Ooh la la, Chicago to install high-fashion French lawn chairs beside Buckingham Fountain
https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e7c72c5/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Faa%2F2f%2F9ac4add344d4a9dd1d45f114d58a%2Fgrant-080625-27.jpg" />
The Chicago Park District will debut 100 green metal chairs around Buckingham Fountain Saturday as part of a new pilot program that takes a cue from European cities like Paris and encourages people to socialize in the lakefront park.
But having somewhere to sit comes with a price tag.
The 100 chairs, which were manufactured by the brand Fermob in Paris, cost $54,438 in total, according to a Park District spokesperson.
Of that, $24,438 was footed by the city. https://chicago.suntimes.com/lollapalooza/2026/05/12/lollapalooza-schedule" target="_blank" >Lollapalooza, which partnered on the project and will host its 21st festival in Grant Park July 30-Aug. 2, paid the remaining $30,000.
In a statement, the Park District said, “the seating program will transform the space and encourage social gathering.” The movable chairs will be in the park until September, except, the city says, during major events hosted in Grant Park, although it did not specify which events would prompt chair removal.
The selection of these specific chairs was inspired by the seating in Paris’ Luxembourg Garden, according to the https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/buckingham-fountain-chairs" target="_blank" >city announcement.
In Chicago, 50 of the chairs will have an upright back and 50 will be slightly reclined.
In Paris, the same style of chairs have been a fixture for more than a century, and they’ve been designed by Fermob since 2004.
Online retailers sell the upright Fermob Luxembourg chairs in a variety of colors for $500 a piece.
The low armchairs run more than $1,000 each. (The chairs are so trendy that a https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVbD1pZDddH/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet" target="_blank" >miniaturized version recently served as the invite to Dior’s runway show during Paris Fashion Week.)
Buckingham Fountain, which was turned on for the season https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2026/05/09/buckingham-fountain-switched-on-for-2026-summer-season" target="_blank" >in early May, runs for 20 minutes every hour, during which a center jet shoots as high as 150 feet into the air.
The display begins daily at 9 a.m. The new chairs will be secured each evening after the last fountain display at 11 p.m., according to the Park District.
data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/86f906e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4436x2490+0+525/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F28%2Fdc%2F5273b69446618792c6d8401adfc1%2Fap740928377530.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/caf8eb6/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4436x2490+0+525/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F28%2Fdc%2F5273b69446618792c6d8401adfc1%2Fap740928377530.jpg 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4="
/>
data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8abe638/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4436x2490+0+525/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F28%2Fdc%2F5273b69446618792c6d8401adfc1%2Fap740928377530.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4="
/>
data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8abe638/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4436x2490+0+525/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F28%2Fdc%2F5273b69446618792c6d8401adfc1%2Fap740928377530.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4="
>
People lounge in the iconic green chairs in Paris’ Luxembourg Garden.
The Chicago Park District said similar chairs will “bring a piece of France to Chicago’s Front Yard.”
Jacques Brinon/AP
While the fountain is undoubtedly one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, the lack of seating nearby has been the subject of local chatter for years.
Back in 2022, Chicagoan Rick Weber set off a conversation on Twitter when he posted about what he observed one day near the fountain: Visitors taking their photo and then leaving, since there was nowhere to sit and the nearby food stands were closed.
On WBEZ’s talk show, Reset, https://www.wbez.org/reset-with-sasha-ann-simons/2022/05/24/why-arent-chicagos-public-spaces-more-like-europes" target="_blank" >Weber and other guests talked about how Chicago ought to make public parks more aligned with those in places like Paris. “This is supposed to be the front porch of Chicago, right?” Weber said at the time. “So, what sort of hospitality do we extend not only to our own citizens but to people who are visiting here?”
Now, the city has rolled out a plan years in the making.
The 100 chairs debuting this weekend are part of a larger initiative, called “https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/featured-capital-projects#132756" target="_blank" >Chicago’s Front Yard Reimagined 2026,” which was published in February as an update to a 2002 plan.
One of the new plan’s most ambitious ideas would move DuSable Lake Shore Drive below ground for a stretch and extend Buckingham Fountain’s surrounding landscaping all the way to the lakefront.
Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.