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One of the longest running venues in the UK is celebrating a landmark centenary of entertaining the great and good with music and dancing.
The Palais in Nottingham – now under the custodianship of DHP Family – is turning 100 on 24 April 2025, with a Palais 100 event coming this summer.
Its storied history saw it open in 1925 as the Palais De Danse, one of the finest dancehalls outside of London, hosting elegant tea dances with a live band. As the years rolled on, it started to play host to live bands including The Clash in 1977.
In the late 1970s the venue became famous for its Jazz Funk and Northern Soul all dayers, and the downstairs bar was rebranded as the Bali Hai Room with a revolving dance floor.
Following new ownership and a refit, it left behind its ballroom roots and embraced the nightclub era as Ritzy welcoming a host of famous names and the hugely popular TV show The Hitman and Her.
In 1998, new owners gave it a £2.5million refurb, which included a new updated Globe and restoring the original name. In 2005, it was taken over by the Deltic Group and rebranded as Oceana, later renamed PRYZM. When the owners went into administration last year, DHP Family stepped in to save the venue.
As the leading independent live music company in the UK, DHP is well placed to guide The Palais through the next few years. The Palais is a welcome addition to the DHP Family in its hometown of Nottingham and will continue to grow as a space to accommodate a considered calendar of events for the city across the year.
Pat Somers, Head of Promotions, DHP Family, said: “We aren’t a big chain of homogeneous clubs, as each of our venues is unique, and this allows us to adapt to customer preferences in a more natural and progressive way; something that has been built into our business culture from the beginning, when Heart of the Midlands became Rock City.”
An eclectic programme has been introduced to The Palais since it reopened in late 2024 from the Notts Pride Winter Ball to huge national student club promoter Cirque Du Soul with headliner Fish56octagon to Palais reunions and day festivals covering everything from country music, R&B, reggae, trance and more!
The venue is even set to host a Nottingham Forest v Man City FA Cup semi-final screening with 4thefans.tv on 27 April.
Pat continued: “It’s a real privilege to be keeping an important and historic venue like The Palais alive and kicking. Ensuring the life and success of this legendary place for years to come is a huge priority for us.”
Previewing what’s in store, Pat said: “We’re pleased to be welcoming the massive bingo behemoth that is Bongo’s Bingo. They’re celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, so you can expect lots of silliness throughout 2025 with Henry Hoovers and Coco Pops being given away!
“We are growing our live music offering with our Palais Alive series of tribute bands which we will continue developing throughout the year. We’ve also got the legendary Day Fever coming to the venue, club events with Stealth, headline shows from original artists, boxing matches, and the mighty Dot To Dot Festival will be using us as a venue for the first time this May. Keep an eye out for more announcements in the next month or two as we have lots more up our sleeves!”
The eclectic programming at The Palais attracts a broad demographic of customers to the venue, from the young partygoers at student events, to older clubbers at Northern Soul and reunion nights.
“The beauty of the venue’s history in the city means that so many people have great memories of the space, and we just want to ensure that we have the right events booked in so that new memories can keep being made for young and old from across Nottingham and beyond,” said Pat.
“Finally, a huge thanks to the people and communities of Nottingham who have supported the venue since we reopened in 2024. A venue is nothing without its audience, so if you see an event you’re interested in, please pay us a visit. The more fantastic events full of fabulous people that we can host, the easier it becomes to secure The Palais’ future for another 100 years!”
Promoters interested in hiring The Palais for their event, the diary is open but filling fast. All the information is on the website.
Posted on 14 April 2025
