Blackburn Arena is an Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 size ice arena in Blackburn, England, and the home of Blackburn Hawks

Blackburn Hawks

The Blackburn Hawks , are a British ice hockey team based in Blackburn, Lancashire. They are currently members of the ENIHL, and have previously played in the British National League and the English League Premier Division...

 and Lancashire Raptors

Lancashire Raptors

The Lancashire Raptors are a British Ice Hockey team based in Blackburn, Lancashire. They are currently members of the English National Ice Hockey League, and have play in the North 2 division...

 ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 clubs. The arena, which opened in 1991, holds 3,200 people and has an ice pad of 60 by.

The arena is owned by Peel Holdings, who purchased it from the original owners, Blackburn Council. Planning permission was granted at the time of building for an extra 1,000 or so seats at the back of the arena. It was built to coincide with Manchester's 1996 Olympic bid, with the possibility of boxing contests being held there. WCW (World Championship Wrestling) held a tour event there in 1992, and on the 26th November 1994 Rock band Status Quo held the only concert to date there from their Thirsty Work World Tour.

At Blackburn Arena there is a junior development for ice hockey. There are teams for under 10's, under 12's, under 14's, under 16's and under 18's. All these teams go under the name of Blackburn Junior Hawks.

The arena is open seven days a week for public ice skating sessions. It also offers a café and figure skating and hockey shop.