Saratoga Performing Arts Center

In early February 1961, Albany newspaperman Duane La Fleche noted a wire service report about a group hoping to entice the New York Philharmonic to make Stowe, Vermont its summer residence. La Fleche proposed that the group stay in New York State and perform in Saratoga Springs. Local civic, cultural, and legislative leaders, who had previously considered a Saratoga Arts Center an interesting possibility, began to design the facility. Within a week, they held their first meeting; within a month they were focusing on Saratoga Spa State Park as the site, had won the support of State Conservation Commissioner Harold Wilm, and began discussions with both the New York Philharmonic and New York City Ballet. By summer 1963, contributions from Rockefeller Brothers Fund and New York State supplemented community support to create Saratoga Performing Arts Center. In June 1964, Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller mounted a bulldozer to break the first yard of ground. More than 410 workdays followed: 300 workers clocked 136,000 hours to complete the 5,103-seat, 10-story amphitheater (original layout of the venue did not include a festival lawn; the lawn, which holds 20,000, was added later). Harry Belafonte was the first non-classical performer to perform at SPAC, in 1967. Then on September 1, 1968, the Doors gave a performance at SPAC, which began a tradition of bringing top pop and rock acts to the amphitheater including Jackson Browne (who recorded "Rosie" backstage in 1977), Whitney Houston (who filmed her televised MTV VMA performance of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody", as well as the official music video for "Didn't We Almost Have It All" on stage in 1987). Other notable pop-rock acts that have performed at SPAC include Chicago, The Who, Bon Jovi, Phish, Pretenders, Santana, Olivia Newton-John, Tina Turner, Guns N' Roses, Coldplay, Aretha Franklin, O.A.R., Rush, Demi Lovato, Kiss, Dave Matthews Band, Kings of Leon, blink-182, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Aerosmith, Toby Keith, Train, Maroon 5, Britney Spears, Ray LaMontagne, Prince, 311, Missy Elliott, Pearl Jam, Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Avril Lavigne, John Mayer, Nicki Minaj, Sheryl Crow, 50 Cent, Paul Simon, Selena Gomez, Tom Petty, Drake, the Cars, Snoop Dogg, the B-52's, Def Leppard, the Black Eyed Peas, Ray Charles, Dire Straits, Christina Aguilera, the Beach Boys, 5 Seconds of Summer, Foreigner, Heart, Alter Bridge, Imagine Dragons, Ozzy Osbourne, Breaking Benjamin, Saint Asonia, Disturbed, Slipknot, Gojira, Three Days Grace, Chevelle, Journey, Wiz Khalifa, John Mellencamp, Elton John, Justin Bieber, Janet Jackson, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Steve Winwood and the Grateful Dead who performed at the Center in 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1988 (the June 18, 1983 SPAC show is considered one of their classics). Farm Aid was held here in 2013 and 2024. Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, and Willie Nelson headlined. Past presidents of SPAC include Margaretta "Happy" Rockefeller and Lillian Bostwick Phipps. Currently, the President of the non-profit corporation also acts as the executive director. ==Present-day performances==