10,000-capacity Freedom Mobile Arch amphitheatre opens, ushering a new era for PNE
As rain fell across Vancouver early Friday afternoon, media began to gather for a preview of the newly completed Freedom Mobile Arch — the opening of the new covered outdoor amphitheatre at the PNE fairgrounds in Hastings Park.
The weather served as an early demonstration of the landmark’s purpose: providing a venue for major concerts, performances, festivals, and community events that can continue comfortably, regardless of the forecast.
Major construction work on the project first began just over two years ago in May 2024, and it is now complete, on schedule, just in time for its role as the centrepiece of the 28-day official Vancouver FIFA Fan Festival coinciding with the FIFA World Cup being held across North America. While the public can enter the fan festival for free, the amphitheatre will be used as the event’s premium ticketed experience for live match screenings and major concerts. The setup process for the fan festival is well underway ahead of its opening on Thursday, June 11, when the tournament kicks off in Mexico City.
As for tonight, the Freedom Mobile Arch will host its grand opening celebration, marking the very first official public event at the venue with Canadian singer Jann Arden and a theatrical production involving over 200 performers.
“This is a truly remarkable day as we get ready to open this incredible venue. As a more than century-old institution, there have been many, many significant moments in our history, but today really signals the start of a new era for the PNE, and for how we’re going to continue to touch the hearts of British Columbians moving forward,” Shelley Frost, president and CEO of the PNE, told media during the press conference and preview.
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile president and CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau (left) and PNE president and CEO Shelley Frost (right); Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
While the venue has been built in time for Vancouver’s role as a host city for the FIFA World Cup, its planning began long before. It was included in the City of Vancouver’s 2010-approved Hastings/PNE master plan for long-term implementation, received Vancouver City Council’s early approval in 2019 to proceed with detailed planning, was first publicly reported by Daily Hive Urbanized in 2019, and saw another City Council approval milestone in June 2021 — a full year before FIFA announced Vancouver as a host city for the tournament.
This is the first permanent major entertainment venue built at Hastings Park in nearly six decades, since the construction of the Pacific Coliseum in 1968. It also aims to help restore some of the PNE’s lost revenue-generating capacity and event-hosting capabilities following the demolition of many former fairgrounds buildings and functional event spaces in the late 2000s to make way for a lake, green space, and other landscaping.
The scale of the Freedom Mobile Arch becomes apparent long before visitors reach their seats. The structure is impossible to miss on the Hastings Park skyline.
Rising above the amphitheatre in a sweeping curve, the massive roof stretches across the venue like a canopy, creating a sheltered gathering space while remaining open to the surrounding landscape and North Shore mountain views.
There are 60 mass-timber arches arranged in six barrel-vaulted segments, reaching a height of up to 82 ft. (25 metres) and spanning 344 ft. (105 metres) between buttress tips.
From beneath, the exposed timber ribs fan outward from the stage in a series of graceful arches, drawing the eye across the breadth of the amphitheatre and emphasizing the structure’s sheer size. The warm wood tones contrast with the concrete, giving the venue a distinctly West Coast character.
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
The challenge for the design was not creating a sense of openness, but providing weather protection without sacrificing the outdoor character of the venue.
The roof appears to float above the seating bowl, framing views of the North Shore Mountains and allowing natural light to filter through the open sides. The result is a venue that feels simultaneously expansive and intimate — large enough to host major concerts and events, yet connected to the landscape that surrounds it.
Friday’s rain provided an early demonstration of the design’s practical purpose. As showers moved through the area, the roof sheltered the seating and stage while preserving the open-air experience.
The venue accommodates about 10,000 spectators, including 6,000 within fixed seats — with ample walking space between rows, fixed seats equipped with cupholders, and some bank seating areas with tables — directly under the roof’s weather protection, and space for another 4,000 people within an informal setting at the back of the venue on a grassy sloped lawn exposed to the elements, known as the BCLC Backyard viewing zone. There are flexible configurations and scalable use options for events as small as 1,500 people.
More than a striking architectural landmark, the Freedom Mobile Arch was built to extend the usability of the site and provide a venue capable of hosting events in a region where weather is often unpredictable — especially with Hastings Park being in relatively close proximity to the North Shore mountains and their orographic effect.
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
This new state-of-the-art venue replaces the previous dilapidated open-air amphitheatre, which was intended to be temporary when it was first constructed in the 1960s.
Not only was that former venue — previously located on the same footprint as the new venue — in very poor condition, but it also completely lacked equipment, facilities, and infrastructure, requiring very expensive temporary buildouts for events to use the space.
In stark contrast, the Freedom Mobile Arch has a permanent large built-in stage, which is attached to a three-storey back-of-house building with green rooms and washrooms for performers, a crew kitchen, production storage, and additional support areas. There are also built-in video screens and lighting and audio systems.
