If you are looking for a unique venue that gives off the best party vibes to celebrate your love, these Live Nation venues in Minneapolis may be the perfect fit for your wedding or event! Sandy Vogel, their Director of Special Event Sales provided us with a few resources to put together this blog filled with insight into their venues. We are excited to share these details with you about Varsity Theater, The Fillmore, and Uptown Theater!
How old is your building, what is its history and when did you start doing events?
They have three venues!
- Varsity Theater was built in 1915 as a vaudeville showplace. It went through various remodels with different purposes, and recently was returned to the public for events in 2019.
- The Fillmore was built much more recently in February of 2020. It is named after the 1012 music hall venue in San Francisco that became known for its rock shows. The Fillmore in Minneapolis has been hosting events ever since its opening!
- Uptown Theater was originally known as the Lagoon Theater when it opened in 1916. Unfortunately after many years in business, the space was evicted in 2021 due to unpaid rent from the impacts of the pandemic. After two and a half years of working on the space, it is officially renovated and taking events as of June 2023!
What do you think the best feature of your venue is?
When we asked Sandy this question, she exclaimed that their venues are not boring! The venues are unique and their production capabilities are off the chart! Looking for examples? A snow machine, hazer, customizable lighting/sound options, disco ball, and AV capabilities are all included in the venue price. If you need more convincing, check out this video of their spaces in action!
What do you think is the biggest challenge of working in your space, and what are some best practices for it?
Sandy felt that with the dynamic of their spaces, there truly isn’t any challenge that they can’t work with. That being said, if you have a big idea for your wedding or event, we are happy to connect you with the Live Nation team to see if it’s possible!
What do you think is the perfect number of guests for your venue, assuming everyone will be sitting at a table at one time?
One thing you need to know about these venues is that they are BIG. If you’re planning a large event and you’re worried the guest count won’t fit in your venue, these spaces may be just what you’re looking for. See a breakdown of the capacity of each venue below:
- Uptown Theater: Up to 1,688 guests
- The Fillmore: 25 to 1,800 guests
- Varsity Theater: Up to 750 guests
What is the most interesting thing someone has done at a wedding at your venue?
Events at these venues are like no other, so really everything is interesting! When having to choose one thing, Sandy settled on the fact that no one does first dances like they do. With moving lights, hazers, snow machines, cryo jets… your first dance is going to be one to remember!
Do you require a professional planner or day of coordinator at your venue? Why or why not? If you don’t have one, or have one that doesn’t do a good job, how does it affect you as a venue and the wedding as a whole?
These venues do not require a professional planner or day of coordinator as they have a logistics manager from load in to load out at each of their venues. As professional event planners ourselves, we know that at a super fun and unique venue like these, a coordinator will be incredibly helpful in ensuring that you don’t have to worry about a thing on the day of your wedding or event. If you’re wondering what the difference is between a venue’s Manager versus hiring your own Event Manager, this blog is helpful in breaking down those differences.
Thank you to Sandy for sharing her insight and various detailed articles of information with us. We hope that this has been helpful in your venue search! If you are looking at having an event at a Live Nation venue or need a planner for your wedding at one of these spaces, we would love to chat! Send us a message to get the conversation started.
Creatively written by: Hope Konkol
