B.B. King Blues Music Festival 2001 Featured artists include B.B. King, John Hiatt and Tommy Castro. The veteran country music star. The Park Service created one of the nation's great outdoor performance venues, the Filene Center, an open-air summer stage and pavilion with reserved seating for 3,766 built into a natural slope. Another 3,100 can sit farther up the hill on the lawn, where blanket space is generally easy to buy on the day of the performance. Although the management is strict about not letting patrons smoke on the lawn or in seats, it allows coolers of beer and wine as well as picnic baskets full of food.
Trees surround the outdoor amphitheater and the sound is surprisingly clear and true.
In the winter, concerts are moved to an 18th-century barn with wooden walls and floors that offers the same casual performance atmosphere as the outdoor amphitheater. With only 352 seats, it's easy to get a good view of the performers on stage. During rush hour, the drive can be difficult, but the rolling lawn, your picnic dinner and the show will soon make you forget the road. Clowns, mimes, dancers, puppets and plays are some typical offerings, and workshops for ages 4 and up give tykes a chance to work closely with the performers. Reservations can be made starting in June, and the series usually is filled by the time the shows begin.