Ravinia Festival — Attraction in Highland Park

Likely won't be sitting in the the pavilion anymore. We've been going to Ravinia for many years and always had a good time in the lawn. It's great listening to music there and the surroundings are beautiful. Their rules for the pavilion are RIDICULOUS!! You have to buy a "souvenir cup" for $10 and then you can fill it with a drink purchased outside of the pavilion. That's fine... the $10 goes to charity. Totally for that. Problem is the cup is 16 oz. and the drink you may buy (can of beer, white claw..etc.) are 16 oz. If you have ice (that you have to buy) in the cup it's not possible to fill the cup with the can of whatever you bought. Sweet!!

Then the security man (who was very nice) let us in with our "souvenir cup" filled with ice and an unopened can we bought so it could be filled when we sat down. Some usher comes up to us while walking to our seats and immediately calls for security. He said we couldn't have that in the seating area. He didn't even attempt to talk to us....Just started calling for security. I told him we just walked through security. He started yelling "SECURITY, SECURITY" and the same security man came down and talked to me. He said he was sorry and we could fill the "souvenir cup" on the walkway and then leave the rest of the can up there where he'd keep an eye on it. There were at least 20 cans of "I'll keep my eye on it" up there.

Then, my wife was the Designated Driver and tried to bring in a cup of coffee we purchased. Usher told her it wasn't allowed because they don't want anything "sticky" in the pavilion. Huh!! You can bring a sugar loaded pop in but not a cup of "sticky" black coffee? Totally makes sense.

As the show was going on...another usher walked up to an older group in front of us that were probably in their 70's. Somehow they got a small cooler in the pavilion with High Noon cans in it. The female usher pulled an elderly man with a can in his hand out of his seat. I could hear her say "you can't have that in here". Then she escorted him out with his cooler and he stood on the walkway the rest of the show. SERIOUSLY???

Ravinia needs to square away their ushers and rules. Responsible people should be allowed to be responsible. It was unreal how rude the...

Beautiful place to picnic, catch up with friends, eat, drink and be merry, all while outside under the stars listening, watching and enjoying your favorite band/performer/orchestra. Do not mind the reviews of the Negative Nancy's complaining about bringing their medications in and all. Rules are rules, and when they check you, they are not doing it to be mean, they want ensure your safety and the safety of others. To the reviewer who complained about voluntarily stating they had a pill in their pocket for medical reasons...you have obviously been taking them for years and know the strict policies on everything now. If you're going to bring just one pill out of your bottle, they make little cannisters/containers/holders that you can easily hook up to your key chain or keep in your pants pocket, bra, sweatshirt pocket, etc. If anyone security-wise finds a stray pill, they are going to ask. You have lived on this planet long enough to know there are strict rules to follow when it comes to drugs or bringing them into venues. Script or not. So don't complain when the security has to do their job. If you can't handle it, then you shouldn't be going places and spreading negative reviews. All in all, yes, the place does get crowded early, but the earlier you get there to pick a spot if you have the lawn, the better. And you are allowed to leave your lawn seats and walk up to the pavilion to see the stage. Generally, people are out to enjoy their friends, drink, and have a great time seeing/listening their favorite acts. The only complaint I have for the Ravinia, is for them to maybe consider getting a few more big screens to spread out to the lawn spots...the people who do sit far back on the lawn do have a hard time seeing if they do not walk up closer...but other than that the place is super clean and very organized with very friendly and helpful staff...

I attended the Ravinia Festival again in July 2025. The same guards and unwelcoming signs were present as before, but hundreds of people were taking free purple shuttles to the concert in a long waiting line. However, there were still no signs indicating where the rideshare drop-off and pick-up locations were. I followed the Uber app directions until we reached a stop sign, where I dropped my riders off. They had to walk several blocks with their chairs and picnic baskets. I hope they were able to find the “correct” entrance in an ill-tempered place.

In 2024, I drove two passengers to the festival, but again, there were no signs indicating which entrance to use. We ended up at the back entrance, where a rude guard informed us that I could not drop off my passengers there, or I would face a $100 fine.

This guard, a bold white man in his 40s, instructed us to go to the front entrance. Once more, there were no clear directions or signs to guide us. The only signs we encountered were blocking every street in Ravinia, stating “Ravinia traffic prohibited.” After going around in circles, I ended up dropping my riders off behind the bushes, away from the rude guards.

If Ravinia is going to host a festival, it needs to do a better job of welcoming its visitors by providing clear directions for passenger drop-off, parking, and entrance locations.

Overall, the Ravinia Festival is highly disorganized, with rude and misinformed guards threatening visitors with $100 fines, leaving people confused due to the lack of clear communication from...