It’s 31 December 1999. A white marquee-like structure has just opened on the Greenwich peninsula in south-east London. It has a diameter of 365 metres; one for each day of the year. It cost £789m. But, in its first 12 months, its off-beat exhibition will only attract around half as many visitors as predicted.
Among the entertainment to be found within the Millennium Dome – one of four major attractions that opened in the capital for the year 2000 – were performances on the stage of a McDonald’s sponsored area called “Our Town”. Here, groups from across the country told stories of their home. The line-up included a collection of school children from a village college in Cambridgeshire. Its troupe were dressed in specially made organza-like costumes – MC-Hammer style trousers and boxy waistcoats.
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They told a now hazy tale of evolution, via the medium of dance. Quite the ambition for a group of 11–18-year-olds. I was among the youngest performers and recall the fear of being carried on the shoulder of a sixth-form boy across the stage, a strange moment in which everyone crammed onto stage to mimic wriggling creatures of the fens and rushing around in an end section that reflected the rush of the digital age.
Alongside the Dome, the other openings that year were the Millennium Bridge, Tate Modern, and the London Eye.
As a millennial who was excited to visit them 25 years ago, I returned to each to see how they have fared.
The Dome, turned 02, changed this part of London (Photo: I-Wei Huang, All Rights Reserved/Getty)
When I visit the 02, there’s a giant cowboy hat hanging near the main entrance. It is about to host a country music festival, one of around 200 events featured at the venue each year. I take an unofficial backstage tour of the arena, watching sets being built and peeking into empty dressing rooms.
Surrounding the central arena is: discounted shopping, bowling, a cinema, padel courts, and Mamma Mia! Dinner theatre.
This mishmash reflects the structure’s beginnings. There were 14 zones, with themes such as learning, rest and play, but the most memorable part of the Dome was its Body Zone, sponsored by Boots. The zone comprised two human figures leaning against one another. I recall travelling down an escalator that was designed to look as though you were passing through a human body, to the sound of a beating heart.
The secondary school performances and off-piste themes proved a tricky sell in 2004. But five years later, it became the 02, a successful rebrand. It received around 10 million visitors last year. Not bad for what is “really a big tent,” in the words of Sam Youdan, a director at Buro Happold, the engineering firm that was involved in the construction of the dome.
Youdan remembers it being among the London landmarks that inspired his career choice.
“It’s such a huge space and lightweight structure, it was ahead of its time.”
The white roof is made of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-coated glass fibre, which was supposed to last 25 years. Much of it was ripped off by Storm Eunice, then replaced, in 2022.
It looked sturdy up close while I tried an “Up at the O2” climb that takes in views of London City Airport, the cable car from the Royal Docks and the towers of Canary Wharf. Ticket prices are relatively steep, starting at £37 for adults. But I was one of just three led to the top on my climb, which gave an exclusive feel to the experience. Being at that height 25 years ago would have offered a bleaker view.
“People forget that was a pretty nasty site [the Dome was built on], which wasn’t part of the city people wanted to go to,” says Youdan.
“It was a key part of transforming post-industrial London to what it is now.”
The London Eye
The view from the London Eye (Photo: Supplied)To take in the city, from its central artery to its far reaches, millions of tourists ride the London Eye.
It was the world’s biggest ferris wheel when it opened in 2000. Known as the Millennium Wheel when it launched on the South Bank, it was supposed to be temporary. Last year, Lambeth Council voted to keep it as a permanent fixture.
Riding one of its pods around sunset, clementine sky framing the Palace of Westminster across the river, light glinting off the 50-storey St George Wharf Tower in Vauxhall and the Crystal Palace Transmitting Tower in the distant southeast, was still memorable a quarter of a century after my last visit.
Ticket prices are steep, starting at £33 for a standard adult ticket. Yet a maximum capacity of 25 people on a pod prevents jostling for a view, and I’ve yet to find a better perspective on London.
The bridge offers a popular view of St Paul’s (Photo: Supplied)
The bridge isn’t an attraction as such, but it’s the scene of many photoshoots – most directed towards St Paul’s Cathedral. Its start was shaky. It shut three days after opening on 10 June 2000, as it was swaying under the weight of visitors. It didn’t reopen until February 2002.
Standing in the middle on a clear day, you can see Tower Bridge east along the Thames, framed by the City of London’s skyscrapers on the north bank and the Shard on the South Bank. The wobble is long since forgotten and around four million people cross it a year.
Tate Modern
The Tate Modern has had sell-out exhibitions (Photo: Getty)A few steps from the south end of the bridge are the doors to the Tate Modern. Its permanent collections are free to visit, offering a more democratic way to enjoy a regenerated power station than, say, the clothes shops and bars of Battersea’s.
The cavernous space is a dramatic backdrop to its art and higher floors offer free views of the Thames, and the City. Temporary, sell-out exhibitions are its biggest lure, however. These average around £20 a ticket. Visitor numbers were around 4.6 million in 2024, down three per cent on 2023.
A cheaper appeal is the restaurant and bar. A £8 glass of white can be enjoyed with a clear view of St Paul’s dome.
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