Entertainment giant Live Nation says it will build a temporary, open-air music venue with a capacity for some 50,000 people on the grounds of the former Downsview airport in north Toronto.
The new Rogers Stadium will hosts its first concerts in June 2025, according to Live Nation executive Erik Hoffman.
“This was a natural response to an unprecedented level of stadium-level artists on the road today. We now have another home for them to perform,” he said at a news conference Thursday alongside Premier Doug Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow.
There will be an emphasis on catering to the diverse communities of the GTA, and acts will include some of the biggest names in K-Pop, Afrobeats, and Latin and Punjabi music, Hoffman said.
He positioned the new venue as a major upgrade from the current stage at Downsview, which has a capacity of 40,000 but a less-than-sterling reputation for audience experience.
Hoffman said the new venue will feel like a premium music festival. A spokesperson for Live Nation declined to share the expected cost of the project.
Ford said the stadium, which will operate seasonally, will be a huge boost to the province’s arts, culture and tourism sector.
The 150-hectare Downsview Airport Lands are currently in the early phases of a three decades-long residential and commercial redevelopment plan led by Northcrest Developments.
The new stadium will be operate for several years before the land is turned into neighbourhoods intended to house some 55,000 people, the developer says.
More to come.