The Pasadena Convention Center is a
convention center in
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
, United States. It consists of three buildings.
Pasadena Civic Auditorium
The Civic Auditorium, one of the major structures in the
Pasadena Civic Center District, was built in 1931 and is best known for being the home for the
Emmy Awards
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
from 1977 until 1997. It was designed by architects
George Edwin Bergstrom,
Cyril Bennett, and
Fitch Haskell. It is the former home of the
Pasadena Symphony Orchestra. It has also been used for some episodes of ''
American Idol''. It was used as the show's venue for "Hollywood Week" in seasons 1, 3 and 10. The 3,029-seat
theater
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...
hosts musicals, operas and concerts, among other events, on its stage.
The venue's
theatre organ was acquired in 1979, having been commissioned from American firm
M. P. Möller in 1938 as a touring organ by Englishman
Reginald Foort, who attended its Pasadena inauguration on April 23, 1980.
It had been used by the
BBC during and after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
In addition to the main auditorium, the Civic Auditorium building originally contained two lecture rooms and an exhibition hall of .
The auditorium was famously the site of some of the earliest live performances of
Van Halen before being discovered.
The ''
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever'' special was taped here on March 25, 1983; and aired on
NBC in May. The show is best remembered for
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
's performance of "
Billie Jean" in which he debuted his signature dance move the "
Moonwalk".
's 1951 album ''
Satchmo at Pasadena'' was also recorded here.
The annual
NAACP Image Awards have been held at the Auditorium numerous times, including at least (earlier records are incomplete) 1992–2000, 2014–2018, 2020, 2023 and 2025, excluding 1995 (no awards presented), 2021 and 2022 (virtual due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
).
The auditorium has also been used for the
Miss Teen USA 2007 pageant. The preliminary and final competitions were broadcast live on NBC.
From 2017 to 2019, the Auditorium hosted the
44th,
45th, and
46th Daytime Emmy Awards alongside their related
44th,
45th and 46th Daytime
Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
The auditorium has hosted the ''
America's Got Talent'' audition rounds since
season 11 (2016). It also serves as the main venue for the live shows starting on
season 17 (2022).
The auditorium hosts the annual
Pasadena Unified School District graduation ceremonies for Blair High School, John Marshall Fundamental Secondary School, John Muir High School and Pasadena High School, which takes place after the Memorial Day holiday, since 2000.
Exhibition Building
The Exhibition Building, adjacent to the west side of the Auditorium, features of exhibit space and can seat up to 4,400 for various events. Adjacent to the Exhibition Building is a annex seating up to 600 patrons.
The building holds large corporate events, conventions (such as
CatCon), along with
trade shows.
Conference Building
The Conference Building, adjacent to the south side of the Auditorium, has 20 meeting rooms totaling .
See also
*
List of convention centers in the United States
References
External links
Pasadena Convention CenterThe Pasadena Civic Auditorium
{{Pasadena
1931 establishments in California
Event venues established in 1931
Convention centers in California
Concert halls in California
Buildings and structures in Pasadena, California
Tourist attractions in Pasadena, California
Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States