Derby Arena

Positive experience: We took the little one to watch the panto (Cinderella) at Derby arena, nice venue but the food prices and food on offer wasn’t the best.

Fantastic experience: Great facility with stunning architecture. Blends an indoor velodrome with gym, workout rooms and sport courts. Also used to host events using its flexible spaces. Always clean facilities with friendly staff.

Positive experience: A bit cold but the staff are lovely.

Fantastic experience: I loved that place ,well organized for graduates, and huge area is available for parking, I went there for my graduation ceremony and me and my friends captured a lots of pictures there

Positive experience: Been there for an achievement which makes this place memorable.

Positive experience: Went to watch the fantastic Sarah Millican. Whoever arranged the music before the show had a great sense of humour. On the run up to the show there were announcements about how long you had to take your seat. After the "The show is beginning, please take your seat now" announcement, they started playing "Sit Down", by James. Anyway, the review isn't about the show. Derby Arena is an interesting building. I'm not sure how much the architect has been drinking when it was designed; I am fairly certain, however, they had spent a lot of time playing with a box of mixed Lego bricks. First visit to the arena, so I was quite impressed at the sight of the Velodrome above our heads. Might be back to watch a race next year. The seating and stage area left a fairly small area for the drinks/snacks stalls to sell their expensive wares. It was very well organised, with many lines, and event staff guiding people across to shorter lines. The floor seating was very neatly arranged, and I appreciated the specialist seat framing that ensured people were not able to move their chairs. I get the impression that the floor chairs were laid out in the wrong direction. The off-floor seating, and all the signage around the edges had the seat numbers starting at the right end nearest the doors. The floor seating, however, started at the far end, which was confusing to say the least. The whole set up was like going to watch the children's Christmas play at school. With the wood floor marked out with various different sports courts, and possibly the most uncomfortable chairs I've day on since leaving high school. It felt very much like sitting in the school hall. By the end of the performance my legs had gone numb, and my left ankle was in agony. Let's end on some good notes. The lighting and sound rig was good and clear (although the sound engineer must have been sleeping through the support act's setup; the levels on him were just painful on the ears). The event staff were extremely helpful, and were actively seeking out people that looked like they needed help. Exiting the event was a straightforward affair, with everybody flowing smoothly thanks to very large doors. Leaving the car park was slow progress, but people were all being polite. There were a few staff members in the car park. I noticed one who was doing a good job of marshalling cars to allow cars to merge from one of the rows. Could have done with the other staff around the car park doing the same. Regardless, traffic kept moving at a good flow.

Positive experience: Great experience, Good hospitality by Derby Ubi

Fantastic experience: Fantastic taster session and Simon as our coach, he was very informative and knowledgeable, with a great sense of humour with his stories he told. The bikes at the track that we hired are very good as is the helmets and shoes, I bought my own so didn't need to use their's, but they are quality. The track is smooth and has a great feel to it, you can really get a pace on, up the 42° banking is just awesome. The facilities are top notch, the coffee shop, toilets and just generally everywhere is so clean and fresh. I will be returning in the new year, to go for my accreditation and hopefully some age-group competition. A big thank you to the staff.

Fantastic experience: Lovely arena. Got to visit as I ran the Bedford 10 yesterday. Plenty of parking and easy routes to arrive by car.

Fantastic experience: Great venue, well situated and high quality. Very organised staff and friendly but professional security.

Fantastic experience: We were here for a session on the velodrome, absolute blast, great fun and cannot wait to come back.

Fantastic experience: Gear acoustics for the Pink Floyd Experience that I attended. Easy to get refreshments at half time. A very enjoyable experience.

Fantastic experience: Attended the ALSGBI conference here. Great facilities, set up, AV service and space.

Fantastic experience: Well organised venue for a concert and good parking with easy options to pay.

Fantastic experience: Great session on the track , definitely do it again

Positive experience: Besides being a velodrome, this is also the venue for the Univ of Derby graduation ceremony.

Fantastic experience: Great venue & friendly staff

Fantastic experience: It's a wonderful place but the network is bad inside the arena which need to be fixed and the WiFi connection also is bad inside the arena

Positive experience: Went to see Jason Manford at Derby Arena. On site car parking was OK at £5 there wasnt any signage and they take cash or card. Only one entrance to the arena was in use but it worked OK, but again we did a whole lap because there wasn't any signage or staff. Once in it appeared that drinks were only available by vending, however later we found that there was a traditional drinks facility. Clearly a multi purpose venue and the raised seats at tge sides are not pointing at the stage, sounds minor, but it was uncomfortable after a while swiveling to look at the stage. Both the support act (MC Hammersmith) and Jason Manford were good but the vastness of the arena meant that we were just watching the massive screens on the stage. I wouldn't come and watch this kind of show in future unless seated right at the front!

