The Salt Shed Outdoors (Fairgrounds)

The Fairgrounds is The Salt Shed's outdoor stage, set between the indoor Shed and the Chicago River with the city skyline behind it. The venue describes it as its elevated festival-style communal space, with a custom grandstand, a premium balcony, rooftop ticketing and a run of local retailers. It occupies the old Morton Salt complex on North Elston Avenue — salt was packed here from 1929 until operations ceased in 2015, and the plant's sign was a landmark on the way into town — which the team behind Empty Bottle and Thalia Hall reopened as a music venue in 2022.