1683 Best Performing Arts Venues in USA

Held the weekend before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, this three-day ballooning festival includes live music, a taco supper, an ice cream social, a "night glow," and flights over Valley of the Gods and Monument Valley.

At its 2,100-seat Belk Theater and smaller Booth Playhouse and Stage Door Theater, this performing arts center houses several resident companies, including the Charlotte Symphony, Charlotte Ballet, and Opera Carolina.

The historic Wang Theatre, which opened in 1925 and holds an audience of 3,500, and its 1910 little sister, the Shubert Theatre, partner up to create this performance-space complex dedicated to national and international productions, dance companies, concerts, and headlining comics. Check out the schedule online, and order your tickets before you come to town.

Fort Collins's largest community festival, this music-centered event is a proud showing of the bustling Colorado music community, which has produced the Fray, Tennis, 3OH!3, OneRepublic, Nathaniel Rateliff, and others. Dozens of bands play on multiple stages during the free event on a Saturday in September. Bohemian Nights also hosts Thursday night concerts downtown during the summer.

This 15,000-seat arena hosts major concerts and sporting events, including the minor league hockey Greenville Swamp Rabbits.

This company presents new stories of the Southwest border region—often multicultural and bilingual—at venues throughout Tucson, usually from September through April.

The Bosque River Stage, set on the banks of the Bosque River bordering the McLennan Community College campus, hosts numerous concerts each year.

The city's premier dance company performs at the Boston Opera House. Shows have included Romeo and Juliet, classic Balanchine, and La Sylphide. And, of course, if you're visiting during the holidays, be sure to score seats to The Nutcracker.

This group serves as a clearinghouse for an amazing array of local dance companies' classes, performances, and workshops. Visit the alliance's website for upcoming performances and venues.

With an aim to "inspire change, build community, and celebrate difference," the Boston Gay Men's Chorus has a repertoire that ranges from holiday favorites to show tunes to chamber selections to pop hits. With more than 300 members, the group performs at the New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall and has been directed by conductor Reuben Reynolds for over 20 years.

The charismatic founder and conductor Benjamin Zander—whose signature preconcert chats help audiences better understand the blockbuster symphonies they're about to hear—heads up the Boston Philharmonic. Performances at Harvard's Sanders Theatre, the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, Symphony Hall, and a variety of other locales often encompass symphonies by Beethoven, Mahler, Shostakovich, and Brahms, plus lots of concertos.

Under the agile baton of Keith Lockhart, Boston Pops (largely Boston Symphony musicians) perform a bracing blend of American standards, movie themes, and contemporary vocal numbers (with top-tier guests) during May and June at Symphony Hall, plus 40 festive holiday-season concerts. Outdoor concerts on July 3 and 4 at the Hatch Memorial Shell are followed by concerts at the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home, Tanglewood, in Lenox, Massachusetts, in July and August. The free outdoor concerts are packed; be sure to arrive early with blankets, folding chairs, and a picnic.

Founded in 1881, the Boston Symphony is one of America's oldest and most venerable orchestras, with dynamic Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons at the helm. Its home season at Symphony Hall runs from September through April. In July and August the music migrates to Tanglewood, the orchestra's bucolic summer home in the Berkshire Mountains in Lenox, Massachusetts. Including tours to Carnegie Hall and China, and the Boston Pops concerts, the BSO performs more than 250 concerts annually.

Held each Memorial Day weekend since 1987, the Boulder Creek Festival converts a stretch along Boulder Creek into a giant party, complete with carnival rides, live music, hundreds of vendors, food, and multiple beer gardens. The free festival (a beer festival for those over 21 is offered concurrently for a fee) runs between Arapahoe Avenue and Canyon Boulevard between 9th and 14th Streets.

Boulder's professional orchestra presents its own concert season, frequently including some of the biggest names in classical music. The "Boulder Phil" also collaborates with the Boulder Ballet Ensemble to present the Nutcracker each holiday season.

