National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, is a part of the famous National Exhibition Centre group, and is the premier venue for British sporting events. Opened in 1991, the arena has a seating capacity of around 13,000 and is one of the biggest sports venue in United Kingdom. National Indoor Arena, Birmingham is most commonly associated with British athletics. However it had also played host to over 30 different types of sport and has been the venue for several world and European Championships. Aside from sports, the arena is also used to host a wide variety of other events including conferences, exhibitions and even the Eurovision Song Contest.
The National Exhibition Centre is perhaps one of Birmingham's most famous tourist attractions with NEC Arena, the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham Symphony Hall and the International Convention Centre. These buildings are one of the busiest buildings in the whole of Europe with year round exhibitions and events. The NEC arena is very famous in the UK, because it hosts some of the biggest events of the country. These range from rock concerts and opera recitals to huge sporting events. The International Convention Centre at NEC was opened by the Queen in 1991 and is the first purpose-built convention centre. The centre has eleven separate halls including the world famous Symphony Hall, and is used for all kinds of events. This hall is well known for its excellent acoustics and is considered as the best concert hall in Europe.
The National Indoor Stadium, Birmingham has the Country's only de mountable six-lane 200-metre track which is dismantled and stored away out of season. The arena is a home to British indoor athletics and a series of international, national and regional athletic events take place between January and March. The Arena is also the regualr home venue for the Great Britain Davis Cup Tennis team. Other sports including netball, badminton, power lifting, archery, climbing, tae-kwon do, table tennis, karate and judo have been staged at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham.
