Located in suburban Highland Park, Ravinia is the nation’s oldest outdoor music festival and can be an affordable place to host an informal gathering—provided you pick the right day to attend. While lawn tickets for sell-out pop performances can exceed $50, there are plenty of classical music nights offered in the $10 to $25 range. Food at the North Shore venue can get pricey, so you’re better off bringing a picnic. Take a Metra train directly to the park to avoid traffic and parking fees.

Not far from Ravina is the Chicago Botanic Garden which features 26 gardens spread across 385 acres. Admission to the gardens is free, but parking is $25 per car on weekdays and $30 on the weekend and federal holidays. The cheapest option is riding the Metra from the city and walk roughly one mile from the Braeside station. If you must drive, try to carpool with other people in your group. Looking to book the garden for a private event? Get more information here.

With general admission starting at $8, you don’t have to drop big bucks for a memorable group outing at Arlington International Racecourse (although fancier options are available too). The impressive 50,000-seat race track is open May through September and features action on its dirt and turf ovals as well as special events such as live music performances and movie screenings. Like Ravinia, Arlington Park offers the convenience of a dedicated Metra stop.

Just north of Montrose Harbor and far from the hectic crowds of North Avenue Beach, Cricket Hill is considered one of the best places in the city to fly kites. If that’s not really your thing, you’re also steps from Montrose Beach and its food concessions and kayak and volleyball rentals. The area is also home to a natural dunes wildlife habitat and the Magic Hedge bird and butterfly sanctuary.

If you’re looking for a cheap activity to celebrate a birthday or entertain out-of-town guests, it’s hard to beat Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo. The North Side venue is open 365 days a year and offers free admission. For groups of 20 and more, there are also packages that provide a discounted rate on optional extras like box lunches and carousel tickets. The zoo can also accommodate larger, more formal private events like weddings or corporate galas.

People love food trucks but reserving one to cater your private event can be a pricey endeavor. As a thrifty alternative, try bringing your group to where the food trucks already gather: downtown’s Chicago Food Truck Festival. While certainly not the only opportunity to catch a meal from one of these rolling kitchens, the fest will give you and your group a chance to sample from a large selection of cuisines. The Chicago Food Truck Festival runs April through September at Daley Plaza and Pioneer Court. Check out the official schedule here.

While many Chicagoans know Douglas Park for hosting Riot Fest, the 173-acre West Side green space has a lot more to offer. Amenities include five playgrounds, a pond, an outdoor swimming pool, soccer fields, basketball courts, gardens, and plenty of places to cook-out. If that wasn’t enough, Douglas Park is home to a free golf complex featuring a three-hole learning course, a putting green, hitting nets, and an 18-hole miniature golf course.

Created in 2009 out of a former limestone quarry, this 26-acre park in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood offers walking trails, a restored wetland, and a fishing hole stocked with bluegills. An elevated open meadow provides a great place to fly kites, enjoy a picnic, or take in downtown skyline views.

Though not as famous as the ivy-clad ballpark to the north, the home of the Chicago White Sox makes a great venue for a group day out. The South Side stadium offers dedicated event spaces with food packages to fit a variety of budgets, but the smart play here is to buy a block of seats for one of the “Family Sundays” when tickets start as low as $5 in the upper level and $15 in the lower level. For everything you need to know about Guaranteed Rate Field, check out Curbed’s handy stadium guide.

Just because George Lucas and spouse Mellody Hobson spared no expense shutting down this man-made peninsula for their 2013 wedding, there’s no reason you can’t throw your next event at Promontory Point inexpensively. A popular location for swimming and informal barbecues, the point also offers a Park District-owned private event spot with outdoor verandas facing the skyline. You can also stroll through nearby Jackson Park, which is another great spot for a warm-weather picnic.

Though the Far South Side’s former U.S. Steel South Works plant remains vacant and undeveloped, you still can visit a public lakefront park at the site’s eastern edge. Know as Steelworkers Park, this off-the-path hidden gem features a climbing wall along one of the old “ore walls” that once held the raw materials used in steel production.

Located just north of Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood, this 257-acre, family-friendly forest preserve features sports fields, wooded groves, paved walking trails, and a sledding hill in the winter. The Dan Ryan Woods is home to multiple picnic shelters with the largest accommodating up to 350 people. As with the aforementioned LaBagh Woods to the north, the Cook County Forest Preserve does require a picnic permit for larger groups.