Venue Hire

Venue Hire Overview

St Cecilia’s Hall welcomes bookings for events that complement the museum’s core purpose as a concert hall for live music, and museum of music and musical instruments.

Please note this is a change in priority following a period review June – August 2022. This means we are unable to take bookings for events or conferences that are unrelated to the mission of the museum. We recommend contacting the University of Edinburgh’s Hospitality & Events Collection for these types of events.

Venue Spaces

St Cecilia’s Hall, located off the iconic Royal Mile in Edinburgh’s Old Town provides contemporary facilities and comfort, within the stunning 1763 heritage building, uniquely home to a world class collection of musical instruments.

We have two separate spaces available for hire to suit a range of events / activities and budgets:

The Sypert Concert Room  (first floor) – max capacity 180 (this number includes all staffing/performers/speakers etc).

The Laigh Hall*  (ground floor) –  for receptions/refreshments max capacity 80.

Note that the Laigh Hall itself is divided in 2 by a glass wall creating 2 spaces, both these spaces comprise the Laigh Hall.

Please note absolutely no catering is permitted in the Sypert Concert Room however refreshments can be served in the ground floor Laigh Hall and Historic Foyer. Catering must be arranged separately by the client as St Cecilia’s does not provide this service.

click here for a downloadable First floor plan of St Cecilias hire space

Please get in touch:

Email: SCHevents@ed.ac.uk 

Telephone: 0131 650 2600

Terms and Conditions

Event Delivery on the Day

You are required to nominate two members of your event team on the ‘Venue Booking Form’; they will be considered the supervisors on-site at St Cecilia’s Hall for the duration of the event. Their role will be to direct catering, technicians and any event stewards / volunteers and to meet and greet / register guests or delegates and / or, in the case of a performance or talk, operate a box office table.

A member of the museums team will provide your event team supervisors with an emergency evacuation procedure briefing on arrival at St Cecilia’s Hall.

Servitor Support

If the event is happening after 17:00 a servitor is requested to work until the time you have provided on the ‘Venue Booking Form’. Please note that the servitor will be expecting to have locked up the building and to have left by the ‘Client Departure Time’ noted.

It is the responsibility of the hirer to remind all speakers, performers and guests that the event must end promptly. If the event runs over the departure time stated on the ‘Venue Booking Form’, a penalty payment of £50 per additional 15 minutes will be added to the final invoice.

Daytime Operational Context

If the event is on Tuesday-Saturday between the hours of 10:00-17:00, St Cecilia’s Hall will be open to the public as a visitor attraction. It is vital that this is taken into consideration when organising and running the event.

Catering

Any catering requirements must be organised directly between the hirer and the caterers you have contracted. St Cecilia’s Hall does not have an exclusive contract with any catering company – the venue hire client is free to use a catering company of their choice or make use of our small / domestic size kitchen for self-catering. However, we can provide a list of caterers if required.

If you are arranging items to be delivered and/or uplifted, in advance of and/or after the day of the event, you are responsible for alerting St Cecilia’s Hall to these deliveries in advance so that we are aware this is happening.

Food/equipment deliveries must only be arranged within St Cecilia’s Hall reception hours, operating 10:00– 17:00, Thursday– Saturday.

A/V Equipment

St Cecilia’s Hall has available, at no extra charge, a screen, projector and lectern with built-in microphone. If needed, you must provide your own laptop. If you bring a Mac please bring adaptor cables/dongle. If this has been requested on the ‘Venue Booking Form’, the Museums staff will ensure they are prepared for your use. However, the staff at St Cecilia’s Hall are museum professionals and are primarily on-site to welcome visitors and for the safety and security of visitors and the collections. They are not technicians. It is the responsibility of the hirer to arrange support from within their event team and/or via an AV technician to ensure confidence with this aspect of the event.

Use of Piano – administration, moving and tuning

On-site, at St Cecilia’s Hall, we have a Yamaha Boudoir Piano. There is a £15 administration fee for supporting use of the piano.

The hirer is also responsible for organising the payment of services for moving and tuning the piano directly with our agreed suppliers. Contact information for these suppliers is provided by St Cecilia’s Hall once the event is booked and confirmed.

Pricing and Payment

Payment will be requested after the event using an E-payment system. You will be sent a payment link after the event that requires a credit/debit card.

Cancellation

In the event of a booking cancellation of four weeks or less before the scheduled date of hire, a cancellation fee will be due:

Cancelled within 48 hours £100

Cancelled with 7-5 day notice £75

Cancelled with 14-8 day notice £50

Cancelled with 1 month notice £25

Hire Charges

NB August has a separate pricing structure, (for details email SCHEvents@ed.ac.uk)

Sypert Concert Room (prices include use of Laigh Hall if needed)

Mon – Fri Full Day  (9am – 5pm) – £960

Mon – Fri Half Day (9am – 1pm / 1pm – 5pm) – £510

Weekend Full Day (9am – 5pm) – £1050

Weekend Half Day (9am – 1pm / 1pm – 5pm) – £600 + (If on a Sunday) Out of Hours Staff charge £40 p/h (£160 minimum)

All Evenings (5pm – 10pm) – £660  + Out of Hours Staff charge £40 p/h (£160 minimum)

Laigh Hall/Historic Foyer   

Mon – Fri Full Day (9am – 5pm) – £390

Mon – Fri Half Day (9-1pm / 1-5pm)– £216

Weekend Full Day (9am – 5pm) – £420 + (If on a Sunday) Out of Hours Staff charge £40 p/h (£160 minimum)

Weekend Half Day (9-1pm / 1-5pm) – £240 + (If on a Sunday) Out of Hours Staff charge £40 p/h (£160 minimum)

All Evenings (5pm – 10pm) – £360 + Out of Hours Staff charge £40 p/h (£160 minimum)

NB. All prices include VAT

Main point of contact

Once the booking has been confirmed, your key point of contact at St Cecilia’s Hall will be a member of the Museums Assistant Team.

The Museum Assistant team will be able to facilitate further viewings of the spaces and respond to any further queries. They can be contacted by telephone or email:

Telephone: 0131 650 2600

Email: SCHEvents@ed.ac.uk