The 20 Biggest Amphitheaters in North America (2026)

The amphitheater is America’s summer concert machine: a covered pavilion, a giant lawn, and a season of shed tours. This list ranks the 20 biggest dedicated outdoor amphitheaters in North America by maximum capacity, from ThrillZing’s venue database.

Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin is the giant at 37,000 — roughly 7,500 covered seats and a lawn that swallows the rest — nearly 10,000 clear of the Gorge Amphitheatre (27,500), whose Columbia River canyon backdrop makes it the most spectacular venue in the country.

The 20 Biggest Amphitheaters

The full ranking is below. Venues with a ThrillZing profile are linked.

#	Amphitheater	Location	Opened	Capacity
1	Alpine Valley Music Theatre	East Troy, WI	1977	37,000
2	Gorge Amphitheatre	George, WA	1986	27,500
3	Saratoga Performing Arts Center	Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs	1966	25,000
4	Ruoff Music Center	Noblesville, IN	1989	24,790
5	Shoreline Amphitheatre	Mountain View, California	1986	22,500
6	Ravinia Festival	Highland Park, Illinois	1904	21,350
7	Blossom Music Center	Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio	1968	21,051
8	Riverbend Music Center	Cincinnati, OH	1984	20,500
9	Tanglewood	Lenox & Stockbridge, MA	1937	20,000
10	Merriweather Post Pavilion	Columbia, Maryland	1967	19,319
11	Toyota Amphitheatre	Wheatland, CA	2000	18,500
12	Hollywood Bowl	—	1922	17,500
13	PNC Bank Arts Center	Holmdel Township, New Jersey	1968	17,500
14	Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion	The Woodlands, Texas (about 30 miles north of Houston)	1990	16,500
15	Budweiser Stage	Ontario Place, Ontario	1995	16,100
16	White River Amphitheatre	Auburn, WA	2003	16,000
17	Pine Knob Music Theatre	Clarkston, Michigan	1972	15,040
18	The Wharf Amphitheater	Orange Beach, AL	—	10,000
19	Red Rocks Amphitheatre	—	1941	9525
20	Wolf Trap	Vienna, Virginia (about 15 miles from Washington	1971	7028

Lawns Built for Legends

These venues are where American touring lives: Alpine Valley and the Gorge anchor the festival end, while the classical giants — Saratoga Performing Arts Center (Philadelphia Orchestra’s summer home), Blossom (Cleveland Orchestra), Ravinia (Chicago Symphony), and Tanglewood (Boston Symphony) — pair 20,000-person lawns with resident orchestras.

The Live Nation shed circuit fills the middle: Ruoff, Shoreline, Riverbend, Toyota Amphitheatre, PNC Bank Arts Center, and Pine Knob, which regularly ranks among the highest-attended amphitheaters in the world.

Small Giants

The bottom of the list holds the most famous names: the Hollywood Bowl (17,500) has run for over a century, and Red Rocks (9,525) — carved between sandstone monoliths in Colorado — is the venue most artists call the best on Earth, capacity be damned.

That’s the amphitheater paradox: the lawn sells the tickets, but the setting makes the legend.

Explore more: the biggest live music venues in the world, our Red Rocks guide, all music venue guides.

Biggest Amphitheaters in North America FAQs

What is the biggest amphitheater in the US?

Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin is the biggest at 37,000 capacity — about 7,500 covered seats plus one of the largest lawns in live music.

How many people does Red Rocks hold?

Red Rocks Amphitheatre holds 9,525 — small for this list, but its natural sandstone setting makes it the most celebrated outdoor venue in America.

What’s the difference between an amphitheater and an arena?

Amphitheaters are open-air venues with a covered stage/pavilion and a general-admission lawn; arenas are enclosed year-round buildings. Amphitheaters dominate summer tours, arenas the rest of the year.

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Photo: Jesse Goodier / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.