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SumTur Amphitheater will welcome its biggest name yet this summer.
Willie Nelson will play at the venue June 26 with Kris Kristofferson opening.
“We’re really, really happy about that,” said Doug Huggins, amphitheater manager.
Huggins said they anticipate Nelson to be the most popular mainstream show the amphitheater has gotten to date. The show, Huggins said, will be a good fit for the amphitheater.
“For SumTur, it’s a big deal,” he added. “Listening to Willie Nelson singing outdoors on a beautiful day, I don’t think there could be a better place for it.”
The announcement of Nelson’s show is another in a string of ticketed events to be hosted at the facility. Over the last few years, the amphitheater has seen an increased number of ticketed events offered in conjunction with its free programming.
Last year, the facility hosted eight large ticketed events. This year, Huggins said he’s hoping to offer 10 to 12.
The amphitheater has partnered with two promoters, 1% Productions and Mammoth Productions, to bring ticketed events to the facility.
“We’ve had a relationship with both of those for several years and they’re bringing some very exciting acts,” Huggins said.
Other ticketed acts include Leon Bridges, Brandi Carlile, Matt Nathanson and Phillip Phillips with Eric Hutchinson, Dashboard Confessional and Taking Back Sunday, Flogging Molly, and Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers.
“It’s nice being a contender and in a way, a leader in the whole Omaha metro area, in ticketed events,” Huggins said. “The City of Papillion has worked hard to make SumTur a viable entertainment production venue and we’re very happy that we’re considered in the same name as Stir and the Orpheum and the Holland as far as quality entertainment in the heartland.”