This group runs a year-round concert series, often featuring talented university students and traveling artists. Performances take place at the Willson Auditorium.

For the last half century, The Brattle has served as the square's independent movie house, screening indie, foreign, obscure, and classic films, from nouveau to noir. Occupying a squat, barnlike building from 1890, it is set improbably between a modern shopping center and a colonial mansion. The resident repertory company gained notoriety in the 1950s when it made a practice of hiring actors blacklisted as Communists by the U.S. government.

Check the website for current offerings and events, like the usually sold-out Valentine’s Day screenings of Casablanca; the Bugs Bunny Film Festival in February; March's Underground Film Festival; Trailer Treats, an annual fundraiser featuring classic and modern movie previews; and DocYard, a stunning series of documentaries. At Christmastime, expect seasonal movies like It's a Wonderful Life and Holiday Inn. Enjoy a rotating selection of local beers and wines.

The spacious factory setting that houses Bread & Salt feels like a modern art warehouse, though its name nods to its long history as a former Wonder Bread factory. Still adorned with much of the industrial machinery and exposed brick, Bread & Salt now houses rotating exhibits from local and national artists, as well as group events such as motorcycle shows and live music showcases. It's also a partner with La Jolla Athenaeum, and puts on experimental and avant-garde concerts throughout the year.

For a no-holds-barred, singing comedy cabaret, leave the kids at home and hit the bawdy Brewery Follies (ages 13 and up); shows take place twice-daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Make advance reservations (by phone only).

Sunday evenings by the bay (late June through Labor Day, weather permitting) are filled with the sounds of the town-band concerts, held in the gazebo on the grounds of Drummer Boy Park. Bring your beach chairs, blankets, and a picnic for a lovely outing. The park is about ½ mile west of the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, on the western side of Brewster.

Enjoy craft beer and tasty pub fare while you watch the new releases and indie films at this intimate cinema in the Granary District.

Originally built as a horse stable for Marshall Field, Briar Street Theatre is the spot to catch the long-running hit Blue Man Group, which has been performing there since 1997. 

Connected to the neighborhood's popular Broad Theater, this outdoor venue hosts music and film screenings several times throughout the week, with a concentrated number of shows on the weekend. You can enjoy snacks, cocktails, wine, and beer, all while taking in some of the most creative programming in the city just steps from Lafitte Greenway. Some events are free while others are ticketed.

Salt Lake Film Society shows newly released, independent, and foreign films at this hugely popular downtown venue.

Here, buffet dinners accompany some of Broadway’s best musicals. There’s also a 100-seat Off Broadway Palm Theatre that hosts smaller-scale comedies and musicals.

Formerly known as Drury Lane, the 550-seat theater in Water Tower Place was taken over in 2010 by the Broadway in Chicago group, which modernized the space and reopened it as the Broadway Playhouse. Its inaugural season included a new production of hometown scribe Studs Terkel's Working.

This group presents shows like Hamilton, Annie, and Les Misérables at two Downtown venues.

This downtown theater company brings three touring Broadway blockbusters to the restored Memorial Hall every year.

The Brooklyn Book Festival is a huge, (mostly) free public event with an array of established and emerging authors, readings, panels, discussions, parties, games, and signings—all held in clubs, parks, theaters, and libraries across Brooklyn in late September.

Unlike its New York namesake, the Las Vegas Brooklyn Bowl only looks like it was retrofitted from an old warehouse. It was actually built from the ground up in 2014 as an anchor for The LINQ outdoor retail plaza. The Las Vegas location copies and expands upon the original by surrounding its concert space with 32 bowling lanes and food outlets offering fried chicken and other goodies from the Blue Ribbon group. Live concert acts such as Gary Clark Jr. and Artemas share the calendar with DJ-themed nights catering to the Strip's service industry or big events that are in town. Most of the concert space is standing-room only, so arrive early if you want a shot at the limited seating without paying for VIP upgrades.