Hamilton’s Claudelands claimed two major awards at the Entertainment Venues Association of New Zealand(EVANZ) Awards in Dunedin last night.

Claudelands won the Supreme Venue of the Year Award, and Large Venue of the Year category, celebrating venues of 5000 seats or larger.

The awards recognise excellence in the New Zealand entertainment venue industry.

The venue - operated by Hamilton City Council’s H3 group – won the Large Venue of the Year Award ahead of other finalists Christchurch’s Horncastle Arena, Wellington’s TSB Arena/Shed 6 and Auckland’s Western Springs.

In winning the Supreme Venue of the Year Award, Claudelands was chosen ahead of category winners Regent Theatre (Medium Venue of the Year) and Q Theatre Auckland (Small Venue of the Year).

Murray Jeffrey, H3’s Director of Business Development and Marketing says the awards are great recognition for Claudelands and the wider region.

“These awards confirm Hamilton’s position as one of New Zealand’s major business and events destinations. The EVANZ Awards recognise the whole team at H3 who promote and deliver on our promise to our customers. Special thanks also go to the managers of Claudelands, Claire Toko and Andy Boulton.”

Mr Jeffrey says: “This level of recognition is something we have been striving for since we first opened the doors to Claudelands three years ago”.

“During this time we’ve worked extremely hard to prove ourselves as a venue of international quality, across a range of areas including music, sporting and entertainment events, conferences, exhibitions and private functions,” he says.

Hamilton City Council Chief Executive Richard Briggs says the facility and the team operating it are among the city’s foremost assets: “Hamiltonians should be proud to have this great facility in our city.”

Since opening in June 2011 Claudelands has become one of New Zealand’s leading conference and exhibition centres, and entertainment arenas.  High-profile arena events held at Claudelands this year have included Bob Dylan, Billy Connolly and Disney On Ice. In 2015, the venue will host performances by Kenny Rogers, Slash, Eddie Izzard and Ricky Martin.