Scissortail Park

[David]

Went down on Saturday for a bit to look at the new park and walk through it, what a fantastic new space for OKC with so much room for activities. I wonder if it will take the pressure off of the Myriad Gardens a bit considering how packed that often is over the weekends.

But yeah, we need a quality development between the Gardens and the new park to tie it to downtown better.

[kukblue1]

So do you see other big times acts coming say next spring or was KOL just a one time thing. I don't think too many "touring acts" are going to play in a park. I could be wrong but just don't see it. I could see someone like a Blake Shelton, Flaming Lips or a Toby Keith doing so though but they are local acts that might do the city a solid deal.

[Pete]

So do you see other big times acts coming say next spring or was KOL just a one time thing. I don't think too many "touring acts" are going to play in a park. I could be wrong but just don't see it. I could see someone like a Blake Shelton, Flaming Lips or a Toby Keith doing so though but they are local acts that might do the city a solid deal.

The Jones guys are programming this venue and they have lots of connections, which is how we got KOL in the first place.

[atolbert]

So do you see other big times acts coming say next spring or was KOL just a one time thing. I don't think too many "touring acts" are going to play in a park. I could be wrong but just don't see it. I could see someone like a Blake Shelton, Flaming Lips or a Toby Keith doing so though but they are local acts that might do the city a solid deal.

Lollapalooza is at Grant Park every year and is arguably the biggest music festival in the country.

[kukblue1]

Lollapalooza is at Grant Park every year and is arguably the biggest music festival in the country.

Ok I'll give you that one but outside of the that I don't think Grant Park gets touring acts. It never did when i lived up there.

[SagerMichael]

I wish we could get a Lollapalooza type music festival to come thru OKC every year at Scissortail. I mean we’ve got that great lawn for a reason

[tyeomans]

I wish we could get a Lollapalooza type music festival to come thru OKC every year at Scissortail. I mean we’ve got that great lawn for a reason

We could call it "The Oklahoma City Music Festival"!!! I really wish we could get something like this as well that would further enhance our image as well as possibly grow the tourism aspect.

[TheTravellers]

We could call it "The Oklahoma City Music Festival"!!! I really wish we could get something like this as well that would further enhance our image as well as possibly grow the tourism aspect.

http://okcfest.com/

[Easy180]

I wish we could get a Lollapalooza type music festival to come thru OKC every year at Scissortail. I mean we’ve got that great lawn for a reason

Sounds great just not in the summer. Only outside events during OKC summers must include water slides.

[Quicker]

http://okcfest.com/

Right idea, they just jumped the gun... if they did the same thing next summer with the park being the main stage, you could build the other stages in the lots west of the arena, incorporate the stage in the myriad gardens and be very successful...Especially if you could do it in the beginning of the summer tour season or at the end and avoid June, July and August ...

[CCOKC]

I went to the Bourbon and Beyond music fest in Louisville on the 20th-22nd of September. It is part of a 3 weekend group of festivals of Country, Rock (ish) and Metal. It was held at the fairgrounds. My daughter and I camped for 4 nights. There is no way that Scissortail Park is big enough for something like this. A festival like this requires multiple stages to allow for the acts to play immediately after each other.
https://www.fevo.com/edp/Trifesta-In...-Life-19liBHmo

[Laramie]

Parks like Grant Park (Chicago) and Central Park (New York) cover more than 300 & 700 acres respectively. Large mega festivals like these have the space to put on many events & acts simultaneously.

Now, can OKC start an annual festival to fit our downtown park. Much of that will depend on the quality of groups, duos or single headliner you get to perform, whether its theme is country, rock, soul, jazz, blues or gospel or a sampling of a variety of music will depend on where we want to go with a fest.

Oh, let's not forget the food; always the appetite that puts the cherry on top of the festival.

30-40 acres is enough land to put on a good festival; first let's decide what we want to celebrate.

[BDP]

How full did it seem with 28,000 people on the lawn? According to what I found, attendance numbers for Bourbon and Beyond is listed at 70k and Lallapooza's average about 100k / day.

Obviously Grant and Central Parks are way bigger than Scissortail (couldn't find the actual size for Highland Festival Grounds, but I think the whole expo center, of which the festival grounds are a part, is on 300 acres) as a whole and can accommodate a lot more production wise, as well as more "side show" events, but they obviously don't use the whole park for main stage viewing (that would be insanely big, ha). So, I'm just kind of wondering what is considered the capacity of events for Scissortail Park....

[shawnw]

There was PLENTY of space on the lawn even with 28K inside the park. I was very surprised and so made a mental note.

[skanaly]

Last photo shows the tunnel in the south east section of the park. Doesn't lead to anything, but hopefully one day it will. Lot's of potential.

[midtownokcer]

How full did it seem with 28,000 people on the lawn? According to what I found, attendance numbers for Bourbon and Beyond is listed at 70k and Lallapooza's average about 100k / day.

Obviously Grant and Central Parks are way bigger than Scissortail (couldn't find the actual size for Highland Festival Grounds, but I think the whole expo center, of which the festival grounds are a part, is on 300 acres) as a whole and can accommodate a lot more production wise, as well as more "side show" events, but they obviously don't use the whole park for main stage viewing (that would be insanely big, ha). So, I'm just kind of wondering what is considered the capacity of events for Scissortail Park....

It still felt like there was a lot of room to roam around. I took this pic (testing my new iPhone 11 Pro's Night mode!) during the first few songs of KOL's set. Plenty of room towards the Promontory and pavement that splits the Grand Lawn from it.

