Each year many people buy a ticket for a standing place at a Prom for the first time. For some, listening to live music while standing perhaps only yards away from the performers is a magical experience, and they can’t wait to come back for more. Sadly, a few come away thinking that Promenaders are a rude and arrogant bunch determined to keep ordinary people out of their private club. Why?
Over the years a code of behaviour has grown up among regular Prommers. There’s nothing obscure about it, most of it is simple politeness driven by an expectation of fair play, and parts of it are enforced by the Royal Albert Hall, but Prommers can get very annoyed when they see someone breaking the rules, and that’s when the arguments start. I'd like to go over the basic rules.
If you want to get to the front you have to queue
The places in the front few rows, and the small number of chairs in both the Arena and the Gallery, are very popular, and there’s a lot of competition for them. It’s first come, first served, so people queue up outside the Hall so as to be among the first in. This applies equally to those with Season Tickets and Weekend Passes as to those who buy a ticket on the day; having a Season Ticket or a Weekend Pass guarantees that you’ll get in, but it doesn’t say anything about a place at the front. To get that, you have to queue. There are notices around the Hall saying where the queues form. Weekend Pass holders join the appropriate Season Ticket queue. There’s no advantage to being in one queue or the other; the Royal Albert Hall stewards release the Day Ticket and Season Ticket queues into the auditorium simultaneously. People who are genuinely infirm can be allowed in early, and they get first choice of the seats, but there are special rules about this. If this applies to you then talk to a steward as soon as you arrive in the queue.
You have to queue in the immediate vicinity of the Hall
It’s not necessary to stay at the exact place where the end of the queue was when you joined it, but you must stay close to the Hall. Taking shelter under the canopy around the Hall when it rains is fine. Going into the Hall at Door 12, where there's a café and toilets (behind the café servery) and the Box Office, and more toilets and a restaurant upstairs, is fine. Going to the ice-cream van parked over the road from Door 8 is fine. Going further away to get food is OK, but the Hall management have set a limit of half-an-hour away from the queue, and there is a very old Prommers’ rule that time away from the queue must never exceed time already spent in it.
Attending other Proms events counts as queuing
It’s not unknown to have four Proms events in one day: a lunchtime concert at Cadogan Hall, a talk in the Royal College of Music, and then two Proms one after the other. Attending an earlier event counts as time spent queuing for a later Prom, but you must establish your place in the queue first, and come back from the event promptly. Quite early on in the day the stewards will start issuing cloakroom tickets, to help preserve the order of each queue. You may need to find the steward with the right cloakroom ticket book and ask for yours – there are four queues, and the stewards can’t be everywhere. You’ll only ever get one cloakroom ticket per day, no matter how many events there are. When there are two Proms back-to-back people with Gallery Season Tickets or Weekend Passes are allowed to stay up in the Gallery between Proms, but everyone else has to leave the Hall, re-form the queues, and go back in. If you didn’t get a cloakroom ticket earlier you should be offered one by the steward on the door as you go into the first Prom, but they do sometimes forget so you may need to ask.
Jumping the queue is a massive no-no
Jumping the queue, or pushing forward into places that are already taken, or keeping places in the queue or in the Hall for other people who haven’t arrived yet, is grossly unfair, and has the potential to annoy a lot of people. If you want to Prom as part of a group, it’s best if you all arrive together. If you arrive before your friends, you should move yourself down the queue – they can’t move themselves up. Trying to keep an extra place near the front for someone further down the queue is one of the biggest causes of arguments - please don’t do it. It’s alright for two people to agree to swap places in the auditorium, because that’s not unfair. RAH management have made it clear that if there’s a serious argument the stewards should be asked to sort things out.
Once you’ve found your place in a Promenade area, that place is yours for the whole Prom
Some people have their own preferred places to stand, but in general both areas fill up from the front in orderly rows and the seats go fairly quickly. Once you’ve found a place in the Arena or the Gallery that place is yours for the whole concert, no matter how long it is or how many intervals there are. Attempting to steal places at the front during the interval is another big cause of arguments. If you leave your place for any reason it’s best to leave some kind of a marker, say a bag or a newspaper, and explain matters to those around you. Please respect other people’s markers, and return to your own as soon as you can. On busy nights before the concert starts the stewards in the Arena will ask people to “Stand up and move forward”. People, and markers, move forward in their rows – this isn’t an excuse to filter forwards to the front.
The Last Night is different
There are special rules for queuing for the Last Night, and they go up on posters around the Hall towards the end of the season. If you plan to Prom on the Last Night you really must read them. There aren’t separate queues for Day Ticket holders and Season Ticket holders; instead, there are separate queues for those who have tickets and those who don’t. There are always a few tickets for sale on the door, because some Season Ticket holders choose not to go to the Last Night, but those who already have tickets go in first, so it means being right at the back. Queuing for the Last Night starts especially early. Hopefully by that time you won’t be a first-timer anymore.
Practicalities
Above all, do enjoy the music. That’s the point, after all.
Over the years a code of behaviour has grown up among regular Prommers. There’s nothing obscure about it, most of it is simple politeness driven by an expectation of fair play, and parts of it are enforced by the Royal Albert Hall, but Prommers can get very annoyed when they see someone breaking the rules, and that’s when the arguments start. I'd like to go over the basic rules.
