When to leave for a show at Gillette Stadium.

Show night at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts. Not sure which time on the ticket matters? The concert night plan covers doors, opener and headliner at any venue; this page is about this one.

Every row is editable. Tap the showtime or any duration and the plan recomputes backward. The first travel row is your leave-by time.

Travel time to Gillette Stadium

The 40-minute drive is a typical run from Boston without show traffic (the optimistic number). In the app, set Gillette Stadium as the destination and Apple Maps fills in the time from where you’re leaving.

Then add for show night: every car aiming at the same entrance (real drive to Gillette Stadium). Change the row and every step before it moves.

What the time on the ticket means

The time on the ticket is when the first act is due on. Seating here is reserved, so nobody is racing for a spot; the deadline really is the show. Aim to be in your seat ten minutes before the first act, and budget the walk to your row: it is the part people misjudge, not the drive.

Most stadium tours also sell a general-admission floor or pit, and that ticket is a different evening: the queue for a place at the rail forms outside long before the lots open. The plan here is for a numbered seat.

Here is the evening drawn to scale. A maps app can number the drive. The rest is the walk in from the lot, the bag check, and the walk to your row.

The lots, and the walk in

Parking opens four hours before the show and closes straight after it, and there are two prices: free general parking on the far side of Route 1, or a prepaid pass on the stadium side, bought online ahead of the night. Patriot Place is right there, so being early does not have to mean sitting in a lot. There is no parking lot re-entry once you are in.

Which side of Route 1 you park on is the whole decision. The prepaid stadium-side lots put you at a gate in under ten minutes. The free lots opposite are the cheaper answer and cost you the crossing, which is slow on foot because everyone is doing it at once. Rideshare drops for concerts go to Lot 16, closest to the CVS Health Gate.

A tailgate moves the whole evening earlier

Tailgating is allowed in the lots and plenty of people make an afternoon of it. Add one and the plan puts in setting up, eating and packing the car before the walk in, which means leaving the house that much earlier.

Doors, lots and bag rules change; the official site is the live source.

Common questions

How early should I get to Gillette Stadium?

The plan's floor is the gate thirty-five minutes before the show: screening, the walk to your section, and a few minutes in the seat. Your seat is reserved, so nothing is lost by not being there the moment the gates open. Route 1 is the reason to come earlier than that anyway. Parking opens four hours before the show and the queue to get in builds for most of them. The walk from the lot depends on which lot you got.

What time should I leave for a 7:00 PM show at Gillette Stadium?

About 5:07 PM from Boston with a 40-minute drive and a spot in the free general parking across Route 1. Later for a prepaid lot on the stadium side of Route 1, earlier for a tailgate. Every row above is editable; the first travel row is your leave-by time.

How does parking work at Gillette Stadium?

Parking opens four hours before the show. Free general parking sits across Route 1 from the stadium and is open to every ticket holder. Prepaid stadium-side parking is bought online in advance. Lots close right after the show and there is no parking lot re-entry during it. The official Gillette Stadium site has the current lots.

How long is the walk from the parking lot at Gillette Stadium?

Under ten minutes from the prepaid stadium-side lots. Nearer twenty from the free parking opposite, because that walk includes crossing Route 1 at the same moment as everyone else who parked for free. The plan's default for the free general parking across Route 1 is 18 minutes, and it is editable.

Can I take a bus or train to Gillette Stadium?

Yes, and it is the one that skips Route 1. Keolis and the MBTA run round-trip event trains to Foxboro station next to the stadium for concerts, from South Station and Back Bay. Each show has its own published departure times in its event guide, and there is a single train back, so check it before you go.

What bag can I bring into Gillette Stadium?

A clear plastic, vinyl or PVC bag up to 12 by 12 by 6 inches, a one-gallon clear freezer bag up to 11 by 11, or a wristlet or handheld wallet up to 6.5 by 4.5 inches. Anything larger or non-clear is refused at the gate, but mobile lockers take an oversized bag, which saves the walk back to the car. Prohibited items are not held for you. No outside food or drink, coolers, cans or bottles.

Going to a game instead? The stadium pages. Flying in? The airport pages.

Build it once, then use it every show

Ready Time keeps the plan and subtracts again when the show time changes. Put in the next ticket and the same steps land on new times, with an alert on each one.