Well, that was quick. Just one day after we saw a brand new, colorful stage in the middle of the Apple Park campus, we now know why it’s there. And, surprise, surprise, it’s for an upcoming event.

Thanks to a report from Cult of Mac, we know that the new stage is meant for a party on Friday, May 17. The stage was actually designed by Jony Ive, and it’s meant to not only promote the formal opening of Apple Park, but also Apple’s co-founder, Steve Jobs. The colorful tubes that serve as an arch over the stage took months of design planning. Ive worked with a dedicated concert staging company to bring it to reality.

The archway is made from 30 individual machined components. That makes it easy to take down and put back together as necessary. There are 25,000 parts that go together to bring this particular stage to life. If you want to see it again, or you missed it the first time, you can check out the original drone video just below.

As for why Ive and the others went with a rainbow color scheme, it’s meant to invoke the original Apple logo. Ive says it’s “keenly felt in many places”.

“There is the resonance with the rainbow logo that’s been part of our identity for many years. The rainbow is also a positive and joyful expression of some of our inclusion values and I think that one of the primary reasons the idea resonated so immediately and so profoundly with us was the form — the connection from an aesthetic design point of view. A semi-circle relates so beautifully and naturally to the form of the ring.”

The full interview is available through the source link below. It’s definitely worth a read.