As Pete said earlier in this thread, I totally had "this can't be OKC" feelings as I roamed around. Amazing.

[hoya]

As Pete said earlier in this thread, I totally had "this can't be OKC" feelings as I roamed around. Amazing.

I think that feeling will only increase in the next 10 years or so. A completed Omni, convention center, maturation of the park, more stuff along the streetcar line... all those things are going to change downtown quite a bit.

[Pete]

It was a small thing but another sign of great change...

They had tons of beer tents ringing the great lawn. Like 8 big tents each with about 4-5 lines.

It was awesomely easy to get a beer, at least early on. It would have been nice to have some OK beer options, but that is nit-picking.

I was really impressed with how well the whole thing was organized.

[turnpup]

It's hard to believe it's been such a long time, but these were taken in May of 2012, right after the Skydance Bridge opened:

[BDP]

It was a small thing but another sign of great change...

They had tons of beer tents ringing the great lawn. Like 8 big tents each with about 4-5 lines.

It was awesomely easy to get a beer, at least early on. It would have been nice to have some OK beer options, but that is nit-picking.

I was really impressed with how well the whole thing was organized.

Yeah. I went on Sunday for the Philharmonic, and it was funny because I didn't expect to be able to buy a beer and head back into he park to hang out. I assumed it would be a beer garden type situation. I just always assume there's going to be some OK law that won't allow me to have a beer where I want to... ha.

Sounds like it all went down very well. Everyone I know who went loved it. It's just anecdotal, but most of the people I know who opted out of Friday did so because they assumed it would be a cluster. But everyone who actually went said it was a breeze with zero troubles. They managed it very well.

28k obviously isn't even in the same ballpark of a lollapalooza / Coachella type event (but not too shabby for a single headliner show these days), but that's not a small event and based on what I saw of the layout of the park and what people are saying about Friday night, it could handle something much bigger and more elaborate. If someone wants to take it on, it could easily handle a main stage on the lawn and multiple stages / tents south of the berm, around the pond, and in / outside of union station. I felt the vendor areas on Robinson work very well, too (I'm sure there were a lot more on Friday and Hudson could easily do the same for the west side).

Overall, I know it's not as massive as the iconic urban parks in the nation, but it is set up to function similarly, just on an OKC scale. It has some programming, but not so much that it's limited to that programming. The "great lawn" may seem like the most boring part in any rendering, but it's probably its best facet, because people can bring to it whatever they want. It's basically OKC's backyard.

And, what I think is really cool is that it seems to have been finished out / landscaped for the future. That is, you can tell it will get better as it matures, as opposed to having to be revamped with a new layout and new landscaping every time some money is found to do it. It's built / planned as much for now as it is for the next generation(s) that will inherit it.

[jonny d]

I think the attendance figure is inflated HIGHLY by the concert being free. Charge $15 for it, and the # is maybe 50% of that 28k. But still, having that many people there was a huge publicity event for OKC, and hopefully there will be more like it!

[BDP]

I think the attendance figure is inflated HIGHLY by the concert being free. Charge $15 for it, and the # is maybe 50% of that 28k. But still, having that many people there was a huge publicity event for OKC, and hopefully there will be more like it!

No doubt. I mean, I have no reason to believe it's an inaccurate figure, but it being free and the first event to open the park and I'm sure there were a lot of people there just to take it all in.

I'm just curious as to what it could handle. That is, what is its potential as a venue for shows / festivals in the future. KOL could probably charge $75 and get 10k+ at Chesapeake arena, but that's kind of a different animal. In this context, I'm just wondering what could STP handle if it was a good lineup, competent promoter, etc. Could you put 75k+ on that lawn for a show? It obviously matters what that show is as to if you could sell that many tickets, but could the park handle it if someone wanted to try and had the right bill for it?

[jonny d]

No doubt. I mean, I have no reason to believe it's an inaccurate figure, but it being free and the first event to open the park and I'm sure there were a lot of people there just to take it all in.

I'm just curious as to what it could handle. That is, what is its potential as a venue for shows / festivals in the future. KOL could probably charge $75 and get 10k+ at Chesapeake arena, but that's kind of a different animal. In this context, I'm just wondering what could STP handle if it was a good lineup, competent promoter, etc. Could you put 75k+ on that lawn for a show? It obviously matters what that show is as to if you could sell that many tickets, but could the park handle it if someone wanted to try?

Would be interesting to see. 75k may be high. 32k or so would be tops (I would think, for safety reasons). But I am with you, and would like to find out!

[BDP]

Found this in an article about the contribution from Love's:

The Love’s gift will help pay for the operations and upkeep of the 6-acre stage and lawn, which has the capacity for hosting events from 1,500 to 15,000 guests for concerts, outdoor movies, symphonies and corporate events. The venue, adjacent to a new convention center and Omni-branded luxury hotel, can also accommodate festivals for up to 250,000 guests over multiple days.

Love’s contribution first of many for Scissortail Park

Doesn't really give a definitive answer, since we already know the lawn can handle 28k+, or almost twice the figure given, and the 250k number is "over multiple days". I'm guessing the 15k number that was thrown out in press releases is more in line with the type of productions that the permanent stage can accommodate and the festival number is based more on what the space could handle (again, over multiple days) with temp stages and production space.

[BDP]

And from, well, the actual Scissortail website:

Love’s Travel Stops Stage and Great Lawn is the heart of the Park in the northern section of the Upper Park.
Square Feet: 194,000
Capacity:
Up to 25,000 guests standing
750 – 1,500 guests reception style
450 – 1,000+ guests seated

https://scissortailpark.org/plan/lov...ge-great-lawn/