(June 13 – August 18, 2012) Chicago’s favorite free summer-concert series, the Grant Park Music Festival is conveniently located in Millennium Park, right by the Loop. Over 10 weeks, evening concerts featuring the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus are held in the Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion, where Chicagoans picnic and enjoy the state-of-the-art sound out on the lawn (festival donors can get priority seating closer to the stage). ...more...

Established in 1991 by Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell, Lollapalooza has been a major promoter of alternative music and culture, with a particular emphasis on grunge music in its early years.  The iconic festival, which features over 100 bands in just three days, now takes place each summer in Chicago’s Grant Park. Popular performers like Green Day and Lady Gaga have been known to take the Lollapalooza stages, as have …more…

For three days each summer, the Pitchfork Music Festival brings Chicago’s Union Park the best in independent music, with dozens of bands playing the festival’s three music stages. The fest also has a comedy stage that features top comics, a poster art exhibition, a vinyl/CD fair, and a handmade goods market where local artisans sell their crafts. With a significant part of its mission being to provide a very user-friendly …more…