The Laurence Frost Amphitheater, commonly known as Frost Amphitheater is a prominent amphitheater of Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

. It first opened in 1937 and was the site of commencement

Graduation

Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...

 ceremonies for the university from 1938 until 1984. It can hold about 6,900 people.

History

The amphitheater built in 1937 was a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Frost in memory of their son, John Laurence Frost who graduated in 1935 and died of polio in the same year. It is a tree lined, grassy, tiered 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) bowl designed by landscape architect Leslie Kiler.

Throughout the years, the amphitheater has been the host to many events including a prominent speech by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...

 in 1992.

Music venue

The Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...

played shows at the Amphitheater in 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989.

The amphitheater usually hosts a concert (either jazz or classical) and fireworks on July 3.