Event venues in Chicago

Near South Side · stadium

The Bears' stadium on the lakefront. The smallest capacity in the NFL, and still the largest single crowd the city assembles on a Sunday.

Near South Side · convention centre

The largest convention centre in North America. Its crowds arrive for whole days rather than evenings, which makes lunch the rush rather than dinner.

Lakeview · stadium

The Cubs' home since 1914, sitting inside a residential neighbourhood rather than a parking lot, which is why its crowd reaches so many front doors on foot.

Bridgeport · stadium

The White Sox ballpark on the South Side, known as Guaranteed Rate Field until 2025, running an 81 game home schedule that puts a mid sized crowd on Bridgeport streets most summer evenings.

Near South Side · open air amphitheatre

The lakefront amphitheatre, open air and summer only, which concentrates a season's worth of large crowds into a few months.

Near West Side · arena

Home to the Bulls and the Blackhawks and the city's biggest indoor concert room, so it runs a fuller calendar than any other venue in Chicago.

Uptown · music hall

A 1920s ballroom on Lawrence Avenue, standing room and mid sized, which makes it the room that fills Uptown on a weeknight when nothing else does.

Loop · theatre

An 1889 Adler and Sullivan room on Congress, running dance, touring theatre and concerts to a seated audience that arrives early and leaves together.

Loop · theatre

The State Street landmark. A seated room with a genuine pre show dinner window, which makes its crowd worth more per head than a larger standing one.

Lakeview · theatre

A restored 1912 theatre on Sheffield, small enough that a sold out night is a good evening rather than a surge, and frequent enough to matter weekly.

Lakeview · music hall

The Clark Street club a block from Wrigley. On a night when both are on, the two crowds arrive within an hour of each other.