Ravinia Festival

Ravinia Festival
One of the entrances to Ravinia Festival
Location(s)Highland Park, Illinois
Coordinates42°9′29″N 87°46′37″W / 42.15806°N 87.77694°W / 42.15806; -87.77694[1]
Years active1904–present
FoundersChicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad
Websitewww.ravinia.org

Ravinia Festival is an outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois.[2] It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September. The first orchestra to perform at Ravinia Festival was the New York Philharmonic under Walter Damrosch on June 17, 1905, with the Chicago Tribune praising its "musical entertainment so satisfying in quality and so delightful in environment."[3] It has been the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) since 1936.[4] Located in the Ravinia neighborhood, the venue operates on the grounds of the 36-acre (15 ha) Ravinia Park, with a variety of outdoor and indoor performing arts facilities, including the architectural prairie style Martin Theater. The Ravinia 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.[2]

The Ravinia neighborhood, once an incorporated village before annexation in 1899, is actively maintained by the Ravinia Neighbors Association, who work to enhance and preserve Ravinia's architecture, history, and environment.[5] The business district on Roger Williams Ave., within walking distance from the Ravinia Festival grounds, includes neighborhood service businesses and restaurants.[6] Ravinia takes its name from the numerous steep-sided ravines that slice the shoreline near Lake Michigan.[5]

  1. ^ "Ravinia Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ a b "Ravinia - History" (Press release). Ravinia Festival. Archived from the original on 2010-04-02. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
  3. ^ "125 Moments: 054 Ravinia Park". CSO sounds and stories. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  4. ^ "CSO at Ravinia". CSO sounds and stories. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  5. ^ a b Miller, Elliott. "History of Ravinia". Ravinia Neighbors Association. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Business District – Ravinia". Archived from the original on 2015-01-12. Retrieved 2014-12-29.