Fantastic experience: 1st time here, really nice venue, our seats were on very back row but still excellent view of stage

Positive experience: Good Venue just small

Positive experience: Great venue for music/performance - surprisingly good acoustics and good facilities. Seating could have been better

Fantastic experience: Fabulous track, very helpful and enthusiastic staff

Positive experience: Good night and well layed out

Fantastic experience: Best value gym in Derby. Small but functional gym, knowledge and friendly PTs, good selection of classes. I think you'd have to spend a lot more for any better facilities in the area

Positive experience: Okay but expensive parking because the stadium next door had a match on so I had to pay extra because of another event.

Fantastic experience: Welcoming to away fans. Great food outside (avoid inside, as queues too long and food runs out quickly). Clean, with good away seats.

Fantastic experience: Incredible venue for table tennis competitions.

Fantastic experience: Sports team event, very clean and great atmosphere

Fantastic experience: Great place for table tennis

Fantastic experience: Very friendly and knowledgeable staff good facilities we always have a great time

Fantastic experience: Excellent venue. Very helpful staff. Toilets were exceptionally clean.

Fantastic experience: Great concert, easy disabled parking booked in advance. Seating ok and the drinks and toilet area was clean and fast. We would certainly go again for a concert.

Positive experience: Attended a gig for the 1st time here. More bands need to come to this arena.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic show -Anything for love

Fantastic experience: Beautiful architecture, spacious and lovely place for some family time

Fantastic experience: Wadda place!! All the car boot stalls we could have ever wished for

Positive experience: The stage of the Tour of Britian here. The sun was out. Plenty of parking and people to see the start.

Fantastic experience: Great facility, clean and well maintained with friendly staff and coaches

Positive experience: It still remains one of the worst places in Derby to play badminton despite a really good floor. The surroundings are ridiculous with their white netting and bright white walls an lights. The Arena has replied saying that the nets are necessary. I never said the nets should be removed. What I said was you do not use white at a badminton venue. Anything would be better than that. Badminton venues have a selection of recommended paint colours for walls, white is not one. I suspect black nets would make it a whole lot better and not sure why no one thought of that!

Positive experience: Good stadium reminds me of the Riverside Stadium shame about the result but good day out with my best friends

Fantastic experience: Car boot on Sundays... excellent,great range of sellers there, food, normal toilets!!!!

Positive experience: Visited with my son to the gym,it's really a good place! Thinking about joining myself

Fantastic experience: Great sporting venue. Really like it

Positive experience: Graduation day so it was fab, air con working well

Fantastic experience: Fantastic facilities and excellent staff.

Positive experience: Went for an exhibition- and this is a great venue.

Fantastic experience: Always clean, friendly staff, and easy to book in for using indoor courts!

Negative experience: Told the guy at the desk said I booked a gym for my mate under my name he still won't let her in rigged m8 told him that it's for my mate not me so both just left

Fantastic experience: Excellent gym facilities, good car parking and friendly staff.

Fantastic experience: No strings badminton on a Friday night 7:15 to 9:15. Times could change but a fun event for all skill levels. Lots of ladies attend so don't be worried about being on your own, everyone is very friendly.

Positive experience: Access brilliant, well run car park and the Arena not bad either

Fantastic experience: Really nice place. Bar prices not overly expensive. Staff are nice, though security/door staff may need customer care, politeness and general public training.

Fantastic experience: Went for a concert v v well organised parking ushers venue can't fault. More signage of where to enter would be good, but plenty of ushers, staff around pointing you in the right direction. Don't drink personally as loud unruly people can't hold their drink and somewhat tarnishes others experiences.

Fantastic experience: Great venue. I was there to see Shalamar. I'd not been before. We had disabled seats which were near the front. Great view of the stage. And very well controlled by the venue staff. The cleanest disabled toilets I've ever seen and a concert venue. I will be back. Thank you Derby Arena for a lovely evening.

Positive experience: Good parking. Plenty of space inside. Wheelchair access. Good service .

Fantastic experience: Badminton courts bit small otherwise good indoor sports place

Positive experience: Great balance bike training. Good facilities. Knowledgeable staff. Free parking. Would have got 5 stars if sessions could be booked online.

Fantastic experience: Very well organised, top place.

Fantastic experience: Went to see the elvis tribute world tour it was a brilliant night had so much fun

Fantastic experience: Always friendly and helpful staff. I was there for a planning meeting for an event in the Summer l. The venue staff were very professional and accommodating to our requirements I'm sure it will all run smoothly in August.