If you want to get to the front you have to queue
The places in the front few rows, and the small number of chairs in both the Arena and the Gallery, are very popular, and there’s a lot of competition for them. It’s first come, first served, so people queue up outside the Hall so as to be among the first in. This applies equally to those with Season Tickets and Weekend Passes as to those who buy a ticket on the day; having a Season Ticket or a Weekend Pass guarantees that you’ll get in, but it doesn’t say anything about a place at the front. To get that, you have to queue. There are notices around the Hall saying where the queues form. Weekend Pass holders join the appropriate Season Ticket queue. There’s no advantage to being in one queue or the other; the Royal Albert Hall stewards release the Day Ticket and Season Ticket queues into the auditorium simultaneously. People who are genuinely infirm can be allowed in early, and they get first choice of the seats, but there are special rules about this. If this applies to you then talk to a steward as soon as you arrive in the queue.
You have to queue in the immediate vicinity of the Hall
It’s not necessary to stay at the exact place where the end of the queue was when you joined it, but you must stay close to the Hall. Taking shelter under the canopy around the Hall when it rains is fine. Going into the Hall at Door 12, where there's a café and toilets (behind the café servery) and the Box Office, and more toilets and a restaurant upstairs, is fine. Going to the ice-cream van parked over the road from Door 8 is fine. Going further away to get food is OK, but the Hall management have set a limit of half-an-hour away from the queue, and there is a very old Prommers’ rule that time away from the queue must never exceed time already spent in it.
Attending other Proms events counts as queuing
It’s not unknown to have four Proms events in one day: a lunchtime concert at Cadogan Hall, a talk in the Royal College of Music, and then two Proms one after the other. Attending an earlier event counts as time spent queuing for a later Prom, but you must establish your place in the queue first, and come back from the event promptly. Quite early on in the day the stewards will start issuing cloakroom tickets, to help preserve the order of each queue. You may need to find the steward with the right cloakroom ticket book and ask for yours – there are four queues, and the stewards can’t be everywhere. You’ll only ever get one cloakroom ticket per day, no matter how many events there are. When there are two Proms back-to-back people with Gallery Season Tickets or Weekend Passes are allowed to stay up in the Gallery between Proms, but everyone else has to leave the Hall, re-form the queues, and go back in. If you didn’t get a cloakroom ticket earlier you should be offered one by the steward on the door as you go into the first Prom, but they do sometimes forget so you may need to ask.
Jumping the queue is a massive no-no
Jumping the queue, or pushing forward into places that are already taken, or keeping places in the queue or in the Hall for other people who haven’t arrived yet, is grossly unfair, and has the potential to annoy a lot of people. If you want to Prom as part of a group, it’s best if you all arrive together. If you arrive before your friends, you should move yourself down the queue – they can’t move themselves up. Trying to keep an extra place near the front for someone further down the queue is one of the biggest causes of arguments - please don’t do it. It’s alright for two people to agree to swap places in the auditorium, because that’s not unfair. RAH management have made it clear that if there’s a serious argument the stewards should be asked to sort things out.
Once you’ve found your place in a Promenade area, that place is yours for the whole Prom
Some people have their own preferred places to stand, but in general both areas fill up from the front in orderly rows and the seats go fairly quickly. Once you’ve found a place in the Arena or the Gallery that place is yours for the whole concert, no matter how long it is or how many intervals there are. Attempting to steal places at the front during the interval is another big cause of arguments. If you leave your place for any reason it’s best to leave some kind of a marker, say a bag or a newspaper, and explain matters to those around you. Please respect other people’s markers, and return to your own as soon as you can. On busy nights before the concert starts the stewards in the Arena will ask people to “Stand up and move forward”. People, and markers, move forward in their rows – this isn’t an excuse to filter forwards to the front.
The Last Night is different
There are special rules for queuing for the Last Night, and they go up on posters around the Hall towards the end of the season. If you plan to Prom on the Last Night you really must read them. There aren’t separate queues for Day Ticket holders and Season Ticket holders; instead, there are separate queues for those who have tickets and those who don’t. There are always a few tickets for sale on the door, because some Season Ticket holders choose not to go to the Last Night, but those who already have tickets go in first, so it means being right at the back. Queuing for the Last Night starts especially early. Hopefully by that time you won’t be a first-timer anymore.
Practicalities
- Do ask a steward if you have any questions.
- Large pieces of luggage are banned from the auditorium – check them into the cloakroom at Door 9 (there’s a £1 charge) before the queue goes in, or you could lose the place you’ve queued for.
- It can get very hot in the Hall, especially if the concert is being televised, because of the TV lights, so take a plastic bottle of drinking water. Technically refreshments are prohibited, but usually the stewards will turn a blind eye to water or soft drink in a closed, crushable container. The bars serve tap water free of charge, and will serve cold drinks in plastic rather than glass on request. Glass is prohibited in the promenading areas, and the stewards will pounce if they see any.
- You don’t have to stand during the music – it’s quite alright to sit on the floor – but many people do stand all the way through even at very long concerts. If you need to sit down halfway through try not to disturb those around you.
- Do try to keep as quiet as possible during the music: turn off your mobile ‘phone, have a cough sweet handy, and if you are going to cough do try to stifle it. Stuffing a handkerchief into your mouth might not seem dignified but those around you will appreciate your efforts.
Above all, do enjoy the music. That’s the point, after all.
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