Utilita Arena Cardiff — Attraction in Great Britain

Among 8 staff I spoke too, one was helpful Nobody ripped our ticket or gave us accessible wristbands No chairs

A dated and chaotic venue. I attended The Girls Aloud Show on 17/05/24 and the show was incredible. However, the venue and its staff let it down incredibly. Upon arrival, there was absolute carnage queues for standing and an unorganised box office collection queue. After getting my tickets where I was not asked for any form of ID or the original payment card (anybody who knew I was going could’ve given my name and taken the tickets.), I joined another queue to have my bag searched. The smoothest part of entry. Next, a young girl with dark brown hair, fringe and quite tall, on the far right (closest to the box office) scanned my ticket with the machine. She did not rip the barcode off, nor direct us to the accessible lounge or check us in as accessible users as she should’ve done. We waltzed into the standing area, confused and stopped by nobody, we could’ve stayed there if we wanted too. Nobody would’ve noticed nor cared, but we thought we better find our seats. We headed to our section, accessible level 2 but the staff there were baffled that we hadn’t been given wristbands. We were told to go back downstairs to speak to someone about getting accessible wristbands. This is now 40 minutes since arriving at the venue and time is getting on. This is stressful as someone with accessibility issues who can’t stand for too long. Thankfully, the staff member who told us we needed wristbands was willing to take us downstairs in the lift as we had no idea where we were going. She then ran in to another staff member who was helping about 15 more people with accessible tickets who hadn’t been wristbanded. She had us wait whilst she ran downstairs to get some. I’m unsure of her name but she was working on accessible level 2 south balcony. She was the only helpful staff out of the 15 we spoke too asking for directions and accessibility questions the whole night. We waited another 10 minutes for her to run up and down the stairs throughout the venue trying to find wristbands for all of us whom were waiting and when she finally handed them to us I kinda thought it was a joke. Just a skin/ beige coloured plain wristband. I’m not sure why these were even necessary as I had my tickets in my pocket and they are near invisible in the dark, even in daylight due to their colour but there we go. We finally got taken to our ‘seats’… but there was no seats.. there was no chairs ready waiting for the accessible. There are around 20 of us who have just been stood for an hour with the disorganisation and most are on crutches/ sticks etc and now there are no chairs. One poor lady (the helpful staff member) was left to put out any chairs she could find from empty rooms as the chairs she had requested from the actual storage room were not delivered to her. She finally managed to bring enough chairs for us all and we all got to sit down. Very uncomfortable chairs with no arm support. Not a big deal for me but the people around me with physical disabilities were shuffling around uncomfortably. It was all a very odd experience. The building is dated with the old ‘Cardiff international arena’ signs in the lift, a motorpoint arena poster in the toilet and then a utilita arena sign outside. Very confusing if you’re not familiar with the arena’s previous names. The concert itself was excellent but the disorganisation for the accessible is something that will have me confused for a while. I appreciate the lady who worked on that balcony that night who was very helpful and she definitely knew her stuff. For the young people on the door upon entry, who were not directing the disabled customers despite being informed to do so, very disappointed and could’ve saved so much agro for the staff upstairs. I hope my next visit is smoother...

Not a neurodivergent friendly space!! Be warned fellow neurodivergent folk!!

We had a WONDERFUL time seeing Greg Davies, he was very funny and I definitely recommend the tour, however; I was genuinely shocked to be shouted at multiple times- several times directly into my face- as we were queuing to get in. It was incredibly disorganised, and we also got told we "wouldn't get in" with our bag. I'm bipolar with a hefty side if anxiety and this sent me into an immediate tail spin. We really politely asked the staff what we would do if refused and they genuinely asked if we had somewhere to leave our bag. Really? They said all bags had to be under A4 size. My bag is. It just had 2 jumpers in. So we took them out and- just in case- I rolled my jumper up with the empty bag inside. We got in fine, with hidden bag, and tried to find our seats. Another panic attack later and 3 members of staff asked- they kept saying "ask them" to more and more far off staff- and we squeezed into possibly the most uncomfortable seats I have ever encountered. Our row had been laid out too close to the one in front so people trying to get in and out were struggling. It was genuinely really difficult for me to calm down and try to cope with so much chaos when all I had been expecting was to enter a venue and sit to watch a comedian. We made the mistake of trying to buy water, the 3rd bar managed this- no signs meant we queued at 2 different bars, one inexplicably selling hot drinks only, no water, and another sold out. I spent the whole night anxious, which will impact me for several days, and not what i expect when paying £100s! At the end of the concert we noticed a few people were staying seated to allow the crowds to disperse so I followed suit as I was by then feeling very shaky. We almost immediately got told to leave. There were still 100s of people in the venue, multiple people still seated but we're were told very abruptly to leave immediately. I hated every minute of my experience in this venue, and I shall try my hardest not to return. If I do I shall make sure I have more than an hour to get in and...

Concert was amazing But the staff on the other hand. Not great. They were rude and dismissive. I went to see Olly Murs 12/05/25 and loved the concert. He was amazing as always. However I do have a chronic illness. IBD. And at one point in the show I felt like I should rush to the toilet. Only to find myself being turned away as Olly was planning to coming off stage. I get they have to be cautious. But I desperately needed to get to the toilet. I tried to explain to the steward in-front of me but he wouldn’t listen and kept saying no. I had to walk away because I was starting to panic and couldn’t stand there any longer. My mum furious had words and eventually once Olly was back on stage I got through. I was very lucky it wasn’t super bad and I didn’t have an accident. But it could have been a lot worse. We expressed our frustration to another staff member who I assume took us to their supervisor. Who both also barely listened and didn’t apologise properly and I didn’t want to miss the show so walked away. Then towards the end the original steward I spoke to came and said something in my mum ear which was along the lines of, if we go to reception after the show they can talk and offer some sort of compensation. But by that point I had calmed my panic and managed to enjoy the rest of the show. And I knew if I went to speak to them I’d only make me feel worse. So I didn’t. I also couldn’t see what sort of compensation they could offer. In hindsight I should have gone to listen and accept an apology at minimum But in the moment I put my mental health and well-being first. So overall loved the concert but staff need to sort out their protocols. I wouldn’t have even cared if someone followed me to the toilet and waited with me. Long review but needed to be done. Just hope others don’t experience this too. since leaving this review I’ve had a response. Apologising and offering a gesture of good will. I’m glad for the response and hope that better procedures will be in place for situations like mine and that this doesn’t happen for...