Bakersfield Symphony sets 'Home for the Holidays' for Dec. 4

The orchestra, two choirs and a little Polar Express fill Dignity Health Theater on the first Friday of December.

Every town has its signal that the holidays have actually started. In Bakersfield, it's the night the symphony and a stage full of singers all end up downtown on Truxtun Avenue at the same time.

This year that night is Friday, Dec. 4. The Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra brings Home for the Holidays to Dignity Health Theater, with the concert running from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The orchestra shares the stage with the Bakersfield College Combined Choirs and the Bakersfield Master Chorale, and the program promises new selections, including music from *The Polar Express*. The symphony also suggests arriving early: there's a keepsake project for kids before the music starts.

That early start time is deliberate. A 6:30 downbeat on a Friday is built for families, early enough that younger listeners can make it to the last carol without a meltdown, and the keepsake table gives them something to do while the hall fills.

The BSO has been led since the 2015–16 season by music director Stilian Kirov, who also holds the music directorship of the Illinois Philharmonic. The orchestra opened its 2026–27 season on Oct. 3 with Rhythm & Fire, and the holiday concert is the season's big seasonal moment, the one that draws people who might not come out for a symphony or a concerto in March.

A 6:30 downbeat on a Friday is built for families.

The room helps. Dignity Health Theater, formerly the Mechanics Bank Theater, sits at 1001 Truxtun Ave. in the city's Civic Center and holds about 3,000, enough room for a full orchestra, two choirs and the audience a holiday program draws. For a concert like this, the scale is the point: carols land differently when a couple hundred voices and a full orchestra are behind them.

Bringing in the Bakersfield College choirs also makes this a local show in the truest sense.

When to get tickets: now is a good time, especially if you want seats together for a family. The BSO's calendar page and the Dignity Health Theater event page have ticket details; 2026 prices weren't posted when we checked. You can also call the Dignity Health box office at (661) 323-7928, open Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Then plan to get downtown early, let the kids make their keepsake, and settle in.

Sources: Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra — Calendar (bsonow.org); Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra — Home for the Holidays (bsonow.org); Dignity Health Arena — Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra: Home for the Holidays (dignityhealtharena.com); Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra — Our Conductor (Stilian Kirov) (bsonow.org); Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra — Team (bsonow.org); Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra — Sip + Symphony (bsonow.org); Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra — Home for the Holidays (venue and box office details) (bsonow.org)