Inaugurated by Aaron Copland at the 1957 Ojai Music Festival, Libbey Bowl has hosted many of the world’s most influential artists. In addition to serving as the home of the internationally acclaimed Ojai Music Festival, Libbey Bowl has housed important community and cultural events including the Storytelling Festival, Illusions Theatre, Fourth of July Celebration, Memorial Day Celebration, Mexican Fiesta, and many others.
Originally built in the Edward Drummond Libbey Civic Center Park during from 1952 to 1957, the shell was designed by Austen Pierpont and Roy Wilson. It became the Libbey Bowl in 1980 when the Civic Center Park was donated to the City of Ojai and renamed Libbey Park.
By 2008, Libbey Bowl had suffered from over 50 years of wood rot, termite damage, and heavy use which proved irreparable and the Bowl was in danger of being condemned. In the fall of 2008, the City of Ojai and the Ojai Music Festival began working together to build a new Libbey Bowl. Ojai architect, the late David Bury, was hired to create a design that evoked the aesthetics, intimacy, and harmony with nature that characterized the original Bowl, as well as to make critical design improvements backstage and for audiences.
NV5 was contracted to provide theatre consultation for the project. The scope of work included development of a seating plan for 968 audience members, planning for the stage platform and backstage areas, a theatrical lighting system, theatrical rigging, including a ring of perimeter sound and lighting towers, and a network of underground ducts for temporary installation of power, signal, and sound system cables.
