Proms In The Park 2008

Image By Chris P Jobling's photostream

After eight weeks of the best classical music at the Albert Hall and Cadogan Hall, it was time for The Last Night of the Proms. The BBC invited thousands to London's Hyde Park for the al fresco Proms in the Park.
Joining Terry Wogan this year was the Spanish tenor José Carreras, Britain's favourite soprano Lesley Garrett and violinist David Garrett alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted in the main by Martin Yates. This year there was a guest conductor - the winner of BBC2's Maestro Sue Perkins. One of the judges has been Sir Roger Norrington, who was conducting the original Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, the second half of which was shown in the park on the big screen.

Also performing were Abba tribute band Björn Again, the all-male vocal group Teatro and, reflecting the folk theme that ran through the Prom season, Bellowhead, with the early evening entertainment introduced by Aled Jones.

Now a decade old, the Hyde Park Proms in the Park idea is so successful that it has been emulated across the United Kingdom at venues in all principalities. The concept is simple: each outdoor venue has one of the BBC orchestras to play the first half of the concert live and then the famous second-half shindig, including all the traditional sing-a-long favourites, is beamed onto a massive screen direct from the Royal Albert Hall.

Were you there?