Corbin Arena wins Best Live Venue Award

The Arena in Corbin has been named the best place across 13 state to catch a live show.

Arena Director Kristi Balla was presented with the Best Live Venue Award at the 2022 Appalachian Arts and Entertainment Awards last Saturday at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg.

“We just kind of screamed and were excited,” Balla said of the group of Arena employees who, along with Balla and Corbin Tourism Director Maggy Monhollen, attended the ceremony.

“You hope at some point people will recognize the hard work that you have done,” Balla said.

Balla said it is unknown who nominated The Arena for the award.

The nominees had to be from the Appalachian Region, which includes: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee Virginia and West Virginia.

Once online voting pared down each category to the top three, a panel of qualified judges selected the winners.

Balla will celebrate six years since she took over as Arena Director in August.

“It is all kind of a blur,” Balla said of her tenure noting that she spends so much time at the venue doing everything from booking and marketing to finances and updating the sign and website.

“I think it is a bigger accomplishment than what some people realize,” Balla said about the success the venue has seen noting that her staff is four full-time people with two working in maintenance and housekeeping.

Like everything else in the entertainment industry, Balla said The Arena must continue to evolve to remain relevant.

After previously hosting acts, such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hank Williams, Jr., Flo-Rida, Kane Brown and adding the 13^th Region Basketball Tournament and one of the state wrestling tournaments to the schedule, Balla has scheduled Snoop Dogg to play Corbin on May 7.

“We have a couple of really big concert announcements in the next few weeks,” Balla said.

“Other venues in the area don’t do those things,” Balla said of hosting rap and hip hop concerts which have drawn some of the biggest crowds.

As to what she would like to do to improve the venue, Balla said she would like to add more parking and continue to work on facelifting the venue.

“Next up is corporate sponsorships,” Balla said noting that adding those would help with revenue. “If you go to any venue, there are sponsorships everywhere.”

Balla said The Arena is well on its way to having more than 100,000 people come through the doors in 2022 noting that it has already smashed the 2021 attendance record in the first quarter of the year.

“We are rolling and it is only going to get better,” Balla said.