Blossom Music Center

Blossom is the Cleveland Orchestra’s outdoor summer home: a concert campus of more than 500 wooded acres in Cuyahoga Valley, with a covered Pavilion and a broad grassy Lawn. The summer Blossom Festival is the anchor, alongside other touring shows and live movie concerts. Plan around a scheduled performance and ticket; this isn’t a place to drop into between hikes.

The covered Pavilion seats about 5,700; the Lawn adds roughly 13,500 places on its slope. A show on the Lawn feels more like a picnic on a hillside, while the Pavilion keeps you under cover.

What the visit is like depends a lot on the show. People often praise the wooded setting and sound, but busy concerts can mean slow traffic getting in and out, especially after the performance. Give yourself time for the drive and walk from the event lots, and note where you parked before heading in.

For Cleveland Orchestra shows, the Lawn is picnic-style: the venue currently allows picnic food and blankets, with short-legged chairs. Rules can differ for other events, so check the details for your concert. Ramps, wheelchair seating with companion spaces, and accessible restrooms are available.

The open-air auditorium sits in a natural bowl ringed by trees. That shape gives the Pavilion and Lawn their setting, and it was one reason the orchestra chose this site. Architect Peter van Dijk’s steel-truss Pavilion was designed without interior support columns, keeping sightlines open across the stage. Its acoustics were part of the design from the start.

The campus covers more than 500 acres, but nearly 20,000 people can gather in the Pavilion and on the Lawn for a major event. The roof, sloping grass, and woodland make the venue feel different from an arena concert.

Cleveland Orchestra founder Adella Prentiss Hughes was arguing for summer work for the musicians as early as 1923. Trustees began a serious venue search in 1964; after considering more than 80 sites, they chose this bowl-shaped property in 1966. Groundbreaking followed in 1967.

The orchestra’s first Blossom Festival opened in 1968. George Szell led the first concert on July 19 with an all-Beethoven program. The Blossom family contributed $1.335 million to the project, and the venue carries the family name in memory of Dudley S. Blossom Jr. and its civic values.

Blossom Grille, a full-service restaurant and bar, sits at the top of the Lawn. Concession stands offer familiar concert food such as pizza, burgers, hot dogs, pretzels, and ice cream. For Cleveland Orchestra performances, the venue also allows visitors to bring a picnic; check the rules for your specific event before packing food, drinks, or chairs.