15 Outdoor Event Venues That Can Safely Host Events This Fall

Opening Sept. 17 near the Las Vegas Strip is AREA15, a 40,000-square-foot entertainment, retail, and dining venue available for live events, immersive activations, and art installations. The venue will have 32,000 square feet of open-air event space; it’s currently booking events for as many as 50 people in accordance with public health guidelines, though long-lead booking for as many as 5,500 is available. Outdoor highlights include A-Lot, which can hold 3,500 people and has a 10-foot perimeter wall for privacy and an optional sun shade, as well as Art Island (pictured), an open-air gallery of festival-style artwork that seats 125 or holds 250 for receptions. Indoor spaces include The Portal, which offers floor-to-ceiling projection mapping; Sanctuary, a circular bamboo volcano structure; and The Spine, which is filled with unique art installations. AREA15 has a full-service catering kitchen, a green room, and 800 parking spaces.

In Chicago, Bonhomme Hospitality's Beatnik West Town reopened its outdoor courtyard (pictured) in June. The space features a retractable roof, fully opening facade windows, and a large botanical garden. The venue has been redesigned to be compliant with new health and safety regulations; for example, large antique pieces now provide natural barriers between guests. At full capacity, the courtyard holds 80 for receptions, while an indoor ballroom seats 110 or holds 135 for receptions. Also newly reopened and reconfigured is Beatnik on the River, which seats 48 people on a 100-foot-long riverfront terrace and can hold 25 for receptions on a sidewalk patio. The interior seats 48 or holds 150 for receptions.

River Bottoms Ranch—located in Midway, Utah, about 30 minutes from Park City and an hour from Salt Lake City—recently debuted a 2,200-square-foot pavilion, which is available year-round for outdoor events. The space, made from mortise and tenon timber, can seat 125 and offers four strands of bistro lights for ambiance as well as 40 amps with electrical outlets in all four corners. Events can also be held on a spacious lawn that offers views of the Mt. Timpanogos mountains, plus an indoor barn that typically seats 200 or holds 300 for receptions. The ranch can also accommodate as many as 28 people for overnight stays.

In New York, The Sanctuary Hotel opened its new Sushi Lab rooftop restaurant on July 1; the open-air space offers an eight-seat chef's counter plus nine additional tables that hold as many as 30 people while practicing safe distancing. The restaurant offers Japanese small plates from executive chef Frankie Chen. Also on site is the Haven Rooftop, which serves food and craft cocktails and is available for 50-guest micro weddings during COVID-19 due to a partnership with NY1Minute. The Sanctuary Hotel has 115 rooms and reopened for overnight guests on Sept. 1.

In San Diego, the luxury Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa reopened on July 1 with a variety of enhanced outdoor programming such as alfresco dining, outdoor fitness classes, and spa services set in nature. Two outdoor spaces—the Croquet Lawn and the Valencia Lawn—can each hold 500 people for events; for smaller gatherings, the lush Rose Garden holds 30. For indoor-outdoor events, the Sunrise Room and its adjoining terrace hold 240, while the Terrace Ballroom & Patio hold 200. The hotel, which sits on 45 acres, features 49 private casitas with patios and fireplaces.

On June 2, the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa—located on 405 acres outside of Austin—reopened its 6,000-square-foot outdoor pavilion after renovations. New additions include floor-to-ceiling windows, air conditioning and heating, and more; it holds as many as 400 people for events and is attached to the venue's Riverside Amphitheater. Also on site: the 2,000-square-foot Chief's Pavilion, which holds 210; a 12,300-square-foot lawn, which recently installed new eco-friendly AstroTurf; and 60,000 square feet of indoor event space.

The Lytle Park Hotel debuted in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, in June. The new Autograph Collection property, which delayed its opening by two months to incorporate new health and safety protocols, has 106 guest rooms. There’s also 11,000 square feet of event space, including eight flexible meeting rooms and the city’s only four-season rooftop space, which offers views of Lytle Park, downtown Cincinnati, and the Ohio River. The indoor-outdoor rooftop spans 5,177 square feet and has banquette seating that has been rearranged to accommodate social distancing guidelines. The hotel's indoor Magnolia Room has an adjoining outdoor terrace that holds as many as 75 people.

