PNE embarks on search for sponsors on amphitheatre project

Photo: PNE

THE Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) on Wednesday opened a call for sponsorship partners, including naming rights, for its amphitheatre project.

The project, which has been in the planning stages for several years, is anticipated to be one of the most spectacular venues of its kind on the West Coast of North America when completed in 2026.
“The amphitheatre will be a jewel in Vancouver’s crown of spectacular venues,” said PNE President and CEO Shelley Frost. “The project will be designed to showcase British Columbia building products and engineering while adhering to the highest standards of environmental sustainability.

“When complete, the venue will be used to host a wide variety of music and culture events – ranging from our incredibly popular Summer Night Concerts at the PNE Fair, to arts and culture performances by symphony’s, cultural innovators, community organizations and others.

“With the beautiful BC mountains in the background, with a clear-span wood roof that is not only striking but also engineered to act as a significant sound barrier to mitigate noise bleed into the surrounding community, we believe there will not be another venue like this anywhere in Canada.”
Designed by renowned Vancouver-based architecture company Revery Architecture, construction on the amphitheatre is anticipated to begin in early 2024 with completion in summer 2026.
“We wanted to create a unique experience for both the audience and performers, in a world-class amphitheatre,” says Venelin Kokalov of Revery Architecture. “Our architectural solution was an elegant structure that will cover the amphitheatre, gracefully landing on three points into the landscape. This gesture will frame vistas to the mountains and the surrounding context, creating transparency at the human level and an intimate atmosphere under the warmth of the wood.”
Vancouver City Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung, Chair of the PNE Board of Directors, said the project will help fulfill the City’s goals to support more access to music and cultural space for Vancouver’s creative sector, as well as creating a multi-functional outdoor venue for diverse uses.

She said: “This is a very significant day for the PNE and for everyone in the city of Vancouver. Delivering performance opportunities for talented artists while at the same time creating a beautiful space where people of all ages and backgrounds can come together to create collective memories, is at the heart of creating a vibrant and fun city. This new amphitheatre will ensure generations of Vancouverites will be able to enjoy music and culture in an unparalleled setting in historic Hastings Park.”
One of the most spectacular elements of the design is the roof structure, which, when completed will be longer than the roof of the Richmond Oval and one of the longest clear-span roofs in the world.
“The structural form is comprised of six-barrel vaulted segments intersecting at diagonal planes, creating a clear span of 105m (345’) from buttress tip to buttress tip. The form, calling to the brilliant technical contributions of the CNIT building, a 1956 concrete shell structure in Paris designed by Nervi, harnesses the compression capacity of mass timber, a sustainable and local material, using it for both the ribs and the deck. What resulted is one of the longest timber arch roofs in the world – a true blend of architecture and structure,” said Robert Jackson, Partner at Fast + Epp Structural Engineers.
The PNE will be meeting with interested parties to discuss mutually beneficial sponsorships, including naming rights, for this exciting amphitheatre redevelopment, a project anticipated to cost $65 million.
“As one of the most beloved brands in the province, the PNE already has a strong partnership program,” said Frost. “We anticipate the spectacular nature of this project will draw interest from existing as well as potential new partners, which goes towards our mandate of creating an asset that will benefit the city for generations to come, while at the same time exercising fiscal responsibility for our organization and providing value aligned opportunities for organizations to partner with the PNE.”
For more information and early visuals of design options, interested parties should visit pne.ca/amphitheatre.

For more information on the PNE visit: pne.ca.