Minsk Arena

Minsk Arena is one of Europe’s biggest high-tech cultural and sports facilities, a fine specimen of Belarus’ contemporary architecture.

In May 2014 Minsk Arena hosted the 2014 IIHF World Championship. The multipurpose center comprises:

• Arena (ice palace seating up to 15,000 people)
• Velodrome (one of Europe’s best facilities)
• Skating stadium (Belarus’ first indoor skating rink)
• Multilevel car park

Minsk Arena

The Construction of Minsk Arena was launched in spring 2006. Up to 2,000 builders worked on the construction site every day.

The official opening ceremony of Minsk Arena with the participation of Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko took place on 30 January 2010 as part of the Second KHL All-Star Game, which featured the teams of Jaromir Jagr and Alexei Yashin.

The opening was also attended by ice hockey legends Vyacheslav Fetisov, Vladislav Tretiak, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, IIHF President Rene Fasel.

The first test hockey game was held on 26 December 2009. On 4 March 2012 Minsk Arena set an attendance record: the World Junior Figure Skating Championships final was attended by 17,100 people.

The authors of the Minsk Arena project are a group of architects comprising Valery Kutsko, Vladimir Budayev, Alexander Nitiyevsky, Anatoly Shabalin. The creators of the country’s largest sport and entertainment complex were named winners of the 2012 State Award of the Republic of Belarus.

Minsk Arena plan

By its scale, engineering and creative solutions Minsk Arena is the country’s biggest and most high-technology facility.

Minsk Arena can host competitions in more than 25 sports.

Minsk Arena Sport and Cultural Facility

The main ground of the complex is an ice arena that hosts ice hockey games and other sports meets, concerts, conferences and forums.

Convenient seating arrangement of the arena provides 4 stands – A, B, C, D – and 4 separate entrances. You can get from one stand into another using spacious passages.

Commentator boxes are on the upper tier of the Arena. Over 42 glassed VIP-boxes can accommodate up to 700 guests. There are also two governmental and one presidential boxes in stand A.

A 60x30m European-standard ice rink is in the center of the arena.

The cable roof of the arena, which can withstand up to 120 tonnes and is extremely light for its size, was made using a modern French technology implemented in Belarus for the first time. Special sensors monitor cable tension 24/7 and send data to specialists of the complex and their French partners.

The arena has Europe’s heaviest, 18 tonnes, eight-faced video cube with plasma screens. 

High-tech ice arena equipment is used to maintain good indoor ice quality. The climate control system makes fans feel comfortable and warm even on the first rows.

Minsk Arena boasts the most advanced technologies expanding its multifunctional capacity. For instance, while setting a stage or creating additional space (at concerts, sport and pop music shows), bleachers of the lower tier can be transformed and removed under concrete steps.

Skating Stadium

The Arena and the Skating Stadium are connected by an underground passage. The Skating Stadium is Belarus’ first indoor rink with a 400m racetrack (9,5m width).

There are also two European and Canadian-style training rinks (60×30 and 60×28m) and two curling tracks in the stadium.

State-of-the-art equipment at the Skating Stadium allows regulating temperature of ice for different sports: figure skating, curling, ice hockey, speed skating.

The Minsk Arena track is often chosen as a venue for training camps by skaters from the Netherlands, Russia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, and Ukraine. The rink hosted the official training sessions for the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

The seating capacity of the Skating Stadium is 3,000.

Velodrome

One of Europe’s best velodromes was built in Minsk with assistance of German specialists that develop similar projects all over the world.

The central part of Minsk Velodrome can be also used for other sports such as badminton, table tennis, futsal, basketball, volleyball.

The Velodrome can seat 2,000 spectators.

Minsk Arena infrastructure

Minsk Arena is not only a large-scale but also a comfortable facility. There are cozy lockers, fitness halls and gyms, a medical and rehabilitation center, drug testing facilities.

Spectators and guests can visit cafes and restaurants, VIP lounges with sofas and TV sets, massage and beauty parlors. There is an electrophysical measurement laboratory in the complex. A children’s room is available for little guests of Minsk Arena.

Visitors can take group guided tours around this huge sport and cultural complex to learn more about its unique features and the history of the construction of Minsk Arena, visit the Alley of Sport Fame, learn about the forthcoming events, and visit souvenir stores.

Tour cost is:

• Br2 per person
• Br16 – the minimal cost for a group (1-8 people)

Mountain air rooms in Minsk Arena (combining gyms and leisure area) are unmatched in Belarus and are open to the general public. Artificial salt caves will soon open in the Arena, too.

Minsk Arena is a smoking-free zone.

There are 54 cloakrooms in the arena halls: once the event is over, 15,000 spectators can leave the complex within a span of 40 minutes.

Tickets for competitions and other events can be bought in Minsk Arena box offices and from other ticket operators of the city.

Minsk Arena – Venue for Big Events

Minsk Arena, the home rink for HC Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, hosts big matches and competitions. Among them is International Christmas Ice Hockey Tournament for the prizes of the President of Belarus.

The popularity of Minsk Arena as a venue for high-level international tournaments in various sports increases every year:

• European Track Championships (July 2009)
• Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships (May 2011)
• ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championship (March 2012)
• UCI Track Cycling World Championships (February 2013)
• European Boxing Championships (June 2013)
• IIHF World Championship (May 2014)

Shows and concerts at Minsk Arena

One of Europe’s largest arenas often becomes the hub of the Belarusian cultural life. Minsk Arena hosts concerts, shows, big exhibitions and forums. 

In November 2010 Minsk Arena was the venue for Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

The huge complex has also hosted big names such as Rammstein, Scorpions, Limp Bizkit, Elton John, Sting, Joe Cocker, Jose Carreras, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Depeche Mode.

In 2013 Minsk Arena debuted as the venue of International Motor Show.

Safety

Minsk Arena’s ultramodern security system meets the world’s highest standards and recommendations.

Minsk Arena has an electronic access control system. Every ticket is scanned at the entrance to record the arrival time and the seat. Minsk Arena guests are allowed in through metal detector gates.

Getting to Minsk Arena

Minsk Arena is located at 111 Pobeditelei Avenue, at the end of one of the city’s main thoroughfares.

Minsk Arena is one of the easiest places to get to by public transport. Buses No.1 (from city center plying between Railway Station and Vesnyanka neighborhood) and No. 44, trolleybuses No. 10 and 28 as well as fixed-route taxi buses will take you directly to the arena. The bus stop is called Minsk Arena.

For car owners there is a multi-level car park (for 1,080 cars) located behind the Velodrome, and a flat car park (for 300 cars) opposite Stand B of the arena. A one-time use of the car park costs Br3.