Ravinia is an outdoor entertainment venue located in Highland Park, just north of Chicago, featuring a variety of acts such as classical, pop, contemporary, blues and jazz. The pavilion holds 3,200 reserved seats, but the main attraction is picnicking on the lawn. General admission tickets are available for lawn seating, where the guests bring lavish picnics, often with tables, tablecloths, candles, and crystal. Some choose to purchase their meals at one of several onsite restaurants or preorder a gourmet boxed meal and wine. Note that the music is broadcast to the lawn, but you cannot see the stage unless you're in reserved seats in the pavilion.

In 1904, the A.C. Frost Company created Ravinia as an amusement park intended to lure riders to the fledgling Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad. The amusement park boasted a baseball diamond, electric fountain and refectory or casino building with dining rooms and a dance floor. The prairie-style Martin Theatre (then called Ravinia Theatre) is the only building on the grounds that dates back to that original construction. When the park's existence became jeopardized following the railroad's bankruptcy, local residents (for the most part Chicago businessmen) formed a corporation in 1911 to purchase and operate the park. Music was a confirmed summer activity from then on, except for a brief hiatus during the Depression.

Over 100 years later, Ravinia Festival is the oldest outdoor music festival in North America and is lauded for presenting world-class music. The festival attracts about 600,000 listeners to some 120 to 150 events that span all genres from classical music to jazz to music theater over each three-month summer season. Over the years, the festival has hosted such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, The Ballet Russe, Tony Bennett, Luciano Berio, Leonard Bernstein, Lucrezia Bori, Dave Brubeck, Pablo Casals, Van Cliburn, Aaron Copland, Dorothy Dandridge, Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, George Gershwin, JosZÿ Greco, Jascha Heifetz, John Houseman, Janis Joplin, Yo-Yo Ma, Luciano Pavarotti, Itzhak Perlman, Oscar Peterson, Stephen Sondheim, Isaac Stern and Frank Zappa.

If your from the Chicago area and haven't been to Ravinia, you NEED to go!! It's located in a Northern Chicago suburb called Highland Park, and it's one of the oldest outdoor music festivals in North America. The ambience is incredible! It's a parklike setting on 36 acres with beautiful old trees. It happens every summer between June and September, with popular Artists performing a range of music from Classical and Pop, to Jazz. Theres an open air pavillion with reserved seating, but the main attraction is the LAWN. This year once again my Family and I attended the Tony Bennett concert. It's just not summer unless we go to Ravinia at least once! My Son says " It's like a rite of passage into Fall " and it certainly is!! Now, before I go on about the picknicking aspect of it all , I have to speak about Tony Bennett, what a class act! In his 80's and sounds as good as ever! never misses a beat. This was his 23rd season at Ravinia, and the crowd loves him! it was a record night there. When he sang CHICAGO the crowd went wild! With beautiful weather and his voice being broadcast to the lawn audience, well, you can't get better than that!! Now, about the picnicking, this is not for the faint of heart! This is DIE HARD picknicking that would put Martha Stewart to Shame!! The first time you go there you will be in AWE. Ill never forget the first time I went, I saw a complete Turkey feast on a silver platter no less, with linens and candles, flowers , It put our meager picnic to shame!! Since then,we have upgraded quite a bit, with our special "Ravinia Tables" and a 9x15 Decorative mat to stake our claim on the lawn! Once the gates open it's a mad dash for the perfect spot! We have our favorite, and manage to get it everytime.

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