Venue View: ICON Events + DaDa Gastropub

By Carter Newcomb-Weiland

Executive Chef & Partner

ICON Events + DaDa Gastropub

Sioux Falls has a deep-rooted passion for performance art. Theatre, music and various entertainment has found a home here.  We happen to be positioned in a place where access to touring acts, big and small, is a possibility and is genuinely supported by the community. We are fortunate enough to retain a large community of passionate artists and performers, with a growing rate of new and seasoned talent. As a small-business owner and an advocate for the arts, this widespread passion keeps us going.

(Submitted Photo)

Fourteen months ago, after being closed down for six months, countless canceled events and a world completely upside down, we made a difficult decision.  What ICON needed was to re-position ourselves from a business that was solely based on events, touring bands and live performances. With little to no business on the horizon, we took a step back and thought long and hard about how we wanted to write our future. 

We decided to build on our decade-long reputation of Parker’s Bistro and use that as the backbone for our next chapter. In October 2020, we opened DaDa Gastropub, our creative twist on “Dine, Drink and Entertainment.” We were fortunate enough to have a staff of talented individuals, motivated to build something out of the unknown. We put them to work painting, building, re-organizing and rebranding. Dada is a nod to an art movement born in the early 20th Century. It was a way for artists to challenge what was known and expected. For us, it created a perpetual pathway to create our own ideas and identity. Combining our passions of hospitality and entertainment—DaDa was born.

We offer a diverse menu of food and drinks, serving Tuesday-Saturday. We host live music every Tuesday and have recently re-engaged our monthly event programming. We are now actively launching brunch, themed parties, various forms of theatre and live entertainment.

We have been given the great honor of being an established business in our vastly growing and developing downtown community. In March 2022, ICON will celebrate its 10th year in business. In our decade of service to the community, we are thankful to have been a part of many special events. With every passing week we continue inching ourselves closer and closer to providing our community with what we love—entertainment and a quality experience. With all that’s new for us, it is important our newest identity continues to reflect our past.

We will continue on. We are excited about the future of our public and private events and establishing new partnerships within our community. Seeing new businesses, new venues, new acts and new talent surface, it encourages our personal growth. The community is very supportive, and we are so grateful. As a father, with a nine-year-old very passionate in performance art and expressing herself, it is heartwarming to know that the community I grew up in and have had continued support from is fostering that of our own kids and their future.