After 14 years at Deer Valley, one of Utah’s bigger summer concert programs is looking for a new home — and fast.
The Park City Institute is seeking an outdoor venue for the St. Regis Big Stars Bright Nights concert series, and officials go before a Park City government committee Wednesday to look at three city-managed locations.
This year’s series “is going to be a series of nine pop-up concerts,” said Teri Orr, the institute’s executive director.
Orr said she and her staff were told in mid-December by Deer Valley, just acquired by Colorado-based Alterra Mountain Co., that the institute’s contract to use the Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater would not be renewed.
“They said they wanted to go in a different direction,” Orr said.
Emily Summers, a spokeswoman for Deer Valley, said the resort will produce its own concert series at the 5,000-seat venue. Details are still being worked out, and a series announcement is planned in May.
“Our intent is to be one of the most premier series and summer concert venues in the state,” Summers said.
Meanwhile, the Utah Symphony’s annual Deer Valley Music Festival is still set to go at Deer Valley’s amphitheater. The orchestra Monday announced its 2018 lineup, including Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth, folk-rock performer Amos Lee, bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs, and rocker Rick Springfield.
The move has left Park City Institute scrambling to find a new location for this summer.
“In Park City, the summertime is a time of construction for everyone, and it’s a pretty short window,” she said, adding that the institute is in discussions with several sites “in the greater Park City area” for a permanent location starting in 2019.
Orr will go before Park City’s Special Events Advisory Committee on Wednesday to look at three potential locations on city-managed land for this summer’s shows. Even if everything else falls through, the institute can use its winter home, the Eccles Center Theatre, as a backup location, though “no one wants to be indoors in the summertime in Park City,” she said.
The series boasts a mix of legendary performers and up-and-coming acts. Last year’s slate included veterans Smash Mouth and Melissa Etheridge, interspersed with younger performers such as X Ambassadors, Kellie Pickler and Aloe Blacc.
“We’re not a one-flavor series,” Orr said, adding that this year’s lineup should be announced sometime in April.
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