THE evening may have been damp but the lights along Belfast's River Lagan shone brightly last night for the glittering gala opening of the city's £32 million showcase venue - Waterfront Hall.

The great and the good of the North were out in force, clearly relishing the distinctly unfamiliar experience of being part of a community more or less united in its welcome for this magnificent glass fronted riverside venue.

As darkness closed in, and office workers made their way home, coloured laser beams could be seen from far away, dramatically picking out the rounded contours of architect Victor Robinson's elegant circular design - obliterating the mud and rubable of the building site on which the hall stands.

BBC Northern Ireland was all dressed up and out for the evening too, with a live television broadcast of the opening concert by the Ulster Orchestra, with soloists James Galway and Barry Douglas and readers James Ellis and Frances Tomelty, all of them native of the city, returning for the celebrations.

The television hosts Gloria Hunniford and Sean Rafferty chatted with a glitzy line up of media faces, politicians, heads of industry and business chiefs. Heading the guest list were the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, and Lady Mayhew, the Northern Ireland Office minister, Sir John Wheeler and Lady Wheeler, representatives of all parties on Belfast's City Council and local politicians.

Alderman John Carson CBE, chairman of the board of the Waterfront Hall, gave the welcome address, his words of praise for the building echoed by Mr James Stewart, OBE, chairman of the Ulster Orchestra.