Sanctuary Music Arena

The Sanctuary Music Arena was a 22, 000 sq ft, 3, 500 capacity music venue in Denbigh North, Milton Keynes in the UK. Famous for its connection to the Rave scene, it opened its doors in December 1991 and was billed as the first and only designer dance venue in the country. Originally intended for industrial use, the unit was built in 1990 but failed to find a tenant due to the early 90's recession. It was first used as a music venue by ESP promotions to host their first Dreamscape rave in December 1991, after ESP's owner (the late Murray Beetson) reached an agreement with the landlord for short-term event hire. As it was never designed for this purpose, there were a number of licensing conditions to be met before the go ahead was given by the local authorities, one of which was the installation of additional fire exits - at ESP's expense - to cope with the planned 4, 000 capacity. At this point the venue was without a name and was simply known by its location (Denbigh Leisure Park) both locally and on the event flyer; however, due to the success of this and the follow up parties ESP held there in early to mid 1992 (Dreamscape 2, 3, 4 & Big Bad Head), plans were put into place to turn the site into a dedicated music venue with the full blessing of the local authorities. After closing in the autumn of 1992 for the redevelopment work to take place, the venue reopened in December as 'The Sanctuary Music Arena' and included new toilet and bar facilities with an Ancient Rome theme running throughout, as well as adding a second smaller room upstairs. Due to the redesign and additional features, the licencesd capacity of the venue was reduced by 500 people compared to the events held there beforehand (3, 500 vs 4, 000). The venue was pivotal in the development of numerous underground electronic dance music genres, subgenres and styles. Owned by Tony Rosenberg, The Sanctuary played host to the UK's biggest dance music promoters of the time, including Dreamscape, Helter Skelter Rave, Jungle Fever, Slammin Vinyl, Gatecrasher, Hardcore Heaven, Cream, Slinky, Uproar, Sidewinder and Godskitchen. The venue attracted a national audience to its legendary 12-hour all night events. As well as Dance Music events, several high-profile live music acts appeared at The Sanctuary, including The Cult, The Prodigy, Ocean Colour Scene, Brand New Heavies, Gary Numan, and Paul Weller.

The Sanctuary Music Arena was a 22, 000 sq ft, 3, 500 capacity music venue in Denbigh North, Milton Keynes in the UK. Famous for its connection to the Rave scene, it opened its doors in December 1991 and was billed as the first and only designer dance venue in the country. Originally intended for industrial use, the unit was built in 1990 but failed to find a tenant due to the early 90's recession. It was first used as a music venue by ESP promotions to host their first Dreamscape rave in December 1991, after ESP's owner (the late Murray Beetson) reached an agreement with the landlord for short-term event hire. As it was never designed for this purpose, there were a number of licensing conditions to be met before the go ahead was given by the local authorities, one of which was the installation of additional fire exits - at ESP's expense - to cope with the planned 4, 000 capacity. At this point the venue was without a name and was simply known by its location (Denbigh Leisure Park) both locally and on the event flyer; however, due to the success of this and the follow up parties ESP held there in early to mid 1992 (Dreamscape 2, 3, 4 & Big Bad Head), plans were put into place to turn the site into a dedicated music venue with the full blessing of the local authorities. After closing in the autumn of 1992 for the redevelopment work to take place, the venue reopened in December as 'The Sanctuary Music Arena' and included new toilet and bar facilities with an Ancient Rome theme running throughout, as well as adding a second smaller room upstairs. Due to the redesign and additional features, the licencesd capacity of the venue was reduced by 500 people compared to the events held there beforehand (3, 500 vs 4, 000). The venue was pivotal in the development of numerous underground electronic dance music genres, subgenres and styles. Owned by Tony Rosenberg, The Sanctuary played host to the UK's biggest dance music promoters of the time, including Dreamscape, Helter Skelter Rave, Jungle Fever, Slammin Vinyl, Gatecrasher, Hardcore Heaven, Cream, Slinky, Uproar, Sidewinder and Godskitchen. The venue attracted a national audience to its legendary 12-hour all night events. As well as Dance Music events, several high-profile live music acts appeared at The Sanctuary, including The Cult, The Prodigy, Ocean Colour Scene, Brand New Heavies, Gary Numan, and Paul Weller.