In an attempt to engage with the community in a unique, fun way and give residents a reason to visit local parks, Washoe County is hosting free concerts held on Wednesday evenings at Lazy 5 Regional Park at 7100 Pyramid Lake Highway.
For about seven years the free concerts at Lazy 5 Regional Park has seen increased attendance and people utilizing the park on a more regular basis. The concerts have been averaging about 450 attendees per show. Although attendance numbers have been fairly consistent over the last few years, more people are finding out about the summer concert series and keep coming back for more.
“This is our biggest year yet- we’ve had six concerts so far, close to 3,000 people total,” says Washoe County District Parks Manager Bryan Harrower. “They’ve been a lot of fun, the crowds love it, the bands like the intimate venue. People bring their lawn chairs and their wine/picnics, kids are dancing up in front of the stage; it’s been a positive experience,” he adds.
As far as his favorite concert, Harrower enjoyed last week’s Wunderlust: A Tribute to One Hit Wonders.
“It was high energy- they played covers that people knew and could sing along to. It was the biggest and most involved crowd we’ve had so far,” he says of the 675 people who showed up.
“We started this as an outreach opportunity to our community,” Harrower adds. “We have beautiful parks and want people to experience them in a unique way. This provides an opportunity for the public to enjoy the park in a way they typically would not. It’s fun to see the big grins of people as they stream in with their chairs. It’s very family-friendly; I see kids enjoying the playground equipment sometimes even more so than the parents watching the concerts.”
Lazy 5 Regional Park offers multi-purpose athletic fields, barbecue and picnic areas, horseshoe pits, kitchens, a skateboard park, volleyball courts, pavilions, a water play park, and more. Held every Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. through August 9, there are four concerts left for the 2017 summer concert series.
Here is the remaining lineup:
July 19- Top 40 Hits of the 60’s-Today by The Heidi Incident
July 26: Americana & Bluegrass with Unionville
Aug 2: Jazz with the Jazzettes featuring Cami Thompson
Aug 9: A musical variety performed by Escalade
“I’m proud of the turnouts, which is 100 percent due to great support from the community. With donations from individuals and local businesses this has been pretty self-sufficient with little impact on the government’s public fund. This is truly community-funded from people supporting us at the concerts,” says Harrower.
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