First post-COVID in audience show is Oct 3rd
The Grand Ole Opry is kicking off its 95 anniversary with a limited audience for its official birthday show, Saturday, October 3rd. The Saturday Night Grand Ole Opry broadcast and livestream will feature performances by Opry members Dierks Bentley, Terri Clark, Vince Gill, and Lorrie Morgan, with host Bobby Bones. This is the first time an audience has been at a show taping since March 2020.
The Opry will welcome back up to 500 guests each Saturday in October to experience the Opry Live television and livestream filming. Fans who previously purchased tickets to the Grand Ole Opry shows prior to the COVID-19 shutdown will be given a presale opportunity to buy tickets. Should tickets be available for purchase following the presale, this information will be updated. More details for other Opry 95th Anniversary Celebration shows and digital events happening throughout the month of October will be announced soon.
“With gratitude to the artists who have visited the Opry since March, staff members and partners who have ensured the Opry went on every Saturday, and a worldwide audience for tuning in over the past six months, we are so excited as we plan to welcome fans back to the Opry House,” states Dan Rogers, Opry vice president and executive producer. “So many loyal fans make plans early to be a part of our birthday weekend every year, and I am especially excited that many of those devoted familiar faces will be in the first in-house audience since late last winter. Of course we will only be truly happy when we can return to capacity audiences and full Opry shows that are known around the world.”
The return to audiences heavily involves the Nashville Public Health Department and Vanderbilt Health. Together, the three entities developed socially distanced seating that allows those in the same group to be seated together; mandatory masks for all guests, Opry House operations and production staff; temperature checks for all staffers; enhanced cleaning practices; and no concessions.
When the Opry closed its doors to audiences in March, it returned to its original format as a live Saturday night broadcast without a live audience. It’s invited a world wind of guests, including Reba, Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and more. Fans around the world can still tune in to the Saturday broadcasts via circleplus.com, or listen on radio at opry.com and wsmonline.com, via the Opry and WSM mobile apps and on its flagship radio home, 650 AM WSM.
The Grand Ole Opry is Country Music’s Longest Running Radio Show since its first broadcast in 1925. The show, which airs live from Nashville every week, made country music famous.
