I'm up for a bit of this, incidentally.

Where does the Promenade part come from? I've seen these talked about on here before...are they a big deal?

And they're all right now, in the dog days of summer? Continuous EIGHT WEEK CONCERT! Like 24/7 continuous or just 8 shows a week continuous?

You know, thinking about it, American high school proms are generally kind of awful, probably without exception. Like the cheesiest wedding reception you've ever been to turned up to 11. But I went to two when I was in high school and I don't regret it. They weren't too awful, really, and even if they were, I'd be glad I went. It's just something you've got to do.

Maybe the BBC proms aren't so different.

Tsk, OTF, no-one answered the Americans questions.

So, Inca, the 'Promenade' was a literal description at one point. Back in the 19th century "promenade concerts" would be held, generally outdoors, were people would listen whilst strolling around dressed in their finery, socialising and generally being posh. These events, in fact, may well be where the American prom derives its name from.
A guy called Henry Wood decided to start a season of such concerts in London which somewhat subverted the type as tickets were sold cheaply to the general public, with no expectations that people would dress up.

The BBC Proms (the Beeb took over organising them from Wood sometime back in the 1930's) have retained this more informal vibe compared to other classical concerts, most especially via the vestiges of 'promming'. Though people don't tend to wander around during the concerts anymore or socialise, there are a significant number of standing tickets for each concert that are sold cheaply on the door (£5/head).
£5 is incredibly cheap when you consider that most of the highest profile conductors/orchestras/soloists have played a prom at some point. I've seen quite a few names (most of which shamefully I can't directly place) but the ones I can are Chicago Symphony conducted by George Solti and Daniel Barenboim with the West-Eastern Divan, the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by someone famous (not Gergiev) and Gergiev conducting someone (probably the London Symphony Orchestra).

They are a big deal, though some of the concerts are bigger deals than others.


Reed, no, not 24/7 continuous. Just one or two shows a day for eight weeks solid. And the dog days of summer is a good point, because even though London doesn't tend to get that hot, you can't have active air-conditioning in a concert hall due to the noise. So if you happen upon a hot day it can get a bit uncomfortable.

The BBC Proms are very different from the American high school version. It's not something you've got to do, in fact the vast majority of the British public would never consider going. And they are not cheesy, the last night (or 'Last Night' as it's almost a formal title) excepted. They form a high class music festival.

Wyatt, and others. Let's fix a date.

I didn't divine that it was an all classical music thing.

Still, no air conditioning could suck. Outdoors would be better.

Hey Janik, I don't think the rest of us were being silent out of discourtesy! Your potted history was new to me too. Thanks for it.

Tubbs: next week and the week after form my window; after that I'm on me holidays.

Reed, they do do a Proms in the Park on one of the nights. The problem is, you can't guarantee the weather in Blighty and a classical concert is about the music far more than the atmosphere.
Some towns do put the last night of the proms on screens in their centres - Hull last year had it on during the freedom festival which was great.

Oh and count me in on a proms trip by the way.