The University of Leicester have changed the venue of Sir David Attenborough’s lecture ‘Beauty in Nature’ to allow 500 additional tickets to the public.
Sir David’s lecture will be held at De Montfort Hall at 5pm on 28 January, and the increased capacity venue will allow greater opportunity for the public to hear from the respected naturalist and broadcaster.
Jim Butler, Head of Corporate Events at the University of Leicester, said that they were simply overwhelmed by the level of interest.
“We expected Sir David’s lecture to be oversubscribed but the level of excitement that his visit has generated, with over 20,000 people applying for tickets, has been astonishing!” Mr Butler said.
“The change of venue to De Montfort Hall will allow us to open Sir David’s lecture to even more people and give them a chance to hear the lecture.”
The University’s flagship Chancellor’s Distinguished Lectures are talks that are given by high-profile speakers who either have an existing link to, or relationship with, the University, or who are notable in fields that align with their values and aspirations.
The first batch of tickets were snapped up within 90 seconds with more than 20,000 people visiting the online booking site within minutes of them becoming available.
These extra 500 tickets will be made available through a ballot system, which will be constructed once the public register their interest.
The ballot will close at 11:59pm on Monday 18 January; those allocated pairs of tickets will be selected at random and notified within 24 hours.
Sir David is returning to the place of his Leicester childhood to also officially open the £1.5 million new gallery extension on Attenborough Arts Centre, which was championed by his late brother Lord Richard Attenborough.
The University of Leicester is also offering three lucky people the chance to put their questions forward personally to Sir David at his lecture.
Questions must be submitted by individuals in one of three categories: under 16s; 16-21; over 21s. If you can think of an interesting question for Sir David to answer then please send in questions along with your name, age, address and telephone number to: events@le.ac.uk
The deadline for question submission is Wednesday 20 January, those selected to put forward their questions will be informed by Monday 25 January and will each receive a pair of tickets to attend the lecture.
To register for a pair of tickets within the ballot system, complete the application form at: www.le.ac.uk/distinguished-lectures
For more information regarding Sir David’s visit to Leicester visit: http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2015/december/sir-david-attenborough-returns-to-university-of-leicester-to-officially-open-new-fully-inclusive-arts-gallery
