You can go ahead and put Thunder Ridge Nature Arena on your concert venue bucket list.
Located in Ridgedale, Missouri (close to Branson), the outdoor amphitheater and entertainment center is set to finally open in May after many years of planning and development.
The venue aims to showcase and take advantage of the beautiful Ozarks area with its nature-inspired architecture that blends in with the existing environment.
Bass Pro Shops has played an intricate role in bringing this arena to life, and described the soon-to-be-open amphitheater in this statement:
“Experiences at Thunder Ridge will go well beyond concerts. Festivals, airshows, professional bull riding, equestrian events, and trade shows with a variety of other extreme competition events also contemplated. Entertainment in the Great Outdoors is the goal for audiences of every age. ”
Thunder Ridge Nature Arena plans on bringing in even more tourism to the area and helping boost the local economy, all while shining a light on the importance of conservation.
Johnny Morris, the founder of Bass Pro Shops and well-known conservationist, had this to say about the venue:
“We all love our beautiful Ozarks and are proud to be able to preserve and share the beauty of the place we are blessed to call home with others for generations to come.”
Morris and Bass Pro Shops gifted the entity that owns the 1,200-acre Thunder Ridge preserve. The entire property, including the buildings and improvement to infrastructure, will be considered as a not-for-profit foundation with the main goal of aiding conversation.
Net proceeds from events that take place at the Thunder Ridge Nature Arena will immediately be dedicated to supporting conversation efforts, as well as enhancing and maintaining the venue.
And it’s one beautiful venue, to say the least. Garth Brooks gave this raving review when he unofficially opened up the Thunder Ridge venue back in October 2022:
“There may be sites on this Earth that are as pretty, but there’s nothing prettier than this right here. It is gorgeous.”
The amphitheater already has tour commitments from some of the biggest stars in country music.
Chris Stapleton will play a show at the new arena in June as a part of his All-American Road Show Tour, and Luke Bryan is also set to perform at the Nature Arena on July 27th.
If you want an idea of how the venue will look and feel besides the renderings featured above, you can check out this video from a fan that attended Garth’s show back in 2022:
