BAFTA is moving house.
Britain’s premiere film honors, which have for years been held at London’s Royal Albert Hall in South Kensington, will shift a tube stop away and across to the South Bank to the Royal Festival Hall for its 2023 event.
The Royal Festival Hall is a substantially smaller venue, seating around 2,700 to the Royal Albert’s 5,200. It is also a far more modern building. The Royal Albert, built in 1871, is one of the city’s most iconic structures, while the Royal Festival Hall, erected in 1951, displays the more blocky, practical architectural style of the post-World War II period.
But the Royal Festival Hall has the advantage of location, buttressing up against many of London’s most famous landmarks, from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament to the National Theatre and the London Eye. That backdrop could play well for the cameras covering the 2023 BAFTAs, which will air on the BBC locally and be syndicated on networks worldwide.
The BAFTAs moved to the Royal Albert in 2017 for their 70th anniversary event. Previously, the awards ceremony was held at the Royal Opera House.
“The Royal Albert Hall has been a wonderful home to us for the last six years. As we embark on the next chapter in an incredibly exciting year for film, we can’t wait to kick off our new residency at the Royal Festival Hall with BAFTA’s most ambitious celebration yet,” said Emma Baehr, BAFTA’s executive director of awards and content in a statement.
Nominees for the 2023 BAFTA awards will be announced on January 19, with the 2023 BAFTAs held on Feb. 19.
