49 Winchester Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom Hampton

Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom is a venue in Hampton Beach’s boardwalk, New Hampshire. The venue only opens from April to November, and during these eight months, more than 70 shows are presented. The Casino Ballroom was ranked at number 23 in 2010 by Pollstar in the Top 100 Worldwide Club Venues. It has a seating capacity of around 2,200. The ballroom opened on July 4, 1899, and is currently owned by the Schaake family.

The Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom was inaugurated by Wallace D. Lovell, who also owned the Exeter, Hampton, and Amesbury Street Railway Company. He opened the venue with the hope of bringing more business and tourism into the Hampton Beach area. The ownership was changed in the late 1930s, and the new owners wanted the facility to hold at least 5,000 people, creating the Casino Ballroom.

The Casino Ballroom boasted the largest dance floor in New England after the expansion. Almost 20,000 people made use of the massive space every week. The venue hosted notable acts such as Duke Ellington and Bing Crosby. There was an additional 4,000 fans that showed up for an already sold-out concert of Jethro Tull with Yes during their first American tour on August 9, 1995. Micky Ward, a professional boxer of The Fighter fame, also fought here on July 13, 2001, against Emanuel Augustus. The fight was named the 2001 Fight of the Year. The Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom is also the only venue globally that has hosted almost three generations of the Nelson family.