The Ravinia Festival has reopened its historic Hunter Pavilion following a $70 million renovation that deliberately reduced seating capacity, shifting focus from ticket volume to audience comfort, accessibility, and sound quality.
Where most venue upgrades aim to add seats, the Illinois amphitheater cut capacity from approximately 3,350 to 2,840. The removed seats made way for wider, more ADA-compliant seating and additional legroom throughout the pavilion.
Sight-lines were also overhauled. The stage was extended by seven feet, improving visibility for attendees. The pavilion, originally constructed in 1904 and rebuilt after a 1949 fire, had retained decades-old structural quirks until the renovation was proposed in 2024.
Temperature and acoustics received significant attention. LED lighting replaced older fixtures, and new ventilation fans were installed to lower on-stage temperatures. Cooler air not only benefits performers and audiences but also contributes to what the venue describes as a “cooler sound” acoustically.
Upcoming Performances at the Hunter Pavilion
- JUL 14, Squirrel Nut Zippers
- JUL 15, Harry Connick, Jr.
- JUL 16, Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio”
- JUL 17, Paul Simon
- JUL 18, Paul Simon
- JUL 18, Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio”
- JUL 19, Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony and Violin Concerto
- JUL 22, Violinist Augustin Hadelich
- JUL 23, Mahler’s Sixth Symphony
- JUL 24, On the Movies
- JUL 25, An Evening with St. Vincent
- JUL 26, Chanticleer
- JUL 26, Emmylou Harris & Graham Nash
- JUL 28, Ravinia with The Coral Reefer Band
- JUL 29, The Kody Norris Show
- JUL 31, Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony
- AUG 01, Laurie Berkner
- AUG 01, John Williams and Rachmaninoff
- AUG 02, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- AUG 04, Magic City Hippies
- AUG 05, Danish String Quartet
- AUG 06, Daniel Lozakovich
- AUG 07, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- AUG 08, Chance The Rapper
- AUG 09, Hugh Jackman
- AUG 09, Misha Dichter
- AUG 11, Gladys Knight
- AUG 12, Joe Bonamassa
- AUG 13, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- AUG 14, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- AUG 15, moe.
- AUG 15, Okee Dokee Brothers
- AUG 16, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- AUG 16, Frederica von Stade
- AUG 19, Gregory Alan Isakov
- AUG 20, Ricky Martin
- AUG 21, Alabama Shakes
- AUG 22, Divinity Roxx
- AUG 22, Ravinia Festival – Carousel Stage
- AUG 22, Bonnie Raitt
- AUG 23, Grease Sing-A-Long
- AUG 25, Deep Purple
- AUG 26, Brandi Carlile
- AUG 27, Kool & The Gang
- AUG 28, Alabama
- AUG 29, Ray LaMontagne
- AUG 30, Miranda Lambert
- SEP 02, Labrinth
- SEP 03, Music of the Baroque
- SEP 04, Snoop Dogg
- SEP 05, Rod Stewart
- SEP 06, Pianist Olga Kern
- SEP 06, Squeeze
- SEP 12, Alison Krauss & Union Station
- SEP 13, Los Tigres del Norte
- SEP 17, Ravinia Festival (with Thievery Corporation)
- SEP 17, Ziggy Marley and Thievery Corporation
- SEP 18, Tom Jones
- SEP 19, Martina McBride
- SEP 23, Jacob Collier
