Millennium Park

Millennium Park is situated at the northern edge of Grant Park, and opened in 2004 to quickly become one of Chicago’s most popular attractions. The architecturally distinctive park hosts hundreds of free concerts and programs in Frank Gehry’s stunning Jay Pritzker Pavilion. Innovative pieces of public art, like Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain and Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate, are among Chicago’s most recognizable symbols. The Lurie Garden’s native prairie landscape comes alive in the summer, while an outdoor ice rink attracts thousands for free skating every winter.

Millennium Park: A Magical Destination

Written by Alan Solomon, with research assistance from the Chicago Neighborhood Tourism Project.

There is magic at Millennium Park, but the level depends on how willing visitors are to interact with it.

This should not be a passive experience. Not this place.

The attractions within this most unique 24.5-acre parcel of Chicago greenery are easily listed and impossible to miss: There's the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, where the music happens outside. The Harris Theater for Dance and Music is the indoor theater.

The Lurie Garden. Nice. The Crown Fountain. Nice. The Ice Rink in winter. Nice. Millennium Monument (Peristyle). Classic.

There's Cloud Gate. "The Bean."

But to snap a photo, check a site off the list and move to the Art Institute just south of here is missing the point -- and the joy.

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