Claudia Winkleman To Host A Traitors-Themed Concert At The Proms

The world’s greatest classic music festival is back. This year, the BBC Proms will run from Friday 18 July through to Saturday 13 September, encapsulating more than 40 ensembles across 86 Proms – 72 at London’s gorgeous Royal Albert Hall, and 14 more at venues scattered across the UK. Here’s everything you need to know, plus a brief history of the whole affair.

BBC Proms 2025: Line-Up, Tickets, History & More

‘With 86 concerts across eight weeks, I am delighted to be announcing the 2025 BBC Proms season,’ says BBC Proms controller Sam Jackson. ‘Our summer of live music will see us host the greatest international orchestras and the best of British talent, in repertoire that ranges from the much-loved to the entirely new. As ever, every note will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds, with 25 programmes featuring across BBC TV and iPlayer.’

Royal Albert Hall (Raphael Tomi/Unsplash)

What’s On At The BBC Proms 2025?

The Proms always begins and ends with blow-out performances: The First Night of the Proms and The Last Night of the Proms. In 2025, Sakari Oramo conducts the First Night of the Proms, with tenor Caspar Singh, baritone Gerald Finley, violinist Lisa Batiashvili. This will include the world premiere of ‘The Elements’ by Master of the King’s Music Errollyn Wallen, commissioned by the BBC. 

On the flipside, The Last Night of the Proms will be conducted by Elim Chan, featuring trumpeter Alison Balsom and soprano Louise Alder, with world premieres by Camille Pépin and Rachel Portman (the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Original Score).

Elsewhere on the line-up, find Vienna Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, as well as major soloists like pianists Yunchan Lim and Sir András Schiff, violinists Hilary Hahn and Janine Jansen and soprano Golda Schultz. 

Highlights include:

• The Traitors (26 July): Claudia Winkleman hosts a Prom dedicated to treachery and betrayal at the Royal Albert Hall. Famous classical works will be performed alongside new symphonic arrangements from the hugely popular BBC show. 
• 100 Years of the Shipping Forecast (8 August): The Ulster Orchestra conducted by Chloé Van Soeterstède presents an evening of music inspired by the sea at Belfast’s Ulster Hall, including a new work composed by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and his band LYR.
• From Dark Till Dawn (8 August): For the first time since 1983, the Proms passes midnight: celebrated organist Anna Lapwood curates a special all-night Prom from 11pm to 7am, featuring a diverse programme spanning choral classics with the Chapel Choir of Pembroke College, boundary-crossing artists including Norwegian ensemble Barokksolistene and director violinist Bjarte Eike, and appearances from cellist Anastasia Kobekina and pianist and YouTube sensation Hayato Sumino.
• St. Vincent (3 September): With three Grammy awards under her belt, St. Vincent joins forces with Jules Buckley and his orchestra to present brand-new symphonic arrangements of tracks from her back catalogue.
• Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro (27 August): Glyndebourne brings Mozart’s timeless masterpiece to the Royal Albert Hall, featuring a stellar cast which includes Johanna Wallroth as Susanna and Louise Alder as the Countess.
• Joe Hisaishi and Steve Reich (14 August): Studio Ghibli composer and conductor Joe Hisaishi makes his Proms debut, presenting a powerful Hiroshima-inspired vision of a scorched-earth, post-nuclear wasteland: The End of the World.

Is BBC Proms On TV?

Every Prom will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds. BBC TV and BBC iPlayer will broadcast 25 programmes, with nine Proms across BBC One and BBC Two, including the First and Last Night of the Proms.

What Is The Proms?

Short for Promenade Concerts, the Proms (known officially as the BBC Proms) is an eight-week summer festival which has been held annually in London since 1895. It is organised by the BBC and features a series of classical music performances along with free events including talks, workshops, readings and films.

The aim is to bring classical music to the largest possible audience. There are many rules and traditions highlighting this commitment to accessibility, from affordable ticket prices to the tradition of ‘promming’, which allows attendees to buy standing tickets on the day of each concert.

When Did The Proms Start?

