Grant Park is a 319-acre lakefront park in the heart of downtown Chicago, stretching along Lake Michigan in the Loop community area. Officially designated parkland in 1844 and renamed for Ulysses S. Grant in 1901, it has long been called “Chicago’s front yard” for its role as the city’s central green space and gathering ground.
Within the park, the Petrillo Music Shell has served as Chicago’s outdoor concert stage since the 1930s, and since 2005 Grant Park has been the permanent home of Lollapalooza, one of the largest music festivals in the United States. Its mix of skyline views, lakefront setting, and festival infrastructure has made it a fixture of the city’s live music calendar.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: Loop, Chicago, Illinois
- Type: Public park and outdoor festival venue
- Opened: 1844 (park); Petrillo Music Shell, 1931 (rebuilt 1978)
- Size: About 319 acres
- Capacity: About 100,000 per day at Lollapalooza; Petrillo Music Shell seats about 35,000
- Famous for: Permanent home of Lollapalooza since 2005
A Stage Rebuilt on Tradition
Grant Park’s concert history dates to 1935, when Chicago Federation of Musicians president James C. Petrillo launched a free summer symphonic series at the original bandshell near Hutchinson Field, drawing an estimated 1.9 million listeners in its debut season. That structure stood until the mid-1970s, when a new Petrillo Music Shell rose at Butler Field in 1978, built as a semi-permanent facility to satisfy the park’s historic building restrictions.
Over the decades the shell has hosted the Grant Park Music Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, and Taste of Chicago, along with civic moments like a 1979 mass held by Pope John Paul II and Mayor Harold Washington’s 1987 inauguration.
Lollapalooza’s Permanent Home
After touring as a traveling festival through the 1990s, Lollapalooza settled into Grant Park in 2005 and has returned every summer since, growing from a two-day event into a four-day festival across multiple stages. The festival now draws roughly 100,000 attendees a day, totaling around 400,000 fans each July, making Grant Park one of the busiest outdoor music grounds in the country for one week every summer.
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Grant Park FAQs
Is Grant Park a single music venue or a whole park?
Grant Park is a 319-acre public park; its concerts are concentrated at the Petrillo Music Shell and the open festival grounds used for events like Lollapalooza.
How long has Lollapalooza been held at Grant Park?
Lollapalooza has been held annually in Grant Park since 2005, after touring as a traveling festival throughout the 1990s.
What is the Petrillo Music Shell?
It’s Grant Park’s outdoor bandshell, first built in 1931 and rebuilt in 1978, that has hosted free concerts and festivals since 1935.
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Photo: Diego Delso / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.