Chicago's primary civic park, stretching along the lakefront from Randolph Street south to Roosevelt Road, Grant Park is where the city holds its large outdoor events: Lollapalooza, the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Chicago Blues Festival, and the election night celebrations that have made it politically famous. The park is effectively the city's front lawn — open, formal in layout, and bookended by the Art Institute to the north and the Museum Campus to the south.
Beyond the events calendar, the Buckingham Fountain (1927) at the centre is one of the largest fountains in the world and puts on a nightly light-and-water show from May to October. The Grant Park Music Festival, a free classical music series at the Pritzker Pavilion, runs through summer and is one of Chicago's most appreciated civic amenities.