Fantastic experience: Really nice place inside. Quite a lot of parking but I expect that is severely diminished. On March days there were some classes ongoing and the gym didn't seem to be too busy when we were there. I would say that I think it isn't living up to its full potential. There are quite a lot of empty areas that could be used by local schools or youth groups or even just open to the community

Fantastic experience: I went with family to see a band and they were fantastic. The venue was very well organised as you walked in. Lots of helpers ready and willing to help you find your seats. The only gripe i have not enough leg room, otherwise a great night.

Fantastic experience: Excellent customer service. Could have been more helpful with our basketball game

Positive experience: Easy to get in and out, For concerts lower floor seating best, racked seating at lower levels is tight on leg room. Upper tiers have normal tip seats and works well but takes a while to get there and a little steep.

Fantastic experience: Went for a comedy show Nice arena in the velodrome, very clean. Friendly staff and well laid out. Would come again for further shows 5pound parking voucher very good and close to the exit and arena.

Negative experience: Disappointed venue, it was overcrowded and very disorganised. We went to watch Frankie Boyle last night and the place was heaving with people. They only had 2 lots of toilets... Even the blokes were queuing... The disgraceful state of the seated toilets meant even longer queues and then you couldn't get a drink because they had shut the bar. The thing that let them down most of all was security staff wouldn't even let people get water... It was really warm in there and a woman next to me passed out. Fortunately she came around again and someone shared their water with her. Showsec... It's a human right... If people need water, you have to supply it or allow them access to it.

Fantastic experience: Saw a stand up show at the venue, well organised operation, from a parking and staffing perspective. No hot food on site but the bar staff were fast and friendly. It's actually quite small work and capacity of 2000

Positive experience: Pretty good venue for a comedy gig, mens toilets could do with being somewhat larger however.

Positive experience: Some good acts have appeared here, unfortunately the facilities are not great, very long queue for toilet facilities and even longer to buy a drink, did not manage to get one pre show or at the interval.

Negative experience: Hope the interior designer of this place has a toothache that never heals. Who's idea was it to put a velodrome around the circumference of indoor sports courts? So that the petrol bike used by the cyclists creates a racket going around for the mid life crisis Lycra brigade? It'll be the same as indoor sports players bringing a giant speaker to play music on as they play. The arena has an electric lead bike but refuse to use it. Appaling

Positive experience: Great show venue small and expensive

Fantastic experience: Great place to visit. I only wanted to look around as i was pushed for time. Nice friendly staff let us look around and it was brilliant. I've never seen a velodrome before, just a shame no-one was cycling, must return to have a go.

Negative experience: Came with my disabled friend for a show this evening ( circus of horrors) and the area hadn't adapted for wheelchairs it was embarrassing and shocking. To be disabled isn't something you choose to be and I feel for all the lovely wheelchair users tonight especially because it was a nightmare. They were moved here there and everywhere, made to feel like an inconvenience. If there had been an emergency and one had to move you'd have to move everyone. Thank god no one went for a wee.

Fantastic experience: Great no nonsense gym full of hard working Athletes. Great variety of events and sports held in the Arena as well as the track cycle training to watch.

Negative experience: Couldn't pre book parking, machines didn't work and the parking wardens were driving around in their little white van.

Positive experience: Great show. Really uncomfortable seats too close to other gig goers. Not the relaxing evening we'd planned

Positive experience: Went to a large comedy gig. The room does not have a good atmosphere because it's so large with only part being used and the seating areas are far apart.

Positive experience: Went to see hockey. In the most expensive seats yet approx 20 -25% of pitch was invisible due to layout. Needs more thought if it is to be used again for this purpose.

Positive experience: Bill Bailey was excellent, what a talent! Acoustics not so amazing hence 4 stars, also waited for a while in the cold. Usual car park chaos upon leaving..

Positive experience: The bleacher style seating is very uncomfortable for a concert. I will try the chair seating next time. Bill Bailey was fantastic, so that took my mind off the seating discomfort.

Positive experience: Went to see Bill Bailey, show excellent. First time in the arena. Very impressive stadium set-up considering it's a velodrome. Seating arrangements ok. We were on side seating. Looking around I think it was better than the floor based stalls they weren't tiered and rear seating seemed miles from stage. I'd read reviews, some very old admittedly, about parking. If you commit to parking hopefully you get a space if not alternatives are not close. Walking through it, it is large so good luck. There were cars queuing in and out but probably no worse than any other stadium type event. We decided on public transport. Fortunately it didn't rain. Having walked a drink was allowed! Don't bother, the bar queues were horrendous and take any pleasure from the drink away. The whole non seating area has a very cramped feeling, no room to swing a cat. Consequently getting out afterwards through what appeared to be only 2 doors was hectic but appeared safe. Sound quality got a mention in previous reviews. I'm no expert but seemed fine to me and it was a 50% music event. So would I go back ? Definitely and I would return to the same seats again. As for the car park, the juries out on that.

