South Carolina will get its first large-scale outdoor concert venue this spring in Bowman, South Carolina. This 200-acre piece of land called Yonder Field will be able entertain anywhere from 7,000 to 30,000 people.
Stacie Darr White, the owner and manager of Yonder Field, expects this full-season venue to hold about 10-15 large concerts a year. White says the first concert will most likely be in May.
Yonder Field’s location about an hour away from Columbia will make it easily accessible for USC students. The venue will also be within reasonable driving distance to Charleston, Savannah, Charlotte and Greenville.
“I noticed that many stadium tours bypass the state. So I knew there was a need for a large scale outdoor venue,” White, a native to South Carolina and graduate from Clemson University, stated in the press release.
Yonder Field combines the two concepts of an amphitheater and a festival experience. There are two stages: the Yonder Field main stage and the tailgating stage. The 200 acres also have enough parking for about 17,000 cars. This gives the option to not only tailgate before the concert, but to also camp overnight after. This will be the only concert venue in the state that offers this experience.
The love White has for her state and the intense detail behind the site she has created is thrilling.
“The purpose of the 'festival environment' of this venue is to allow people to feel like they have left their lives behind for a day. We want to provide a truly immersive experience with colorful art, inspiring music, great food and beautiful SC nature," she said.
This venue is also giving back to the community through jobs. About 300 seasonal jobs will be put on the market, and a job fair will be held in the near future.
Yonder Field is also partnering with local restaurants and state-known cuisine favorites. A food truck village will be available on the grounds with a wide variety of food and drink options.
The waste from the concerts will be recycled or used as fertilizer. Yonder Field will be working with partners such as SuperSod to make sure waste isn’t just placed in landfills. Several acres of the site will be set aside for the community and farming as well.
William “Rocky” Roquemore, Walt Disney World’s golf course landscape architect, designed the venue to appreciate the relaxing, natural environment.
“We needed to locate the venue in an area that was not in a city environment or residential area. In our eyes, the architecture of this venue is nature,” White said.
Additional information can be found at www.yonderfield.com, including a video showing off the design of the venue and its features.