How long as the Terrace music series been running?

The Memorial Union Terrace has hosted concerts since it first opened. The Wisconsin All-State Band delivered one of the earliest performances in 1931. But the Wisconsin Union only started offering regular music programming on the Terrace in the 1970s, and series like "Hot Summer Nights" didn’t truly get hot until the 1980s. A few factors helped make the Terrace a more popular music venue around this time. First, a rogue group of students decided to practice some feng shui with the original stage: they moved the wooden platform that sat just outside the Rathskeller down to the lakeshore, giving concertgoers a better view of Lake Mendota. Later in the 1980s, the Terrace was remodeled, and a permanent, canopied stage was installed by the lake. A bigger budget also allowed student planners to schedule more well-known bands in addition to local acts. Today, students on the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Music and Film Committees are still keeping summer nights hot on the Terrace with free concerts and movies. Photo by Jeff Miller, University of Wisconsin–Madison.