Positive experience: Nice enough venue but the leg room was not v good. Made the 2 HR show a bit of a trail by the end. If you're 6ft and over beware

Positive experience: Had a company meeting on the second floor. Clean, helpful reception and free parking. (Electric hookups too). Cafe is super expensive! P.S. If the bike people are doing their thing, the big lights shine into the meeting rooms like Jesus is descending (bring sunglasses)

Fantastic experience: Huge arena. Very clean and very well managed. Only one thing I did not like the colour of nets (partician) between the badminton court. Played badminton and could not see the shuttle.

Fantastic experience: I visited here for the velodrome cycling, parking was easy although the postcode sent me to the wrong entrance. Staff seemed really helpful, Toilets and all facilities seemed clean.

Fantastic experience: Had a fantastic experience the last few weeks with Steve and Carl doing my track accreditation from level 1 to 4. They’re really good at their craft and I’m very appreciative of it. Looking forward now to going down for a proper class.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic venue - for the velodrome mainly! Great staff, always helpful, professional and friendly, great cafe, immaculately clean. Highly recommended!

Fantastic experience: Impressive multi-purpose building - visited for a Christmas pantomime. Good sports venue offering all manner of sports activities.

Fantastic experience: Clean and tidy. We visited for the panto and really enjoyed it. The seats could be a bit further apart on each row for better leg room.

Positive experience: We went to watch Mother Goose. Tickets were very well priced. Play was excellent. Parking was simple, we pre-booked so just needed to show the attendants our parking booking. We were pre-warned if Derby were playing we'd have to park elsewhere. The only slightly irking thing was the food facilities needed improvement. Food service was pretty streamlined out the front. They needed more food, so probably bigger hot holding facilities out front for larger quantities as some items ran out pretty quickly. They had space for about 6 got dogs and ran out of sausage rolls almost immediately. The concession stands at the interval were simply lacking. They needed a way to get through basic items quicker. I'd have liked to have seen a few of the ushers with a simple stand or trays offering the sweets and ice-cream tubs like you see in many other locations. This would reduce the stress on the main units serving soft drinks and slushies. Overall an excellent experience and will certainly go again next year. Just some minor improvements at the interval and a better hot hold at the hot food service area needed.

Fantastic experience: Brilliant building with interesting design, a must visit for Gaudi fans

Fantastic experience: 1st night at Mother Goose. Great place Very well organised

Fantastic experience: We went to see Mother Goose. We were greeted at the main door by a very friendly gent and he explained where we could find food & drinks and where to go for the main arena area. We was then greeted by another friendly member of staff who showed us to our seats. The Show was absolutely AMAZING!!!!!! It catered for children and adults. Lots of toilets, food line went down quick, So easy to get in and out of the venue. Thank you for making our evening out perfect. Hats off to all your staff and the performers

Fantastic experience: Fantastic help today... I didn't know that support workers go free while supporting someone to an event. Evidence provided absolutely brilliant

Fantastic experience: A well thought out museum which has a lot of interest for most people I am told the kids playground is fantastic to old to use it myself so can't comment nice cafe excellent coffee ☕ has the advantage of free use for a year

Fantastic experience: Went for the one hour taster. It was excellent & thoroughly enjoyed it. I was nervous about riding a fixed wheel & getting to the top of the banking. With the encouragement of Simon the great coach I did fine & rode around the top of the bends! Would definitely do it again when I'm in the area. A great facility. If you're thinking about having a go, do it. You won't be disappointed.

Positive experience: Staff welcoming and helpful. Cafe was only doing takeaway at the time of the visit. We arrived early, so we were able to view the circuit and watch the session prior to ours. We were shown to the changing room in plenty of time and told where to go to start the session. Great layout with everything in place, bikes helmets and shoes if required. The instructor made it a very enjoyable experience for the riders who were having their first taste of the track. We then discovered the one design fault, one shower for 16 riders,not good. Don't know if there is more available in the building but next to the track, one!, not good. Such a pity. Shape of the track is more oval compared to Manchester.

Positive experience: Derby Arena is Very Nice for Ceremony or Eny Event because I am attending Derby University winter Ceremony 2023 it was a very nice event Arranged by Derby University . But the seating is Very Narrow because they don't have space between chairs. That's why if you sit for a long time you feel very uncomfortable.

Positive experience: Easy to park and access the arena. Sound quality was good, seats were hard and you wouldn't want to be sat for hours.