Symphony Woods Park

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Symphony Woods Park is a big central park in Columbia, Maryland, that is located in the heart of the city. The Chrysalis, a 2016 amphitheater with lawn seating, is part of the park. Musical concerts, ballet, dramas, Maker Faire, and numerous community events have all taken place at the Chrysalis.
Merriweather Post Pavilion is an outdoor music venue within Symphony Woods, a 40-acre (160,000 m2) park in the heart of Columbia, Maryland’s planned neighborhood. Billboard magazine ranked Merriweather as the second finest amphitheater in the United States in 2010. In 2013, Rolling Stone named the facility the fourth best amphitheater in the United States. Consequence of Sound recognized it as the 29th best music venue in the country out of 100 in 2016.

History Symphony Woods Park

The Rouse Company commissioned Merriweather Post Pavilion in Symphony Woods Park for its Howard County development project Columbia. After the first design was rejected, award-winning architects Frank Gehry and N. David O’Malley of the Gehry, Walsh and O’Malley firm remodelled the theatre. It first opened its doors in 1967 on the site of the Oakland Manor slave plantation. It is named after Marjorie Merriweather Post, the heiress of American Post Foods, who promised and then withdrew funding to Rouse for the building. The National Symphony Orchestra was supposed to use the theatre as a summer home. It later became a popular music venue, hosting Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead, and The Who, among others.
On July 14, 1967, a grand opening ceremony was conducted, and Vice President Hubert Humphrey watched a performance of “Columbia: Broadsides for Orchestra” during a torrential downpour that brought the orchestra to its knees. The following year, the Orchestra went bankrupt. On June 27, 1968, controversial presidential contender George Wallace staged a 7500-person rally, followed by candidate Eugene McCarthy shortly after.
The Who and Led Zeppelin performed in front of an audience of 20,000 for the first and only time on May 25, 1969. Led Zeppelin performed “Whole Lotta Love” live for only the second time, and they supposedly ran long in their opening slot, causing The Who’s production crew to pull their plug.
To book a seven-night run by Tom Jones, with Gladys Knight & the Pips as the opening act, loge sections were added (adding 1,800 seats) before the start of the 1970 season. After gate storming and disturbances during a Steppenwolf show in 1970, Columbia’s manager Richard Anderson stopped scheduling rock venues. In 1971, the Nederlander Organization took over management of the arena. By 1972, the music had evolved away from Rouse & Merriweather’s idea of symphonies and toward rock venues, and Charles E. Miller presented bills prohibiting artists with a history of violence from performing in venues with a capacity of 3,000 or more. After several occurrences in the summer of 1974, Howard Research and Development manager Micheal Spear prohibited rock music, naming Alice Cooper, the Grateful Dead, and Edgar Winter as the musicians who were no longer acceptable.
Jimmy Buffett first played at Merriweather Post Pavilion in 1977. He’s performed 42 times since then, the most of any artist.
President Jimmy Carter joined Willie Nelson on stage in 1978 and 1980 during his campaign against Ronald Reagan to sing a duet of “Georgia on My Mind.” In 1999, SFX purchased the entertainment lease.

Symphony Woods Park Location

10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Columbia, MD 21044, United States

+1 410-715-5550

Driving Directions From University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Continue to MD-166 1 min (0.7 mi)
Head north on UMBC Blvd 289 ft
At the traffic circle, take the 3rd exit and stay on UMBC Blvd 0.6 mi
Take I-95 S and MD-32 W to Broken Land Pkwy in Columbia. Take exit 18 from US-29 N 14 min (13.7 mi)
Continue on Broken Land Pkwy to your destination 3 min (0.8 mi)
Symphony Woods Park

Driving Directions From Baltimore Maryland, USA

Take Light St and E Conway St to I-395 S 5 min (0.8 mi)
Head west on E Fayette St toward N Calvert St 489 ft
Turn left onto St Paul St 312 ft
Continue onto Light St 0.4 mi
Use the right 2 lanes to turn right onto E Conway St 0.3 mi
Take I-95 S to Broken Land Pkwy in Columbia. Take exit 18 from US-29 N 20 min (20.1 mi)
Continue on Broken Land Pkwy to your destination 3 min (0.8 mi)
Symphony Woods Park