THUNDER BAY - The music came to an end on Wednesday night – at least for 2015.
The city’s wildly popular Summer in the Parks season closed with a bluesy bash featuring John Booth and
the Southside Band, Backbone and James Boraski and Momentary Evolution.
It was another great year, said Kelly Rooney, the city’s acting events supervisor, said as the music got under way one final time this year.
“It’s been a gorgeous summer. We’ve had so many Wednesday nights that have been beautiful and great music. And of course we’re always in this big park overlooking the lake, so it’s been a wonderful summer.”
Rooney said the crowds have proven just how popular the 114-year-old event has been, with between 1,000 and 1,500 flocking to the lake shore each week for the free concerts.
“I would say over the summer we’ve probably had more than 8,000 or 9,000 people in attendance,” she said.
“We did have one rainy Wednesday, but you can’t have a perfect season.”
Rooney said she thinks the annual concert series is so popular because of everything it has to offer.
“There’s great music, there’s food, there’s activities for the children, there are local artisans, there’s face painting, something for the whole family to come down and enjoy,” she said.
It is a little bittersweet to see the schedule draw to a close – but that doesn’t mean the park is shutting its doors for winter.
“Yeah, it is always hard to let go of summer, but at least now we have Movie Nights in the Park that continues on into the fall and we get to enjoy our Friday nights in the parks.”
The animated hit Big Hero 6 will hit the big screen on Friday night, with Cinderella scheduled for Sept. 4 and Inside Out screening on Sept. 11.
