The site began its sporting history as the
West Melbourne Stadium (shortened to
The Stadium) in 1913, developed by
Reginald Leslie Baker, the Sydney boxing promoter, opening just in time for the Mehegan-Wells fight of 3 November 1913. In 1915 it came under the control of
John Wren (chairman) and Dick Lean (general manager) of
Stadiums Limited as a multi-function venue for boxing and
pro wrestling. It quickly became known to locals as "the House of Stoush", as over the years it has featured some of the greatest names in Australian boxing including
Lionel Rose,
Johnny Famechon,
Anthony Mundine,
Lester Ellis and
Barry Michael. Professional wrestling also featured regularly, as did Roller Derby, ballroom dancing, cultural and religious gatherings and the first Indoor Tennis Exhibition featuring
John McEnroe. It was used by the
Painters and Dockers as a meeting place. During the
Great Depression, unemployed men seeking work would gather at Festival Hall to be picked for dock work. The Stadium was destroyed by fire in 1955 but was rebuilt in time for the
1956 Olympics, where it was used for
boxing,
basketball and
gymnastics events. Dick Lean Jnr (son of the original general manager, Dick Lean) joined Stadiums in 1960 and set about successful promotion of major music acts of all genres from both the UK and US, increasing the use of the venue significantly. The Stadium was renamed Festival Hall in the early 1960s to reflect its increasing use as Melbourne's largest live entertainment venue at the time. Lean booked
the Beatles to play Australia in 1964. Lean continued to promote and bring to Australia many of the major headline acts during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
The Living End's
Live at Festival Hall was filmed there on 19 May 2006. On 30 January 2008,
Rage Against the Machine performed at the venue in what was only their second headline show outside the
United States since their breakup in September 2000. Festival Hall's versatile set-up has been used for many events including a weekly conversion into a television studio for the production of
The Price is Right for the
Seven Network. The venue has also been used for
black tie dinners, product launches, conferences, motivation sessions, art exhibitions, large Christmas parties, religious and cultural events, and even as an examination venue for
Swinburne University. In January 2018, Stadiums Australia proposed that the site becomes a pair of apartment towers while retaining the front facade, with the intention of selling the project, saying it could no longer compete with other newer venues. A subsequent nomination to the State heritage body
Heritage Victoria was successful, with the site gaining permanent heritage protection in November 2018. with the intention to continue running the venue as a community entertainment venue, as well as to use it for
Hillsong Church Services on Sundays. Stadium Pty Ltd was voluntarily liquidated and formally wound up in July 2021. In March 2023,
Live Nation took over operations for the venue. ==Configurations==