Welcome Spooky Season: Candlelight Concert Returns to Historic Laurel Hill Cemetery

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The Candlelight Concert Series, an offshoot of Fever entertainment company, has bewitched audiences around the world since its origin in Madrid in 2019. With its ambient glow, this phenomenon has spread to over 100 cities worldwide, Philadelphia included.

The candle-lit concerts are typically performed by a string quartet. The themes range from classical symphonies to jazz, fantasy and anime soundtracks. Unique venues are staples of the Candlelight Series—Masonic temples, aquariums, and even cemeteries are not off-limits.

Each October the Candlelight Series treats Philidelphians to a strange and unusual concert, fittingly held in the historic and haunting Laurel Hill Cemetery. Should you choose to attend the event, upon arrival you will be overtaken with the hundreds of candles (battery operated for obvious safety reasons) that line the darkened cemetery walkways and adorn the many mausoleums and ornate graves.

Laurel Hill Cemetery is the perfect resting place for this gathering. The cemetery has a rich history with the city of Philadelphia as well as a destination spot for art appreciators of the macabre genre. Founded in 1836 as a solution to overcrowded churchyards in Philadelphia, Laurel Hill Cemetery was the city’s first rural cemetery and the second in the U.S. It became the preferred burial site for Philadelphia’s elite, and the cemetery slowly filled with grand monuments by renowned sculptors and architects. More than just a cemetery, it serves today as an outdoor unearthly art museum. The creation of Laurel Hill, reflecting Romantic ideals, aimed to replace unhygienic urban burial grounds with serene landscapes and classical monuments.

Starting October 8th and running until All Hallow’s Eve, the Candlelight Concert Series will return to Laurel Hill Cemetery with the Listeso String Quartet. They’ll capture the spirit of Halloween with a fun and chilling setlist, from Michael Jackson’s iconic “Thriller” to a very classical “Danse Macabre” by Camille Saint-Saëns, and some familiar themes of Ghostbusters, Stranger Things, Beetlejuice and more.

Surely an eccentric way to mark the start of spooky season, the cemetery will welcome a performance every Tuesday night, hosting a 6:30 pm show as well as a 9 pm show for the braver souls among us.