Some seats, yes. For a typical July 7:00 PM show at McGrath Amphitheatre, roughly 78% of the seating bowl is shaded on average across the event. Shade grows through the late afternoon; by 6:00 PM about 57% of seats are out of the sun.
Check YOUR seat for YOUR event →No. McGrath Amphitheatre is open air.
McGrath Amphitheatre (Cedar Rapids, IA) is oriented 245° from true north. We compute the sun's exact position for your date and start time and run it against the seating geometry, plus live schedules and an hour-by-hour forecast on the interactive site.
Interactive shade map for McGrath Amphitheatre · Satellite shadow view
Nearly four-fifths of a typical evening at McGrath Amphitheatre falls in shade. The venue runs about 78 percent shaded across a 7 PM show, and it holds a strong 57 percent even in the stretch after 6 PM, when the summer sun is still doing its work. For an outdoor room in Cedar Rapids, that is a comfortable place to spend an evening.
The most protected seats are down front and along the pavilion. Pit 3 tops the room near 97 percent shaded, and a long run of pavilion sections, 109, 110, 210, 211 and 212, all hover around 94 percent. If you want to be out of the sun from the first song, those are the seats to hold.
The exposure shows up in the lower center and on the lawn. Pavilion 103 and 203 sit around 57 to 58 percent shaded, and lawn sections 2 and 3 come in near 50 percent. Those spots take direct light early and shade up late.
The timing helps. At showtime the sun is low, about 16 degrees above the horizon on a bearing of 284, and it drops toward the west-northwest until sunset at 8:40 PM in high summer. A lawn seat that feels sunny at 7 will be far kinder by 8, and comfortable by the time the sky darkens.
McGrath's seating chart is mapped, so these numbers are computed rather than estimated. For your date and section, the interactive shade map shows exactly how the shadow moves.
Upcoming events at McGrath Amphitheatre are ticketed on TixBit. Check the shade map first, then grab a seat on the shady side.