” Rt. Hon Rhodri Morgan AM

“It was a very successful visit to The Riverfront with good viewing figures to boot.” Karen Davies, Production Manager, BBC Question Time

The Riverfront has very close links with The Hilton, Newport and is an ideal location to stay whilst attending a conference in Newport, please ask for more details about exclusive conference rates for your delegates.

For further details, download our Hire Pack (pdf). For more information and a competitive quote, please call 01633 656677 or email the.riverfront@newport.gov.uk