TUBA CHRISTMAS Set for The Palmer House, 12/19

The Palmer House Hilton Hotel, 17 E. Monroe Street, welcomes back Chicago's annual holiday favorite TUBACHRISTMAS, Grand and State Ballrooms, fourth floor, Saturday, Dec. 19 at 12:30 p.m. Nearly 400 tuba and euphonium musicians of all ages dash through the snow to bring Christmas cheer to the crowds gathered at the Palmer House. TUBACHRISTMAS is free to the public. Guests attending the event must claim a wristband at the fourth floor check-in desk to determine the time they may enter the Grand and State Ballrooms. Wristband distribution begins at 8 a.m.* The Palmer House requests that audience members bring a donation of a non-perishable food item for the Chicago Food Depository. In addition to the festivities happening in the ballrooms, Lockwood Restaurant & Bar, Potter's and the bar located in the Palmer House's historic lobby will be serving holiday themed beverages available for purchase throughout the holiday season.

Originally performed in 1974 at New York's Rockefeller Center, TUBACHRISTMAS is an annual Christmas concert made up of exclusively tuba and euphonium musicians. Created by Indiana University's Distinguished Professor of Music, Harvey Phillips, known as the "Paganini" of the Tuba, this holiday tradition is in honor of his teacher/mentor, the late tubist musician William J. Bell, who was born on Christmas Day, 1902 and the late American composer Alec Wilder, who arranged the music for the first TUBACHRISTMAS, who died on Christmas Eve, 1980. Since 1974, TUBACHRISTMAS has been a holiday tradition throughout the world. For more than 25 years, the Palmer House has annually hosted the congregation of tuba and euphonium musicians. The current location in the Grand and State Ballrooms is indicative of the size of the orchestra and audience attending this treasured event.

The Palmer House is also collecting donations for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, a nonprofit food distribution and training center that provides food for hungry people while striving to end hunger in the community

*Wristband Required to Enter TUBACHRISTMAS

To ensure a safe and efficient event for all of TUBACHRISTMAS guests, wristbands will be distributed to all concert goers starting at 8 a.m. on the fourth floor.

Timeline is as follows:

8 a.m. - Guests may claim wristbands at the check-in desk on the fourth floor

11:45 a.m. - Guests will gather in the area matching their wristbands on the fourth floor

12 p.m. - Doors open to the Grand and State Ballrooms and guests enter according to the time indicated by their wristbands

12:30 p.m. - TUBACHRISTMAS concert.

Wristbands ensure a spot in line to enter the ballroom. Each line will be allowed to enter the ballroom based on the colored wristband, signifying the time in which they claimed the wristband. Guests who retrieved wristbands first will be allowed to enter the Grand and State Ballrooms first.

Once the Grand and State Ballrooms reaches maximum capacity or all wristbands have been distributed, guests will be directed to the Red Lacquer Room, which will have the concert live on a TV screen for all guests to enjoy.

Guests arriving without wristbands will not be allowed to enter the ballroom until all wristbanded guests have entered depending on room occupancy.