A brand new stop-motion film has given the public their first proper look inside Bristol’s forthcoming Aviva Arena, using a hand-crafted scale model built specially for the project. Named in February 2026 by operating company YTL Live, the 20,000-capacity venue is expected to open in late 2028, hosting more than 120 major events a year and welcoming over 1.4 million visitors.

The film, produced by London-based stop-motion studio Scale Model Studios, showcases the arena’s interior and surrounding areas through a meticulously crafted miniature built in Bristol. It’s a serious undertaking behind the scenes too, with 24 individual frames captured for every second of footage, adding up to more than 60 hours of animation work.

Aviva Arena becomes the latest addition to Aviva’s growing portfolio of major UK and Irish venues, joining Aviva Stadium in Dublin and Aviva Studios in Manchester. The insurer struck a multi-million-pound sponsorship deal with developer YTL Live to secure naming rights back in February, cementing Aviva’s presence at the heart of live entertainment, sport and culture across both countries.

The arena itself is being built inside the central and largest of three historic Brabazon Hangars at the former Filton Airfield in north Bristol, structures famous as the assembly site for all ten of the UK’s Concorde aircraft. Construction officially got underway in January 2026 following a ceremony marking the milestone, with the wider site forming part of the broader Brabazon Park regeneration, which will eventually bring 6,500 new homes, a 15-acre park, schools and leisure facilities to the area.

Once complete, Aviva Arena will rank as the third largest indoor arena in the UK behind Manchester’s Co-op Live and AO Arena, comfortably surpassing the capacity of the nearest regional rival, Utilita Arena Cardiff. YTL Live estimates the venue and wider complex will generate around £1 billion for the local economy over its first decade, alongside more than 2,000 construction jobs and 500 permanent roles once it opens.independent.

Phoebe Barter, Aviva’s Group Brand Director, said the arena would “become a landmark destination for the South West of England,” adding that the stop-motion film allows people to “start to imagine the experiences it will deliver from late 2028 onwards”. Andrew Billingham, CEO of YTL Live, described the project as “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a world-class destination for live entertainment,” praising the model for helping fans “visualise the scale, ambition and energy of the venue years before the doors open”.

Access to the site is also being addressed ahead of opening, with a new unstaffed North Filton railway station on the Henbury line due to open later this year, offering direct rail links from Bristol Temple Meads. The arena will operate entirely on electricity and include 20 dressing rooms, flexible end-stage and centre-stage configurations, and a service yard capable of holding up to 60 touring trucks at once.

The naming announcement in February capped more than a decade of false starts for Bristol’s arena ambitions, after an earlier scheme near Temple Meads was scrapped despite the council spending £9 million clearing the site. With building work now well underway at Brabazon, the newly released stop-motion film offers fans and touring artists alike an early taste of what promises to be one of the West of England’s biggest cultural investments in years.