Parking, bag policy, transit and history are on the main Hollywood Bowl guide.
Your Hollywood Bowl seat decision in 30 seconds
If you want one answer, buy a Super Seat in section H, G1 or J1. These three sections sit on the center line of Promenade 3, and the venue describes them as theater-style metal seats with cushioned seats, backs and arms. You get a straight view of the shell, a comfortable chair for a three-hour program and a reasonable walk from the gates.
Everything else is a trade. Move forward and you are buying a box: closer, with a table, but sold by the chair and often shared. Move uphill and you are on a wooden bench: farther, cheaper to demand, and dependent on the video screens for faces. Move sideways along any band and the angle to the stage gets sharper.
- Want closeness for a pop or rock show: Pool Circle or Garden Boxes.
- Want dinner at your seat: a Terrace Box, ideally the whole box.
- Want the full fireworks sky: a centered bench section in the middle of the hill.
- Want the best all-round seat: H, G1 or J1.
The hillside, band by band
The Bowl is a single open slope facing the John Williams Stage. There is no upper deck and no overhang, so no seat sits under a roof line. The venue's accessible-seating map divides the slope into horizontal bands separated by promenades (wide walkways that cross the full width of the hill). From the stage upward:
- Pool Circle. The front zone, filled with movable chairs instead of fixed seats. It is the nearest you can get to the performers.
- Garden Boxes and side boxes. The first band of boxes (fenced enclosures of four or six folding chairs around a small table), reached from Promenade 1 and Ramps A and E.
- Terrace Boxes with sections D and E. The second, higher band of boxes, with lettered sections D and E at either end, along Promenade 2.
- Promenade 3. The Super Seats at the center, plus lettered wing sections F, G, J and K.
- The bench sections. Wooden benches above Promenade 3. Two independent seating guides agree the letters climb all the way to the X sections at the top of the hill.
The stage never moves. A seat that works for an orchestra night works the same way for a lease concert (a show booked by an outside promoter), so you are choosing a location once, not per configuration.
Inside the lettered sections: what H, G1 and K3 tell you
The suffix is a distance code
On Promenade 3, the venue's map lists the sections from west to east as K3, K2, K1, J2, J1, H, G1, G2, F1, F2 and F3. H is the center. Every step out adds one to the suffix. So J1 and G1 hug the center line, J2 and G2 sit one step out, and K3 and F3 are the outer wings. A lower number almost always means a straighter view.
Sections D and E
D sits on the east (Main Gate) side and E on the west (Field Gate) side, level with the Terrace Boxes on Promenade 2. They are the nearest lettered, non-box seats in the house, and the venue notes they are reached by elevator with no steps. The catch is the angle: both sit off to the side of the stage.
The benches above
Most upper letters are split into numbered pieces across the hill, the same way Promenade 3 is. Before you buy, check which piece of your letter sits nearest the center. A center bench a few rows higher usually beats an outer wing seat lower down.
The boxes
Box numbers run into the hundreds. The east side boxes are 307–309, 407–409 and 507–509; the west side boxes are 374–376, 475–477 and 575–577, per the venue's map. They are as close as the Garden Boxes, but they look at the stage from the corners.
Matching the seat to the program
Orchestra and film nights
The sound system carries across the entire hill, so choose on sightline and seat comfort rather than distance. The Super Seats come first, G2 and J2 second. For a film shown with a live orchestra, Promenade 3 and the lower benches frame the screen and the players in one view, which the front boxes cannot do.
Pop, rock, jazz and hip-hop
Proximity is what fans pay for, and it drives demand toward the Pool Circle and the Garden Boxes. The Terrace Boxes keep much of that closeness. If you want to be near the stage without a box, D and E are the answer, at an angle.
Fireworks programs
The display bursts above the shell. From the front boxes you crane your neck; from a centered bench in the middle of the hill you see the whole sky and the stage together.
Picnic dinners
Only the boxes come with a table. If eating is part of the evening, a Terrace Box seat beats a closer bench, and buying the entire box keeps strangers off your table.
Where the trade-offs bite
- F3 and K3. The outermost Promenade 3 wings view the shell at a much steeper angle than F1 or K1 at the same height. The venue reserves their last two rows for accessible seating.
- Side boxes for screen-heavy shows. Close, yes, but the corner angle can cut off part of the stage and screen. They work better for a straight concert.
- The X sections. The top of the hill is a long uphill walk, and the performers look small. You get the city lights and the hills; you lose detail.
- One or two seats in a box. Boxes are sold by the seat, so a pair may sit at a table with another party. Some people like that; plan for it if you do not.
Seat numbering and buying for a group
Bench seats are numbered odd on one side of a section and even on the other, which two seating guides describe the same way. The practical result: seats 11 and 12 are not side by side. For four people together, buy four consecutive odd numbers (such as 11, 13, 15 and 17) or four consecutive even numbers. A listing that mixes odd and even seats in one row will split your group.
Two other habits pay off on the benches. Ask for an aisle seat on a picnic night, because you will be passing food and cushions and a bench has no armrests to mark your space. And read box listings closely: unless one says it is the full box, two seats means two chairs at a shared table.
Every order through Reserved Seat is backed by a 100% guarantee, but no guarantee can fix a mixed odd-and-even purchase, so check the seat numbers before you pay.
Wheelchair and companion seating locations
As of the 2026 season, the Hollywood Bowl states that at least 200 wheelchair, semi-ambulatory and companion tickets are offered across the venue, at most price levels. Wheelchair spaces have no fixed chair. Each accessible ticket can be paired with up to three companion seats next to it in the same row. The published locations:
- Garden Boxes 643 and 944.
- East side boxes 307, 308, 309, 407, 408, 409, 507, 508 and 509.
- West side boxes 374, 375, 376, 475, 476, 477, 575, 576 and 577.
- Ramps A and E near Promenade 1, with no steps.
- Sections D and E off Promenade 2, by elevator.
- The back row of the Super Seats (H, G1, J1) and the back row of G2, J2, F1, F2, K1 and K2, plus the last two rows of F3 and K3.
Accessible box seats can be bought as a whole box or part of one. LA Phil-produced events are ordered through the venue's accessibility office; lease events go through the primary ticketing link. Confirm current details on the Hollywood Bowl accessibility page before you go.
Frequently asked questions
Which Hollywood Bowl seats have backs and armrests?
The Super Seats in sections H, G1 and J1 on Promenade 3. The venue describes them as theater-style metal seats with cushioned seats, backs and arms. The upper sections are wooden benches.
Are Pool Circle seats fixed seats?
No. The Pool Circle, the zone directly in front of the stage, uses movable chairs rather than fixed seating.
Where should you sit at the Hollywood Bowl for fireworks?
A centered bench section in the middle of the hill. The fireworks fill the sky above the shell, and a higher seat shows the whole display without craning your neck.
How do you keep a group together on the Hollywood Bowl benches?
Buy all odd or all even seat numbers. Bench sections place odd numbers on one side and even on the other, so seats 11 and 12 are not next to each other.
Is the section letter enough to judge a Hollywood Bowl seat?
Check the number after it too. On Promenade 3 the order runs K3 to F3 with H at the center, so a suffix of 1 is closer to the center line than a 3.
Where are the accessible seats at the Hollywood Bowl?
As of 2026, the venue lists Garden Boxes 643 and 944, the east and west side boxes, Ramps A and E, sections D and E, and the back rows of the Super Seats and the F, G2, J2 and K sections.