Petrillo Music Shell
in Chicago, United StatesCategory: Attraction
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300-320 East Jackson Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA Print route »
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James C. Petrillo Music Shell or simply Petrillo Music Shell or Petrillo Bandshell as it is more commonly known, is an outdoor amphitheater/bandstand in Grant Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It serves as host to many large annual music festivals in the city such as Chicago Blues Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Taste of Chicago and Lollapalooza. It is also the former host of several smaller (less than 10,000) attendance annual events that have moved to the newer Jay Pritzker Pavilion such as the Grant Park Music Festival, Chicago Gospel Music Festival, and Chicago Latin Music Festival. It was formerly located at the South end of Grant Park and was relocated in 1978.The shell was commissioned in 1931 by Mayor of Chicago Anton Cermak in the wake of the Great Depression to help lift the spirits of the citizenry with free concerts. The music shell was named after James C. Petrillo, president of the Chicago Federation of Musicians from 1922 to 1962 and president of the American Federation of Musicians from 1940 to 1958, who created a free concert series in Grant Park in 1935. Petrillo was a commissioner of the Chicago Park District from 1934 to 1945. Until the 1990s, the music shell was known for a traditional Independence Day concert celebration coordinated with the city's fireworks display on July 3.
