Enjoy a Show at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saratoga Performing Arts Center Review

Us locals refer to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center as SPAC, so if you are in my neck of the woods and here that name, you will know what we are all referring to. It is just much shorter and easier to say. My husband and I have seen a few people perform at SPAC over the last few years and we love it there.

We mainly go to see country music performers, but SPAC also has a Jazz Festival, Orchestra, and Ballet during the summer months. And those last two words in that sentence are key. SPAC is only open during the summer months! The reason for this is that it is an open amphitheater. People can sit inside to watch a performance, but the sides and the back are open to all of the elements. Those who do not have tickets for the inside need to sit out on the lawn.

We mainly sit out on the lawn, because tickets are cheaper, but have on occasion sprung for the seats inside. Especially during the early part of the season or the last part of the season, when the temperatures can be quite a bit cooler.

We have sat outside in blistering heat, the freezing cold, and the pouring rain with thousands of other people. It never used to bother me, but this past year I told my husband that from now on, we might have to purchase inside tickets. It seems like lately, the people who attend the concerts are getting ruder and ruder. This past year, we were at the Luke Bryan concert and some woman kept accusing us of moving her chair when she left. We tried to stay far away from her and ignore her, but when people start drinking, they just get worse and well, she was drinking and kept moving her chair closer.

I highly recommend finding a spot on the lawn in the family section, where the people are a little more low key or higher up on the lawn, since they now have large screens on top of the building. Those screens make it easy to see the smallest details on the stage.

We always take an unopened bottle of water with us to the concerts, so that we do not have to pay for water once we are inside. Hopefully they don’t change that rule any time soon. You are also allowed to take food in, but we usually eat prior to entering. They have a larger variety of foods inside than they used to, but the prices are high, which is normal for concerts.

I am hoping that I can convince my husband to go to the ballet with me this summer, but that is probably going to take some work on my part. I might end up going to the stock car races in exchange for his time at the ballet. We will see, we still have some time.