Symphony Hall
Holiday Pops at Symphony Hall
For many Bostonian's the Holiday Pops is a popular annual tradition, this year marks the 43rd year of celebrating Christmas music. Tickets are extremely hard to get, and usually sell out within hours of going on sale.
The show features many popular Christmas songs, as Keith Lockhart conducts the orchestra and encourages the crowd to sing-a-long. The crowd favorite was the 12 days of Christmas and the singers add a bit of humor to the classic song.
We sat on the first balcony near the stage and enjoyed the music and watching Keith Lockhart. We highly recommend sitting between rows 1 - 20 on the first balcony. The nice thing about the balcony is that kids can see the performance because there's no obstruction view. If you sit at the tables on the orchestra floor you can't see the all the orchestra clearly.
Camera and recording equipment are prohibited in Symphony Hall during concerts. However, there were plenty of guests that were taking pictures of the performance using their smartphones.
View from the First Balcony, Seat 10
Fun Facts about the Boston Symphony Hall
- Located at 301 Massachusetts Ave
- Symphony Hall opened on October 15, 1900 with a performace of Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis"
- The Building was Designed by McKim, Mead and White
- McKim, Mead and White also designed Boston Public Library five years earlier
- Symphony Hall was the first American Hall to have scientific acoustic planning.
- Harvard Professor Wallace C. Sabine did the acoustical research
- President Eisenhower spoke at the National Council of Catholic Women in 1954
- 1,000 Navy Inducts were sworn in at Symphony Hall in 1942
- Holiday Pops started in 1973 and was first called "A Pops Christmas Party."
- Arthur Fiedler was the first conductor to lead Holiday Pops.
- The hall has served other types of events such as civic observances as various conventions, political meetings, commencements, inaugurations, religious worship, debates, flower shows, fashion shows, automobile shows, ball and banquets.
Event Parking at the Prudential Garage
The Holiday Pops is considered a Special Event and qualifies for discount parking. This means that the Prudential garage is the best place to park for the Holiday Pops.
The parking situation at the Prudential has recently changed to now include automatic checkout. I inquired to the Prudential parking staff on how to take advantage of the discount parking with the new changes.
This is the response I received:
Make sure when you exit the garage to call over the attendant to get your parking discount. Failure to do so will result in a higher parking rate.
Prudental Garage Special Event Rate
Valid for evening and weekend events only, at Symphony Hall, Berklee, Huntington Theater, Jordan Hall
Special $18.00 Event Rate
Enter after 2:00 p.m. Mon-Fri
Enter after 7:00 a.m. Weekends
Exit by 3:00 a.m.
Customer must surrender ticket event stub at garage exit
Symphony Hall is a 5-minute walk from the Prudential Center.