Outdoor Concert Series Stage, Circa 2006
THIRTY-ONE YEARS OF SUMMER CONCERTS IN THE GARDEN
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By Kate Randall, Marketing & Public Relations Associate
ith its 3000-capacity Amphitheatre featuring a lineup of consistently sold-out shows, Red Butte Garden is the place to experience some of the best summer concerts in Utah. Concertgoers get it all—panoramic views of the Wasatch Mountains, the Salt Lake Valley sunset, a botanical garden, and of course, talented top-name acts on stage. As Utah’s botanical garden, Red Butte Garden may seem an unlikely place for a major concert venue, but the grassy area near Red Butte Creek has been home to summer concerts for the last 31 years. The Garden opened to the public in 1985, and in 1986, the idea of a concert series was born in a suggestion by the Garden’s founder, the late Zeke Dumke, Jr., as a way to introduce more people to the Garden and provide additional financial support for its operations. And just like that, in 1987, the “Second Sunday Concert Series” began featuring local jazz, bluegrass, and folk musicians. For the next 10 years the stage was built of concrete pavers under a temporary canvas canopy, tickets were purchased by mail order, volunteers set up tables to take tickets, and concertgoers brought picnics and blankets to experience a handful of intimate summer concerts in the Garden. Things began to change in 1997 when then Development Director, Susan Kropf, hired Chris Mautz to book national acts. Mautz left in 2001 and Derrek Hanson joined the Garden, eventually becoming the new Events Director. The number of concerts increased year after year and they were selling out fast! By 2003, the series had grown to 11 concerts including surprise break-out artist of the year, Norah Jones.
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Red Butte Garden
With the growth and success of the concert series came the need for an improved stage and amphitheatre. So, in 2008, after a major expansion and renovation of the venue, the Garden launched its first concert series in the brand new Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre. Since then, Hanson and Mautz (who returned in 2006), have worked together to build and book the series lineup each year. In the last five years, the Outdoor Concert Series has grown into an annual lineup of 25-30 major acts stretching from May through September. The Amphitheatre has also become home to community events such as our Annual Spring Plant Sale and the Sundance Institute Summer Film Series. Zeke Dumke, Jr. was right, from its small beginning 31 years ago the concert series has increased Garden membership and revenue which enables the Garden to improve and expand its educational programming, plant conservation efforts, gardens, and facilities. And now—much like then—concertgoers return show after show, spreading out blankets and picnics on the lawn to experience big, yet intimate summer concerts in the Garden.
2003 Outdoor Concert Series Brochure