Is the Chicago Jazz Festival free?

The Chicago Jazz Festival is free and open to the public. The event boasts an incredibly diverse lineup of local and national jazz musicians at Chicago’s lakefront Millennium Park. The fest is part of the city’s free summer music festival series, which includes Chicago Blues Festival and Chicago Gospel Music Festival.

Is Millennium Park free?

Chicago’s lakefront Millennium Park is free and open to the public to enjoy. Here are some of the free things to do at Millennium Park: See “The Bean” and take a selfie in its shiny surface Splash and play in interactive Crown Fountain See a movie or concert under the stars at Pritzker Pavilion Skate around the winter ice rink in the shadow of The Bean Run and play at Maggie Daley Park Find a moment of zen in Lurie Garden

AA_BluesFest2014_Crowd_43_a99289cf-3e0b-4a82-af84-bb840f9fb250

Chicago’s free summer music festivals

In the summer, the city’s downtown and lakefront are filled with the sound of sublime songs, slide guitars, haunting violins, and sultry saxes, as revelers dance, mingle, and celebrate the city’s astounding contribution to music through a series of free festivals. Here, we highlight six of the biggies, bringing together the very best in gospel, blues, jazz, classical, and world music.

Chicago Gospel Music Festival

Celebrating the genre’s deep Chicago roots with traditional choirs and contemporary urban gospel music in the city where the genre was born, the Chicago Gospel Music Festival is a free event in May that features local and national artists at the Chicago Cultural Center and Millennium Park.

Chicago Blues Festival

See legendary musicians at the Chicago Blues Fest

The Chicago Blues Festival in Millennium Park is the largest free blues festival in the world. Over three days and on five stages each June, more than 500,000 blues fans and a line up of renowned musicians prove that Chicago is indeed the “Blues Capital of the World.” Past performers include Bonnie Raitt, Ray Charles, B.B. King, the late Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, and the late Koko Taylor.

Grant Park Music Festival

Carlos Kalmar Conducting Grant Park Music Festival

Head to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park for the nation’s only free, outdoor classical music series of its kind — the Grant Park Music Festival. The Grammy-nominated Grant Park Orchestra, along with the 100-plus-member Grant Park Chorus and special guest performers and conductors, bring the sounds of Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and more to Millennium Park all summer long. Spread out on the Great Lawn and enjoy.

Chicago Jazz Festival

Chicago Jazz Fest

The longest-running of the city’s lakefront music festivals, the Chicago Jazz Festival is also one of the most popular. Known for its artistic creativity, the August festival promotes awareness and appreciation for all forms of jazz through free live musical performances at two stunning downtown venues: the Chicago Cultural Center and Millennium Park.

World Music Festival

Band performing on stage at Chicago World Music Festival
The annual World Music Festival Chicago in September brings music from all over the world to Chicago for this popular 11-day festival. The city-wide, multi-venue celebration has attracted over 650,000 concertgoers and presented more than 650 artists and ensembles from more than 80 countries since it began in 1999.