Ravinia Festival Seating Chart
The Chicago region's outdoor summer-music institution since 1904 and the oldest outdoor music festival in the United States. Home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in summer; hosts touring artists across genres throughout the season.
Sections at Ravinia Festival
Ravinia Festival breaks down into these 5 main sections. The one printed on your ticket sets your price, your distance, and your view, so read it against this list before you buy — and note the layout can shift between a game, a concert, and a private buyout.
- Pavilion — covered seating, premium tier
- Reserved Lawn — closer-in lawn sections, reserved
- GA Lawn — open lawn, bring blankets
- Bennett Gordon Hall — separate indoor recital venue
- Martin Theatre — smaller indoor venue
Best seats at Ravinia Festival
Pavilion rows F-K for the orchestra and major-artist shows. Reserved lawn front-center for the picnic experience without paying pavilion prices.
Tips before you go
Picnic culture at Ravinia is genuinely legendary — full table settings, candelabra, wine, gourmet spreads. Metra train from Chicago has a Ravinia stop directly at the gates; skip driving entirely.
How to read the Ravinia Festival seating chart
The Ravinia Festival chart divides 18,000 seats across a fan of seating that faces one stage across 5 named sections — Pavilion, Reserved Lawn, GA Lawn, Bennett Gordon Hall, and Martin Theatre. Which of those names is printed on your ticket decides more than location: two sections apart can mean a different level, a different price bracket, and a different side of the room entirely.
When you weigh a Ravinia Festival ticket, three variables do the work: how far back you are, whether you're covered or out on the open lawn, and how centered you are on the stage. That's why Martin Theatre and Pavilion can price and view so differently while sitting on the same chart. Use the best-seats notes above as the tiebreak for Ravinia Festival, then confirm section, row, and seat against the official Highland Park map before checkout.
For scale: at 18,000 seats, Ravinia Festival ranks 6th of the 16 Illinois venues in this guide by capacity — United Center (23,500) is the next size up, State Farm Center (15,500) the next size down.
Building a seating chart for an event at Ravinia Festival
Booked a suite, a club space, or a room adjacent to Ravinia Festival for something private? Let the chart above anchor the plan — sections like Pavilion and Martin Theatre and their surrounding tiers show the geography — and lay tables over just the part of it your event occupies. Seat every guest in the maker, export the PDF, and the Highland Park event-services team has a document they can set up from. Full house at Ravinia Festival is 18,000, but private events run on a far smaller footprint: dinner rounds, program rows, and a head table are usually the whole build.
Hosting a private event at Ravinia Festival?
Sketch your Ravinia Festival event in minutes — rounds for dinner service, rows for the presentation, a head table where it belongs. Up to 500 seats per layout, finished as a print-ready PDF the Highland Park event team can work from.
Open the seating chart generatorFrequently asked questions
- How many seats does Ravinia Festival hold?
- Full configuration at Ravinia Festival is 18,000. Expect the working number to move with the event type: concerts open or close sections that other events leave alone, and a private buyout only counts the spaces you actually book — typically a club, a suite, or one or two of the 5 sections on the Highland Park chart.
- What are the best seats at Ravinia Festival?
- Pavilion rows F-K for the orchestra and major-artist shows. Reserved lawn front-center for the picnic experience without paying pavilion prices.
- What sections does Ravinia Festival have?
- Main sections include: Pavilion — covered seating, premium tier; Reserved Lawn — closer-in lawn sections, reserved; GA Lawn — open lawn, bring blankets. Full breakdown in the sections list above.
- Where is Ravinia Festival located?
- Ravinia Festival is located in Highland Park, Illinois. Confirm the street address, parking, and transit near sections like Pavilion on the official venue site before you go; Highland Park venues handle gates, lots, and rideshare pickups differently.
- How do I plan a private event at Ravinia Festival?
- Open the maker below and work from Ravinia Festival's actual geography (Pavilion and Martin Theatre and neighbors). Drop tables where your event sits, assign each guest, and export the PDF the Highland Park event-services team will set up from.