WIN Entertainment Centre marks 20 years of events in the Illawarra

The WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong is today marking 20 years since its opening, giving the Illawarra region a 6,000-seat venue for international and local performers.

In marking the anniversary, Venues NSW has looked back at some of the biggest stars in the world who performed at the venue early in their careers, such as P!NK and Ed Sheeran.

Venues NSW Chief Executive Paul Doorn commented “Ed is an anomaly in the business because he’s so simple on stage (while) P!NK arrived with 54 tonnes of equipment to winch herself up to the roof so she could sing upside down.

“She blew us away. But so did Ed. And he arrived with a guitar. And a hoodie.”

Over 1,500 people attended the opening on 3rd September 1998, an event followed by sell-out concerts by Bob Dylan and British singer and actor Michael Crawford. The first month of events saw 40,000 people through the doors and over a million dollars in ticket sales.

Doorn added “with around one event every five days, the WIN Entertainment Centre contributes more than $20 million in economic benefit to the region every year. 3,366,874 people have been through the arena’s doors over the last 20 years, and with visitors spending money in local cafes, restaurants hotels and shops - anytime we attract tourists we attract benefits to the community.”

Venue Manager Marc Swan says that every artist that comes to Wollongong makes an impact into the community, advising “people stop me in the streets to tell me stories about a performance they’d seen and loved. They’ll also tell me if the pies were cold, but running the venue is the best job in the world.”

WIN Entertainment Centre sells more than 120,000 tickets to shows each year for some of the biggest acts in the world from Lady Gaga to Cirque du Soleil. But local annual events such as Southern Stars, the KidzWish Christmas Party and the Illawarra Business Chamber Awards also generate sell-out crowds.

Swan continued “Southern Stars is one of our largest and most successful events. With 3,000 performers on stage we need extra space, so we turn the loading dock into a mini-campsite with changing “tents” instead of changing rooms.”

With its beach-front location, the venue is a popular spot for surfers and performers, with Swan recalling “singer Jack Johnson actually started his 2008 world tour in Wollongong because he wanted to go surfing with his mates, and ‘Wicked Game’ singer Chris Isaak would bring his surf board to sound check so he could hit the beach as early as possible.”

Looking to the future, Swan concludes “the venue was built as a basketball court so it’s not always suited for the types of events and performances available in the market. To put in in perspective, when a basketball team plays, they bring a change of clothes, an extra pair of shoes and a ball or two.

“When Cirque du Soleil come - they bring nearly 3,000 handmade costumes and shoes and they’re squashed into sports locker-rooms, hallways and anywhere we can fit them. If we want to compete with other facilities going forward we need to put some thought into our future needs.”

Images (from top): The WIN Entertainment Centre from the sea, Ed Shearan at the WEC (courtesy of Lynley Reid Photography), Cirque du Soleil  (courtesy of Lynley Reid Photography) and the WEC hosts basketball.