NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Both the legendary Grand Ole Opry House and historic Ryman Auditorium will reopen their doors to the public for daytime tours beginning Friday, June 26. Backstage tours of the Grand Ole Opry House will reopen for a weekend run Friday, June 26 – Sunday, June 28 at 10 a.m. before beginning daily tours on July 2, for an intimate look at the people, places, and stories behind the show that made country music famous. Self-guided tours of the Mother Church will be available Tuesday-Sunday from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., offering guests another way to experience one of the most active and celebrated venues in modern music.
Together with parent company Ryman Hospitality Properties (“the Company”), best-in-class safety procedures and training are being implemented at both venues to help promote guest safety. Both Ryman Auditorium and the Grand Ole Opry House will strictly adhere to operating plans developed with the Company’s wellness partner Vanderbilt Health that meet or exceed CDC and local health department safety guidelines.
Guests can expect the following at both locations:
- To ensure safe social distancing, both venues are operating with limited capacity in the building.
- Staff will be required to wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and receive temperature checks before each shift. That means guests will see staff in face masks during their visit.
- Health screening questions will be asked of each guest before their tour.
- Guests are required to wear masks. If they do not have a mask one will be provided for them.
- Backstage tours of the Ryman will not be offered at this time.
- Guests will be positioned at least 6 feet apart while entering and exiting.
- There will be hand sanitizer stations throughout the building for guests to use as needed.
- Cleaning protocols and precautions have been elevated above the recommended requirements with proactive sanitary and disinfectant measures. These protocols include dedicated staff members for frequent cleaning of high touchpoint areas.
Focusing on the history of rock ‘n’ roll music at the Ryman, the Turn It Up! Ryman’s Rock Legacy exhibit will make its debut when the Ryman reopens for daily tours. The new exhibition, which will run for three years, showcases Ryman Auditorium’s rich and rockin’ cross-genre past that extends far beyond country music, the exhibit features artifacts from Elvis Presley, Peter Frampton, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, John Mellencamp, Wilco, Neil Young, Steve Miller Band, Grace Potter, Drive-by Truckers, Bruce Springsteen and more. Tours of the Ryman begin with a stop in the state-of-the-art Soul of Nashville experience. Through this custom-built theater, guests experience a magical journey complete with holograms, special effects, multidimensional film images and archival footage to bring the history of the Ryman to life.
The Grand Ole Opry daytime backstage tours include an immersive film in the custom-built theater, The Circle Room, which opened last summer. Hosted by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, the film experience takes fans on an emotional, heartfelt journey through the eyes of the artists who play the world-famous stage and features priceless archival footage of over 100 artists, country’s most iconic songs, and concert-like special effects. Opry members Brooks and Yearwood share some of the Opry’s most powerful moments and lead a chorus of dozens of past and present Opry artists—Roy Acuff, Trace Adkins, Patsy Cline, Vince Gill, Dolly Parton, Minnie Pearl, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban among them—in the Opry’s anthemic “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.”
Night-time activities available to the public at both venues remain paused and will resume in accordance with Nashville’s Roadmap to Reopening. For more information on daytime tours or to plan your visit, please visit ryman.com and opry.com.
About Ryman Auditorium:
A National Historic Landmark, Ryman Auditorium was built by Captain Thomas G. Ryman in 1892. Ryman Auditorium is a 12-time winner of the prestigious Pollstar Theatre of the Year award. The historic venue is well-known as the Mother Church of Country Music and is the most famous former home of Grand Ole Opry (1943-1974). The Ryman has been featured in numerous film and television projects including Coal Miner’s Daughter, The Johnny Cash Show, American Idol, Nashville, and more. While offering a diverse lineup and thriving concert schedule (with over 200 shows per year), the venue is also open for daytime tours year-round. A coveted under-play for many, her iconic stage has seen the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Mumford and Sons, and Tom Petty in recent years. Ryman Auditorium is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE: RHP), a Nashville-based REIT that also owns and operates the Grand Ole Opry, 650 AM WSM and Ole Red. For more information, visit ryman.com.
About Grand Ole Opry:
To plan an Opry visit, call (800) SEE-OPRY or visit opry.com. The Opry presents the best in country music live every week from Nashville, Tenn. The Opry can be heard at opry.com and wsmonline.com, Opry and WSM mobile apps, SiriusXM, and its flagship home, 650 AM-WSM. The Grand Ole Opry is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE: RHP). For more information, visit opry.com.
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Link to Ryman press kit: http://bit.ly/rymanpresskit
Media Contacts for Ryman Auditorium
Ebie McFarland | Joseph Conner
Essential Broadcast Media
ebie@ebmediapr.com | joseph@ebmediapr.com
(615) 327-3259
Shannon Sullivan | Alyson Stokes
Ryman Hospitality Properties
ssullivan@rymanhp.com | AStokes@rymanhp.com
615-316-6727
Media Contacts for Grand Ole Opry
Jessie Schmidt | Dixie Owen
Schmidt Relations
Jessie@schmidtpr.com | Dixie@schmidtpr.com
615-491-7988 | 615-440-6171