The idea of accessible promenade concerts first emerged in France in the 1830s, but the Proms itself began in London on Saturday 10 August 1895. It was conceived by Robert Newman with the ambition of bringing classical music to the masses. Co-founder Sir Henry Wood conducted nearly every Proms concert for almost fifty years – the festival is formally named the ‘Henry Wood Promenade Concerts’ in recognition of his legacy.

Royal Albert Hall (Unsplash)

Where Does It Take Place?

The Proms is held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and it has been taking place there since its inception. However, venues across the country are also on the bill. In 2025, this includes:

• St George’s Hall, Bradford – the UK’s City of Culture for 2025 and a first for BBC Proms
• The Fire Station, Sunderland – a first for BBC Proms
• Bristol Beacon and St George’s Bristol
• Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Gateshead
• Ulster Hall, Belfast, to mark 100 years of Radio 4’s Shipping Forecast

How To Get Tickets To BBC Proms

BBC Proms tickets will go on general sale at 9am Saturday 17 May 2025, with standing season and weekend passes available from 9am Thursday 15 May. Tickets for the following in-demand performances will go on sale at 9am Friday 16 May:  The Traitors Proms (26 July), the Relaxed Prom (10 August) and CBeebies Proms (25 August).

If lots of performances catch your eye, make the most of the Proms Plan tool: an online wishlist where you gather all the shows you’d like to see and your preferred seating category. Come 17 May, simply log on and redeem your plan. Find out more about how it works here.

Standing tickets are also available for every performance. They are an integral part of the Proms, and are offered as part of the long tradition of Promming.

What Is Promming?

For every concert at the Proms – and even sold-out performances – around 1,000 tickets are reserved on the day as standing places in the Arena and Gallery, along with a handful of seats in the Choir. These special ‘Promming’ tickets can usually be purchased online from 10:30am each day.

Promming tickets are only £8, and all standing Promming tickets are unreserved, so you can choose where to stand when you arrive. You don’t actually have to stand, however: many people choose to sit or even lie down in the Gallery or the Arena.

Is There A Dress Code?

While some concert-goers opt for formal attire, you can be safe in the knowledge that there is no dress code at the Proms, so you can rock up as you are.

Golda Schultz
performing at the Proms in 2020. (Chris Christodoulou/BBC)

Can Children Attend The Proms?

It is recommended that young concert-goers are aged at least five and over, although all children are welcome at the relaxed performance of The Planets and Star Wars (10 August), CBeebies Prom: A Magical Bedtime Story (two performances on 25 August), the BSL interpreted and audio described Aurora Orchestra: Shostakovich’s Fifth by Heart (16 & 17 August), and CBeebies: Wildlife Jamboree (two performances on 27 July at the Glasshouse in Gateshead).

Children aged between seven and 18 are encouraged to attend the festival, and children’s tickets are half-price in any seating area of the Royal Albert Hall – excluding Promming tickets, and tickets for the Last Night of the Proms.

What Is The Last Night Of The Proms?

A magnificent festival must have a magnificent finale, and the Last Night of the Proms is certainly a memorable event. As the final concert in the long Proms calendar, it features a selection of musical hits before ending with patriotic British songs including Edward Elgar’s ‘Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1’, Thomas Arne’s ‘Rule, Britannia!’ and Hubert Parry’s ‘Jerusalem.’

Audience participation is encouraged during this lively celebration, and many attendees bring flags to wave. (There are even flagpole guidelines on the BBC website – if you’re curious, you can take a look here.)

How Can I Get Tickets For The Last Night Of The Proms?

Owing to its huge popularity, ticketing for Last Night of the Proms works a little differently. There are five ways to get tickets: the Open Ballot, the Five Concert Ballot, the general sale (9am 18 July), Day Promming (£8 tickets purchased online from 10.30am on the day) and by purchasing a Whole Season Pass. Up to two tickets can be booked per person. Learn all about it here.

For particularly eager Prommers, a limited number of Last Night Promming tickets (also priced at £8) are reserved for those who have attended five or more concerts in the Promming areas of the concert hall. These Prommers will be able to purchase one ticket each for the Last Night when they present their used e-tickets at the Royal Albert Hall. The tickets can be bought from the Box Office at Door 12, and they will be released at 9am on Tuesday 23 July, Monday 26 August and Monday 9 September.