1679 Best Performing Arts Venues in USA

The premier seafood and wine event of the Oregon Coast takes place the last full weekend in late February. Dozens of wineries are represented at this expansive celebration, which also features myriad crafts and eateries.

Enjoy documentary films curated from film festivals around the world thanks to this nonprofit group, which hosts outdoor screenings and mini festivals in various outdoor spaces around Newport, with programming for both adults and students throughout the year.

This historic theater reopened in 2022 and now shows new releases and indie flicks in a charming 99-seat art house.

Named for one of Shakespeare's stage directions in Hamlet, A Noise Within is the Los Angeles area's preeminent place to see classic theater. The company boasts fierce talent among its revolving repertory of resident actors, many of whom also work in Hollywood. Audience members are never more than eight rows away from its platform stage.

The Gothic Revival church, completed in 1872 and rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake, hosts a notable free chamber-music series on Tuesdays at 12:30.

Held at the Music Shed on the 70-acre Ellen Battell Stoeckel Estate, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival—under the auspices of the Yale Summer School of Music—presents world-renowned artists and ensembles on summer evenings in July and August. Stroll the 70-acre grounds or visit the art gallery, too.

About a dozen well-known musicians gather for the North Atlantic Blues Festival, a two-day affair held the first or second full weekend after July 4. The show officially takes place at the public landing on Rockland Harbor Park, but it also includes a "club crawl" through downtown Rockland on Saturday night. Admission to the festival is $60 at the gate, $100 for a weekend pass.

The first professional Black theater company in North Carolina, this repertory offers performances throughout the year that educate and inspire. Every other August, it hosts the International Black Theatre Festival, a weeklong showcase of African American arts, which attracts tens of thousands of people to venues all over the city.

Since 1979, the North Carolina Jazz Festival has heated up a chilly early February weekend with nightly sets in the Hotel Ballast on the riverfront (special overnight rates for festival attendees). World-famous musicians perform in a variety of styles, including swing and Dixieland.

From an alley off Walnut Street, this professional company puts on edgy, contemporary plays, although it also does audience favorites, such as a series of Jeeves comedies.

Touring Broadway productions and big-name bands frequent the 2,300-seat North Charleston Performing Art Center. In recent years, musicians such as Bonnie Raitt, the Flaming Lips, and comedian Jim Gaffigan have taken the stage. It's worth paying extra for seats in the front half of the venue.

For over 40 years, a diverse mix of comic and dramatic works has been performed in the 194-seat space. The emphasis is on contemporary productions, but the theater has been known to stage some classics, too.

Street fairs are held every week in summer. Northalsted Market Days, in August, is the city's largest street festival. It's held in the heart of the gay community of Lakeview and has blocks and blocks of vendors as well as some wild entertainment such as zany drag queens and radical cheerleaders.

This long-running company presents four shows during its fall–spring season, geared to both the toddler and teen set. Starting in 2023, performances will be staged in a new permanent space, The Judy.

Founded in 2004, this first-rate contemporary-dance company performs several shows—typically including a world premiere or two—each season at different venues around town, including its 8,500-square-foot headquarters, the Creative Center + Studio, and also Downtown's Newmark Theatre and the Reser Center in Beaverton.

A cornerstone of the city's independent film scene, the two screening rooms here show classic repertory, cult hits, experimental films, and documentaries. Workshops, curated film series, and festivals fill the schedule.

Venture Theatre and Rimrock Opera Company come together to bring productions, ranging from works for young people to cutting-edge dramas, to NOVA's small stage on select weekends. Though the actors aren't professional (yet), you wouldn't know it.

Foreign and indie films, documentaries, classics, recent releases, Oscar short-film screenings—there’s not much the Nuart doesn’t show. Midnight showings, like the long-running Rocky Horror Picture Show with a live "shadow cast" on Saturday nights, continue to bring in locals. Q&A sessions with directors and actors also happen here frequently.

This pristine, wood-lined theater on the NYU campus supports emerging artists, with interesting dance, music, and theater events, often in collaboration with international companies. Conferences and a speaker series featuring prominent cultural figures round out the calendar, which also includes many family-friendly events.

Home of the Whitefish Theater Company, this intimate theater hosts a variety of year-round live performances and concerts, as well as classic and independent films. There are different theatrical plays almost every month, as well as a summer concert series that pays tribute to great rock 'n' roll artists.

With one of the most majestic settings of any outdoor performance space in the country, this 1,500-seat amphitheater set against the towering red and tan monoliths of Zion National Park is operated by Utah Tech University and presents a quirky mix of shows and concerts, from the popular Zion Canyon Music Festival in late September to Polynesian-theme dinner-and-dance shows.

Over its nearly 100-year history, the Observatory North Park has gone through a few renovations (and more than a few names) to become a top-tier destination for live music. Enjoys shows and other live performances several nights a week in the ornate space that includes an on-site restaurant and full bar.

Located in the town square, The Odeon Theater is a Texas landmark. In continuous operation since it was built in 1928, the Odeon serves as both a movie theater and a venue for live shows.

Odyssey Opera, under the able leadership of founder and conductor Gil Rose, presents classic and modern operas at various venues throughout the city, including the Huntington Theatre, Strand Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion at Boston Center for the Arts, Jordan Hall, B.U. Theatre, and Suffolk University's Modern Theatre.

For those seeking a contemporary theater experience, Off-Square Theatre is a space for children and adults where theater professionals and nonprofessionals strut their stuff and sometimes go outside the box. It's one of the leading theater companies in the region.

Throughout the summer, you can attend free concerts and movie screenings at this open-air venue off Historic 25th Street, with gorgeous mountain views.

For nearly a century, this classic summer theater has brought some of the country's best talent to its stage. The stately green-and-white building feels like a summer resort from a bygone era, and with an average of five productions each season, each running five weeks or more, the Playhouse offers a good reason to take a break from the beach and spend an evening indoors.

It's not summer until you see the life-size butter cow at one of the largest state fairs in the country. Nationally known musical acts, one of the world's longest sky rides and the largest junior fair in the nation highlight the show. Agricultural displays, children's contests, tractor pulls, laser light shows, and, of course, the butter cow draw crowds as well.

For four weekends in September and October, Hunter Mountain becomes a stand-in for the Alps when the harvest is celebrated with German and Austrian music, food, and dance. Watch men imitate courting rituals of the wood grouse during traditional dances; after a couple of beers, you may be tempted to try it yourself. You won't feel out of place in your dirndl or lederhosen.

Show off your "chicken dance" and other oompah moves at one of the most exuberant American celebrations of this German beer festival, complete with German food, German music, German dancing, and, of course, beer. Lodgings fill up fast during this celebration held over three weekends in late September and October. Since 2022, Leavenworth has had two separately-run Oktoberfests. This one is presented by Projekt Bayern, which produced Leavenworth's original Oktoberfest. The expanded festival moved to Wenatchee temporarily but runs shuttles between the two towns. The City of Leavenworth's Oktoberfest is more low-key, taking place downtown in a few beer gardens, and highlighting local beers along with German ones ( www.leavenworth.org for details).