Blossom Music Center: Host of Popular Music Acts And Symphonic Performances

Blossom Music Center is an amphitheatre located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The pavilion seats 5,700 people, with space for about 13,500 more on the lawn. It is the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra, which performs its annual Blossom Festival there. The venue is also host to a full summer schedule of popular music acts and symphonic performances.

Blossom Music Center is named after the family of Dudley S. Blossom, who served as president of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1936 to 1938. The site's natural parabolic setting, the pavilion's sloping slate roof, and the area's natural wooded surroundings distinguish it from other contemporary amphitheatres. The facility, designed by architect Peter van Dijk, is located on 800 acres (320 ha) of natural woods inside the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, about 10 miles (16 km) north of downtown Akron and 33 miles (53 km) south of downtown Cleveland. There are currently plans to sell Blossom's undeveloped acreage (580 acres (230 ha)) to the National Park Service to add to the park. This would financially benefit the owners and serve to protect the natural setting of Blossom. In 2003, the venue underwent a $17 million renovation.

The Blossom Music Center has played host to music festivals, including the Mayhem Festival, Projekt Revolution, Ozzfest, and Lilith Fair. The venue has hosted many of the biggest names in popular and classical music, including The Michael Stanley Band, intensely popular in Northeast Ohio, but virtually unknown elsewhere, who set an attendance record, of 74,404, with four sold out shows in August 1982.

Every October, since 2003,  Blossom Music Center has been held The annual Carnival of Horrors. [source : Blossom Music Center]