You won’t need to wait as long to get into Portneuf Health Trust Amphitheatre. Here’s how it works
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POCATELLO — Change is afoot at the Portneuf Health Trust Amphitheatre this summer concert season.
The main goal is reduce the sizes of lines into and inside the building. Event Director Scott Crowther said that he’s been traveling to other concert venues to try and learn ways staff can improve the amphitheater’s process.
The first thing they wanted to do was reduce the time it takes to enter the amphitheater before shows.
“We have limited access points, and so trying to get people into and out of the venue can be challenging,” Crowther said.
One of the things that Crowther and his team have found is that some venues will set up a congregation point, which can be a before-concert party with music, food and drinks. This helps prevent as long of lines stretching away from the venue.
They’ve now created a preparty area, a space that can hold up to 5,000 people at the west entrance to the amphitheater where people can buy their ticket and for no extra charge join the party before the concert starts. The preparty area will have have vendors, food, drinks and games.
The preparty area will open at 4:30 p.m. before the show. Gates for the shows open at 6 p.m. This area will let the venue have a faster flow for entrance.
Crowther said that this gives people a chance to, “get to the show earlier in the day and really start enjoying the environment.”
“People show up crazy early, and so if we can get them into an area where that allows us to do the security, the ticket scans and then let them hang out, it actually creates a really fun opportunity,” Crowther said.
Crowther also said that this preparty area “gives us an opportunity for some of our sponsors to have booths and have some face time with some of the people that want to come to the show.”
Management is introducing a new first aid station, as well as three new stands where people can order alcohol and Coke products. This will help reduce the size of lines inside the venue.
The amphitheater will now have a separate teams for conducting security, scanning tickets and giving concertgoers wristbands to buy drinks. Crowther said that this should help move lines faster and more efficiently.
The Portneuf Health Trust Amphitheatre has a line up of four country music artists scheduled to perform:
- May 19: Riley Green
- May 27: Jon Pardi
- June 22: Ian Munsick
- July 1: Clay Walker
The Portneuf Wellness Complex has been open for eight years now, and Crowther said that in that time it’s provided Pocatello and Chubbuck a much-needed space to gather for concerts.
“It brings the community together,” Crowther said.
He said that while there are other venues for concerts, they don’t offer the same thing that the Wellness Complex does.
“You have a fishing pond on the backside of a concert venue that’s next to soccer and football fields that’s surrounded by rodeo ground,” Crowther said. “You just don’t get this mixture. It’s just a phenomenal, electric place to be.”