It appears the first public performance at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts will be Rhiannon Giddens and Friends on Thursday, Sept. 2 at 8 p.m.

This is not the grand opening, but it could be termed a soft opening like many restaurants have where they open for a few days prior to holding the grand opening celebration.

The grand opening of The Tanger was scheduled for Friday, March 20, 2020, but was postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions.  One consequence of The Tanger having never been open for public events is that The Tanger was not eligible for COVID relief money.

But now a week out, the Tanger Center for the Performing Arts is planning on holding its first public performance with Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi.

Giddens, a MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient was the co-founder of the Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops and she has been nominated for six additional Grammys for her work as a soloist and collaborator.

Giddens has had numerous previous Greensboro appearances including performing at the 2015 National Folk Festival and sold out concerts at the Carolina Theatre in 2016 and 2017.  Giddens both performed at and served as a guest curator for the 2018 NC Folk Festival.

Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said in a press release, “We are thrilled Greensboro native and Grammy Award winner Rhiannon Giddens will be coming home to play the Tanger Center.  Rhiannon is an incredibly talented artist and we’ve seen her mesmerize huge crowds in recent years at the National Folk Festival and the NC Folk Festival. It will be amazing to see her take the stage in our beautiful new state-of-the-art performing arts center to perform for her hometown fans.”

Those attending the performance will be required to wear masks and provide proof of being fully vaccinated at least two weeks prior to the event or have received a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of the event and provide proof of the negative result to security prior to entering the venue.