Other major features that no longer require temporary installations include a combined total of nearly 100 universal/all-gender single-stall toilets and communal hand-washing areas — rather than porta-potties and washroom trailers — located on the north and south sides of the venue, with the south-side washrooms located on an underground level.
There are also three large permanent food and beverage concession pavilion buildings — one on the north side of the venue, one on the south side, and one at the amphitheatre’s new entrance plaza from the core of the fairgrounds, also on the south side.
Additionally, the rear of the venue has six box suites, each accommodating dozens of people and equipped with induction hot plates, fridges, a sink, and a private washroom. These suites are built into the large concrete retaining wall that was constructed not only to limit sound bleed from the venue into the surrounding area, but also to reduce noise coming into the venue from the rides at Playland amusement park, located immediately adjacent to the amphitheatre.
There are also four “Sky Box” suites — two each located at the northeast and southeast concrete buttresses that support the roof structure — that can each accommodate even larger private groups.
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Altogether, the venue’s features will enable the PNE to attract many more concerts and events throughout a wider period of the year and pursue higher-calibre international acts, which is already evident in the lineup of musicians and singers announced for the PNE Fair in late Summer 2026.
From the outset, the Freedom Mobile Arch project spearheaded by the PNE was intended to be a long-term revenue generator for the municipally-owned, non-profit organization that operates and maintains Hastings Park’s venues and open green spaces, Playland, and annual major events at the site such as the PNE Fair.
With this package of permanent back-of-house and front-of-house modern amenities, facilities, equipment, and infrastructure — all under a highly attractive landmark structure that provides weather protection to extend the venue’s usability over a much longer period of the year — the Freedom Mobile Arch is projected to host 75 shows per year with a cumulative annual attendance of 340,000, including 24 commercial shows, 22 community shows, 14 corporate shows, and 15 PNE Fair shows. In contrast, the old amphitheatre held just five events per year outside of the PNE Fair period.
“There will be performances of every size, and we do expect that there will be a significant number — like we’re talking hundreds of thousands of people who come through this venue annually,” said Frost today, adding that “the economic impact is going to be widespread” in terms of the number of new jobs created on the site and increased tourism from people coming to see high-calibre acts and renowned artists the venue can now better attract.
“We also fully expect there is a tremendous amount of excitement about this venue in the world of promoters and artist management and in the entire industry about coming to potentially play at this venue. So we expect a full roster of great shows of every size and every genre to come through, and the business case will be more than enough to pay the venue back and for the PNE to continue to thrive in the future.”
The built-in permanent features of the Freedom Mobile Arch also greatly benefit non-profit organizations and other smaller cultural entities that would otherwise find building outdoor event venues from scratch highly cost-prohibitive.
“It’s not only in the creative and the cultural sector, where there are going to be more opportunities for every kind of arts and culture to come and perform in an incredible venue,” said Frost.
“We wanted to build the kind of venue that had plug-and-play infrastructure so that local arts, culture, and community groups could also participate by just coming and plugging into what was already there.”
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre, as seen on June 5, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)
Frost did acknowledge the cost of the project has risen considerably since the start of construction two years ago, when it was pegged at $107.5 million. In July 2024, City Council provided the project with a $30-million contingency fund to account for both unexpected costs and any potential need to accelerate construction to meet the FIFA World Cup deadline.
Then, in May 2025, City Council approved a further budget increase of $46.2 million, bringing the total cost to $184 million. Frost has indicated that the cost of the project has not increased further since then.
She highlighted that during more rigorous geotechnical testing on the site, it was discovered there was 60 times more water underground than expected. The venue was designed by Revery Architecture and built by EllisDon.
Hastings Park once had streams running through it toward Burrard Inlet that were later buried, and the PNE is planning to daylight one stream immediately west of the amphitheatre site.
The allure of the amphitheatre’s design also helped attract a naming-rights sponsor. Canadian telecommunications company Freedom Mobile — owned by Quebecor — will use the venue as a physical platform to increase the company’s exposure in the West Coast market. The value of the naming-rights agreement, announced in May 2024, was not disclosed, but the deal will span 10 years beginning after the FIFA World Cup. During the tournament, the venue will not use the Freedom Mobile Arch name due to FIFA’s sponsorship rules.
“We’re certainly happy to be associated with this really great architecture. This is one of the most interesting things I’ve seen for a while. And it’s even more compelling to us and to me that it’s associated also with what culture and community is all about,” said Pierre Karl Peladeau, president and CEO of Freedom Mobile, during today’s media preview.
“We’ve been associated with financing and participating with what cultural events are for, and this venue here is probably the best example we can do.”