In late August, the 38-acre San Antonio Botanical Garden debuted The Betty Kelso Center, a new 3,500-square-foot event venue. The LEED Gold-certified space has a spacious lobby, two green rooms, a full catering kitchen, and banquet seating for 250 or lecture seating for 350. For outdoor events, sliding glass doors lead to a spacious patio that overlooks the garden. For larger outdoor events, the Greehey Lawn seats as many as 720 guests; there's also an outdoor amphitheater that seats 300, plus a variety of classrooms and other indoor spaces. The venue can offer technology for livestreaming.

Yotel Boston, located in the city’s Seaport District, recently unveiled DECK 12, a rebranded rooftop experience with 270-degree views of the harbor and space for 145 people. The 326-room hotel, which offers contact-less check-ins with airline-style kiosks and a mobile concierge app, also features four meeting rooms, the largest of which holds 50 for receptions. For dining, onsite restaurant KOMYUNITI, which holds 120, has debuted outdoor street-level seating.

Located at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C., Woodrow Wilson Plaza is a 36,000-square-foot open-air venue available for events. With social distancing measures in place, the venue seats 90 banquet-style or 150 theater-style, or holds 500 for receptions. (Typical capacity is 500 seated or 2,000 for receptions.) Highlights include large sculptures, granite cobblestones, vehicle accessibility, and a sound system. The Reagan Building has a total of 65,000 square feet of indoor event space spread over 21 rooms, including a 595-seat amphitheater, a large ballroom, a light-filled rotunda with a 28-foot dome ceiling, and a variety of suites and meeting rooms.

Where better to host an outdoor event than on board a luxury yacht? The 228-foot SeaFair Miami, which typically docks at Bayfront Park but can travel around Miami and Palm Beach, was purposely built with events in mind, offering 20,000 square feet of public space in total. A highlight for outdoor events is the Sky View Deck (pictured), an open-air space that seats 150 or holds 300 for receptions and has a private bar. The Aft Reception & Coffee Bar is an indoor-outdoor space that holds 135 for receptions, while the indoor Captain's Lounge holds 115 and the glass-walled Grand Reception space holds 175.

Montana’s historic 320 Guest Ranch, located 12 miles from Big Sky and 36 miles from Yellowstone National Park, offers a variety of rustic event spaces. For outdoor gatherings, highlights include The Point, located on the Gallatin River and offering picnic table space for 200, as well as the 320 Tent, a 30-by-75-foot space with heaters, removable walls, indoor bathrooms, and a riverside deck; it can hold 150 guests. The property also has a banquet hall and a conference center, both of which are adjustable for smaller meetings. 320 Ranch also has an on-site restaurant, as well as accommodations ranging from three-bedroom homes that sleep 10 to smaller log cabins for two or four people. Each sleeping venue has its own entrance.

Looking ahead to next year? The upcoming mixed-use development POST Houston, slated to open in early 2021, has announced plans for a unique rooftop event space. Billing itself as the "world's largest rooftop park and farm," the five-acre rooftop space will include multiple dining options, an event venue, recreation areas, and open spaces. There's also a sustainable organic farm called Skylawn; culinary tenants will source ingredients from the farm. The 6,000-square-foot, customizable event space can host as many as 300 people. Tents, in-house audiovisual, and lighting options are available.

In Los Angeles, TenTen Wilshire is a 15,000-square-foot rooftop complete with a bar area, a lounge, a pool and Jacuzzi, billiard and ping-pong tables, fire pits, and views of downtown. The outdoor venue, located atop a luxury apartment building, can be rented for seated events of 200 or receptions for 230. Other amenities include an on-site building engineer, electrical tie-in capabilities, security services, and parking for events.

New to Oklahoma City is Camp Trivera, a $12.2 million property that's home to the Girl Scouts Western Oklahoma; it can also be rented for private events in the non-summer months. The urban camp, located across the lake from the Oklahoma City Zoo (and connected via zip line!) has two outdoor meeting decks, an amphitheater in the woods, and an indoor, 350-person meeting room. There are also treehouses and camping sites, plus 60 sleeping accommodations ranging from cabins to yurts. The camp officially opens on Sept. 11.