PEORIA, Ill. — The Peoria Civic Center sold out 23 shows in 2019.
During a board meeting Thursday, Rik Edgar, General Manager of the Peoria Civic Center, said it was a fantastic year for the facility.
“Not only with sold out shows, but seeing the community come back,” Edgar said. “Knowing that we were able to entertain 650,000 guests, it was a really great year. We are happy the Civic Center authority has given us the opportunity to continue the momentum.”
Last year, the Civic Center hosted 65 ticketed events between the theater and arena.
“Which is more than double what we had the previous year,” Edgar said.
Big names are heading to the Civic Center next year including KISS, Reba McEntire, Luke Combs, and more.
“We have a great variety of events. Our comedy has blown up,” Edgar said.
Edgar said it is positive to have a variety of performers to come to the area.
“We love country, we love rock, we love comedy,” he said. “Our Broadway series has been doing great. It’s great because we’re seeing so many new faces and different people at every show, so we really are the hub or the epicenter of not only entertainment, but quite honestly the economic impact downtown.”
Looking ahead to the rest of 2020, Edgar said promoters are looking at Peoria as a place to play again.
“I’m just really happy for the support we’ve been getting from the city leadership,” Edgar said. “And most importantly our staff, they work very hard to bring these things to the community.”
