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InTune

Decking the (Symphony) Halls

Learn all it takes to make the holidays extra festive at Symphony Hall!

Music is the star of the show for Holiday Pops, but the magic would not be the same without the wonderful decorations that transform the Hall. You may not be aware of all the time and effort that it takes to make the Hall festive, and that it all happens with the help of the Boston Symphony Association of Volunteers.

Holiday decorations are all stored out in Tanglewood in massive crates. When the time comes, they are loaded onto trucks and transported to Boston, where they are delivered to the Hall on the day before Thanksgiving, ready to be unpacked after the weekend. The house crew handles the auditorium interior, but everywhere all the other public spaces are decorated by volunteers.

The process takes two days to complete, finishing on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Twenty volunteers unpack the decorations and place them following a time-honored plan that adorns the staircases, box office, bars, functions room, lobbies, and corridors. The process is never tedious, but it is exact as volunteers must take care to avoid emergency systems, like the sprinklers and the beam fire sensors. On the second day, a smaller group of about five volunteers returns to review what has been put up and make minor adjustments, including fluffing the garland to make sure that it does not look flat after almost a year in storage.

A decorated wreath hangs on a gold wall of a hallway in Symphony Hall, with crates and bins scattered around the floor
Open doors into the auditorium of Symphony Hall are draped in garland, as storage bins sit in the doorway and inside seats are still being set up.
An overhead shot of the floor of Symphony Hall, filled with circular tables with folded chairs leaning against them, in the midst of being set up

With the decorating finalized and ready, the doors to Symphony Hall will open for another season of Holiday Pops, and you are certainly in for a treat not just for the ears, but for all the senses. New this year – you will be welcomed in the Hall by the scent of fresh evergreen, and will get to admire ten artificial Christmas trees that are donated yearly by Amibus, a global company specializing in interior landscaping, miles of decorated garland, beautiful lightning and everyone’s favorite, red hats crowning the alcove statues.

A view of the stage of Symphony Hall from the balcony, filled with red and gold lighting, as the orchestra sits onstage and tunes and the audience sits at tables on the main floor
A close up of a stone bust statue of a man that now has a Santa hat on its head
An overheard shot of a stairwell in Symphony Hall, highlighting the decorated garland wrapped around the banisters all the way down to the bottom level
A view of the decorated stage of Symphony Hall, which has a projection of a fireplace on the back wall of it, as members of the orchestra take their seats

Holiday decorations are visible in Symphony Hall throughout the season. The whole undertaking is estimated to cost over $70,000, which shows just how much goes into making the Holiday Pops more than just a concert, but a special experience that holds a special place in Boston’s holiday traditions and brings families, friends, and music lovers together.

We are so grateful to the Boston Association of Volunteers for everything they do to help ready the Hall for Holiday Pops! For more information on how you can get involved, visit the BSAV website or email bsav@bso.org.

Four smiling volunteers stand beside a decorated Christmas tree in a hallway of Symphony Hall
Members of the BSAV during this year's Hall decorating.