Worcester, a five-time All-American City, is Massachusetts' second-largest city (population 181,045). It is also home to 10 colleges and a diverse business sector that includes manufacturing and biotech research, all of which generate business for Worcester meeting venues. A thriving downtown area features historic, repurposed mills and sleek new office buildings in a fascinating juxtaposition of past, present and future.
"WOO" is situated in the heart of New England, where the Mass Pike and Interstates 190, 290 and 395 converge. Boston and Providence are roughly an hour away, while Hartford, Concord and New York City are within 3.5 hours. Restored Union Station has daily commuter rail service to Boston, and Amtrak serves NYC and DC. Local and regional airports include Worcester Regional Airport, Boston's Logan International Airport and T.F. Green in Warwick, RI. Thanks to two cab companies and a reliable public bus system, getting around Worcester is easy.
Meeting venues in Worcester are headlined by the state-of-the-art DCU Center, which offers a 50,000-square-foot convention center with more than 11 meeting rooms, a 12,144-square-foot ballroom and a 14,802-seat arena.
Worcester hotels offer a choice of meeting space, ranging from the elegant ballroom at the 4 Diamond Beechwood Hotel to the Hilton Garden Inn's dedicated boardroom.
Several Worcester event venues are spectacular. At the two-story Medieval Great Hall in the Higgins Armory Museum, 70 suits of armor "stand guard" for banquets of up to 120 or receptions for as many as 250. Mechanics Hall, meanwhile, is an elegant pre-Civil War performance hall with a stunning third-floor Great Hall for upscale events of 1,500. The EcoTarium, a cool indoor-outdoor science and nature museum, has a 103-seat planetarium and the Hirsh Telecommunications Center indoors, in addition to a dramatic peaked tent, a courtyard and a plaza outdoors. Historic Union Station's Grand Hall is also a terrific special event space in Worcester.
Group dining venues in Worcester specialize in everything from steaks to traditional New England cookery, and include The Sole Proprietor Seafood, a seafood restaurant (450 guests), One Eleven Chophouse (40) and 1790 Restaurant (14).
Between event sessions, the nature trails at the 400-acre Broad Meadow Brook are ideal for attendees who want to stretch their legs. Otherwise, Shrewsbury Street and the historic Canal District are the top picks for shopping, dining and afterhours fun. A fun pre- or post-conference event can also be had at Old Sturbridge Village, less than 20 miles away.
If you're looking for venues in Boston proper, click the following link to see all event venues in Boston.
