Promenade Concert
Preserved but no longer current.
A type of concert in which a considerable portion of the audience stand in an open area in the concert-room floor. Promenade Concerts (Proms, as they are familiarly called) were started at Drury Lane and Covent Garden in 1840, but it was not until 1895 that they became a feature of London musical life under the conductorship of Sir Henry Wood (1869-1944) at the Queen's Hall.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Promenade Concert” mean?
A type of concert in which a considerable portion of the audience stand in an open area in the concert-room floor. Promenade Concerts (Proms, as they are familiarly called) were started at Drury Lane and Covent Garden in 1840, but it was not until 1895 that they became a feature of London musical life under the conductorship of Sir Henry Wood (1869-1944) at the Queen's Hall.
Is “Promenade Concert” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.