
With outdoor concert season here, bikers and pedestrians passing by Ascend Amphitheater may notice a tweak to solve an annoyance that had lingered for years.
The problem was that there was no way through the park during shows. Since part of the downtown greenway is technically on the grounds of Ascend, you’d need a ticket to be there. LiveNation, which ran the amphitheater for the past ten years, simply closed that section of the park during events, so pedestrians and bikers had to go all the way around.
Opry Entertainment Group promised to do something about that when they won the bid to run the Amphitheater for the next decade. VP of Design and Construction Shawn Flippen saw a solution: “We came up with the idea, why not reconnect the greenway with a bridge?”
The organization spent $1 million building a new wooden bridge over the land, and it will be open during concerts. If you’re thinking that sounds like a great spot to see a show for free, you’re not wrong, but you will be stopped. Metro owns the land and leases it to Opry, so officers will be patrolling during shows.
Opry also put an additional $12 million into renovating the Ascend grounds. There is a new merch village, permanent seats up front, VIP boxes, and new chair rentals.
Upcoming shows at Ascend:
- Russell Dickerson – Friday, May 8
- An Evening with David Byrne – Saturday, May 9
- Yellowcard – Monday, June 8
- Charlie Puth – Tuesday, June 9
- Yacht Rock Symphony in Concert – Tuesday, June 23
- Young The Giant – Saturday, June 27
- Lindsey Stirling – Wednesday, July 22
- Turnpike Troubadors – Friday, July 24
- Zeds Dead – Saturday, July 25
- The Pussycat Dolls – Wednesday, July 29
- Hilary Duff – Thursday, July 30
- Train – Friday, July 31
- Bob Dylan – Saturday, August 1
- Tape B x Levity – Saturday, August 8
- Jack Johnson – Tuesday, August 25
- Bert Kreischer – Saturday, September 12
- Shaboozey – Friday, September 18
- Dermot Kennedy – Sunday, October 11