Hershey Park Stadium - Hershey, Pennsylvania - Sport and Concert Venue

The Hershey Park Stadium is situated at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania and is a couple of hours drive away from Philadelphia, Washington DC and Central New Jersey. It is the most prominent outdoor stadium between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and is used to stage concerts and sporting events. Parking is available off site for a daily fee with a tram service running from the parking lots to the Hershey Park entrance every 15 minutes.

The stadium was just another piece of the jigsaw in Milton S. Hershey's grand plan to build a community around his chocolate factory. He built a model town for his employees with comfortable homes, transport, schools and cultural buildings. He also wanted to create sufficient recreation opportunities for the people, so he built \o "HersheyPark" Hersheyparkwhich opened in \o"1907" 1907 and expanded rapidly including the construction of thestadium.

Owned and operated by the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company, the stadium holds many events including the annual Summer Concert Series, PIAA Football and Soccer Championships, and the Big 33 Football Classic. The Big 33 is a an American Football game featuring top high school players from Pennsylvania pitted against those from another state. The stadium has a state-of-the-art synthetic grass system and can seat nearly 16,000 in the stands.

Up to 30,000 fans can be accommodated for concerts here. Well known music artists such as U2, The Who, Guns N'Roses, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and Coldplay have performed at the stadium. It also played host to the 2004 Presidential Race campaign stop for George W Bush.

To complement the Hershey Park Stadium, the Star Pavilion was opened in 1996 and plays host to summer concert performances. It can accommodate up to 8,000 people in reserved seating in front of the stage area and across the lawn area. The Pavilion is located to the north end of the stadium with its entrance at the northwest end.

Visitors can take a picnic to designated sites near the restrooms along the tram route in the Parking Lot. Picnic tables are also available in the Stadium and on the patio above the Season Pass Office. The Tudor Grill Restaurant serves breakfasts and lunches and is in Tudor Road just outside Hersheypark entrance, and there are many other bars and restaurants nearby.

Tickets can be purchased in a number of ways including the box office, which is located at Giant Center. On event days tickets can be purchased at the stadium box office, which opens at 9am and is located at the south end of the stadium. Other ways are via the telephone, by mail to the Giant Center, by fax or online.

A special discounted admission price to Hersheypark is offered as part of a package to concert fans. People going to a concert can only purchase one Park ticket per day the day before, day of, and/or the day after the concert. Visitors should show their concert ticket or ticket stub at the park front gate on any one of these days to receive the discount.