A vision years in the making has become a reality, with the official opening of Silvan Steps Ampitheatre in Richmond’s hills.
Bo Ade-Simpson, the visionary behind the outdoor project, partnered with Matt Griffin, whose family owns a chunk of land in the Richmond Hills, have created Nelson’s newest festival venue that has arguably the best view in town.
“Matt is this absolute golden guy who said ‘pine’s old news’, so he’s been planting their family property in native and has turned a chunk of the property into a mountainbike park for the community,” Bo says.
Some time ago, when Bo, who is well-known as one part of Kiwi duo Genre Fluid, was playing at one of Matt’s partys, Matt came up with the suggestion of building an ampitheatre at the top of the hill.
Fast-forward to February, and the pair, armed with a team of like-minded, passionate locals, were throwing a private party for 200 to test out the space, which looks out over Nelson, Richmond and the Tasman Bay, before surging forward with council consents to bring it into the public space.
Just a couple of months on from the seed of an idea, the bare bones of the ampitheatre had been dug out of the hillside and in just a couple of weeks time the first public event will be held: Silvan Steps - Spring to Life.
Bo says it is the culmination of years of hard work and vision from a group of locals who love the place they call home, and want to see the arts and music scene thrive.
He says there was a small mental celebration when the green light came through from council to be able to host the first public festival, but then the foot went back on the accelerator.
The vision is to see international acts play intimate style shows, recorded live at Silvan Steps.
“I see in three years time Red Hot Chilli Peppers playing on a Thursday night. Like a Red Rocks style for Nelson, a sold-out intimate show,” Bo says.
But the first show, timed with the Spring Equinox and the first day of daylight savings, signifies the birth of the venue to the Nelson public.
“We’re going to put 400 people up there,” Bo says. “We had almost 200 people up there for the private gig and it felt empty, so it was a good indicator.”
When you buy a ticket to the gig, you choose a pickup location of Nelson, Stoke or Richmond, and be taken by bus to the velodrome at Saxton Field before transferring to the shuttle service which climbs you high into the hills overlooking Richmond.
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There will then be a shuttle on the hour, every hour, that will go from the velodrome up to the venue and back, to assist those who can’t make it on time, and enable partygoers to leave when they want to.
“The idea is this venue will be one of the more famous ones in the country and will be internationally known,” Bo says.
Silvan Steps: Spring to Life will have a bar showcasing local beverages, local food carts and the stage will feature local musicians Spinoza, Genre Fluid, covers band Nice Try and DJ Aine. To find out more or buy tickets look up Silvan Steps Ampitheatre on Facebook or Google.
