Picnicking to Pop Bands at Ravinia

Chicago has no shortage of live music venues, but on a warm summer night the best one is about 20 miles north of the Loop. Ravinia, in Highland Park, is an outdoor music festival in a 36-acre wooded park, and it's been around since 1904. Every summer, thousands of people spread out on its lawn with a picnic and a bottle of wine and listen to everyone from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to country and pop acts.

The park opened on August 15, 1904, as a sort of amusement park that a railroad company built to lure Chicagoans onto its new electric line, according to Ravinia's history. The trains still stop at the gate, and Ravinia says it's the last private train stop in Illinois. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra spends its summers here, and 2026 was its 90th season in residence. The Martin Theatre, just inside the main gate, is the only building left from 1904.

The season and tickets

The summer season runs from June into September, with 90-plus concerts in 2026. The mix is the same as it's always been. There are CSO programs and chamber music, jazz, and big-name pop, rock, R&B and country shows, with a few films played live by the orchestra. The box office page has ticket details, and the calendar has this year's lineup. Big names can sell out fast, but for a lot of shows you can still get lawn tickets close to the day.

The main stage is the Hunter Pavilion, a covered open-air pavilion that opened in its new form in July 2026 after a $70 million makeover, with a bigger stage, new acoustics and wider seats. It has roughly 2,850 seats now, about 500 fewer than before.

You've got two ways in:

• Reserved seats in the pavilion. These cost more, and they're the only way to see the band rather than a video screen.
• Lawn tickets, which are general admission. Prices depend on the show. Opening night in 2026, with the CSO and Lizzo, started at $40 on the lawn, and prices climb from there for the biggest acts. For most non-classical shows, the lawn price goes up $5 a week before the concert, so buy early. General admission lawn tickets can't be exchanged or refunded.

Everyone needs a ticket, babies included, and all tickets live in the Ravinia app. There's also a reserved lawn area right outside the pavilion, sold in blocks for two, four or six people, with a view of the big screen.

One bit of caution. If it's a band you love and want to see up close, spring for a reserved seat. The vibe on the lawn is lovely and relaxed, but you'll see more of the stars and your companions than of the band. The 2026 renovation made that more true, since new landscaping filled in part of the lawn where people used to peer into the pavilion. There are video screens and speakers on the lawn, but not every spot has a clear view of a screen.

Getting there by train

Take the train. Metra's Union Pacific North Line runs from Ogilvie Transportation Center, at Madison and Canal in the West Loop, and during the summer season the trains stop right at Ravinia's gate, at a stop called Ravinia Park. The ride takes about 50 minutes. In 2026, Metra honored Ravinia concert tickets as fare, so ticketholders rode free to and from the park on the day of their show. Check Ravinia's train page to see whether that deal is running when you go.

A few things to know:

• The Ravinia Park stop is used only on evenings from early June through late September. Outside those dates, use the Braeside stop, a quarter-mile walk along the Green Bay Trail to the park's South Gate.
• Not every UP-N train stops at every station, so check Metra's schedule before you go.
• Know when the last train back leaves, and be on it. The departure times are posted on video screens at the Tyler Gate, where the train stops. On the late-summer schedule, the last inbound train from Ravinia Park left a little before 11pm.

Driving is an option, and there's parking on site, with rates that vary by show, but expect a slow exit after a big concert. You can't park or be dropped off on the streets around the park. It's a residential neighborhood, and Highland Park police will write you a $100 ticket.

What to bring

The picnic is the reason to go. Ravinia lets you bring your own food and drinks onto the lawn, and that includes alcohol if you're 21 or over. Staff check IDs. There are restaurants, bars and a market on site, but most people bring their own, and some people go far beyond a plate of cheese and some plastic cups. You may be surprised by some of the spreads you see. There's no shame in a bag of sandwiches either.

Lawn chairs, blankets, coolers, wagons, roll-up tables and small umbrellas are all fine. If you don't want to haul it all on the train, Wintrust Chair and Table Rental, run by the Ravinia Women's Board, will set you up. In advance, it's $10 per chair and $12 per table, booked by 7pm the day before. Walk-up, it's $15 for either, if there are any left. Staff will carry them to your spot. The rental tent is just north of the Martin Theatre.

Ravinia's list of banned items includes:

• tents and canopies, and umbrellas more than six feet across
• anything you have to stake into the ground
• grills, firepits and Sterno or other canned heat
• beer kegs
• balls, Frisbees and other sports gear
• bikes, scooters and skates (there are bike racks outside the west and south gates)
• pets, except service animals
• drones and professional cameras or recording gear

You also can't rope off a patch of lawn for your group. The whole park is smoke-free apart from two designated areas, vapes included, and cannabis has to go back to your car.

If you've got pavilion seats, the rules are stricter. No food at your seat, and drinks only in plastic cups or bottles of 24 ounces or less, with no glass or metal. Bags have to be under 18 by 12 by 12 inches. Plenty of pavilion ticketholders picnic on the lawn first, and you can leave your picnic gear along the edge of the pavilion.

If you'd rather not pack

The on-site food covers the basics and then some. The Ravinia Market sells sandwiches, salads and drinks to go, and at pavilion concerts there are stations for tacos, burgers, brick-oven pizza and barbecue. Park View, upstairs in the Dining Pavilion, is a sit-down restaurant, and you should book it. The Lawn Bar is more casual and takes walk-ins. Ravinia is going cashless, so bring a card.

If you're stocking up in the city first, our guide to planning the perfect summer picnic in Chicago has places to shop, including the Chicago French Market inside Ogilvie, the station the Ravinia train leaves from. For free outdoor music without leaving downtown, see free summer events in Millennium Park and Grant Park, and for more trips out of the city, easy day and overnight trips from Chicago.

Photo by jordanfischer