Empress Ballroom

The Empress Ballroom was completed during the summer of 1896. Designed by Mangnall & Littlewood, with plasterwork by J.M. Boekbinder, the Ballroom’s dimensions of 189ft by 110ft, with a floor area of 12,500 sq.ft, made it one of the largest ballrooms in the world.

During the Great War, the entire Winter Gardens site was thrown open to the naval and military forces stationed nearby. Early in 1918, the Admiralty requisitioned the Empress Ballroom to assemble gas envelopes for the R.33 airship.

The building was handed back a year later and some restoration was undertaken. The original three large chandeliers, which were taken down when the building was commandeered, were not put back, but in their place 13 new chandeliers were suspended, each possessing 2,700 candle power.

Within 12 months, the magnificent Empress Ballroom staged the first Blackpool Dance Festival during Easter week. Apart from a period of five years during World War II, dancing in the Empress Ballroom has continued ever since.

At the end of 1934, the Empress Ballroom was re-floored with 10,000 pieces of oak, mahogany, walnut and greenwood, laid over 1,320 four-inch springs and covering 12,500ft.

By the end of the 1970's, to reduce the venue’s over-capacity, its size was effectively reduced by temporary carpeting, seating and much trellis-work. It was renamed ‘The Stardust Garden’ and was intended to function as a nightclub.