When the sunshine sticks around and summer finally arrives, get outside in Niles! If you’re looking for family fun and entertainment, you can thank local non-profit Niles Music & More for another season of music and movies, offered free to the public.
The Niles Summer Concert Series kicks off on Sunday, May 21st, 2023, and will run for a total of twenty shows this year. “We are able to bring these wonderful concerts to Niles only because of the generous businesses and organizations in our community who sponsor them,” says organizer Caryn Adler.
“Each week, the band performing chooses a local non-profit to benefit, raising funds for them at the concert, and raising awareness about their mission, services, and their own needs. Because these are “mom and pop” organizations who don’t have a marketing person or budget, we seek to give them their fifteen minutes of fame by asking them to share info about their charity during the intermission. Folks in the audience regularly tell me they had no idea that an organization exists until they meet them at a concert.”
Concerts are held on Sundays beginning at 6 p.m, in the beautiful Victorian outdoor amphitheater venue at Riverfront Park, near Front and Ferry Streets. The concerts are Bring Your Own Chair or blanket (and dancing shoes), and have a massive turnout. In 2021, attendees raised nearly $10,000 for local non-profit organizations.
This year’s lineup will bring six new musical acts to the stage, and will cover a wide variety of music: hot jazz, Irish folk tunes, light rock, New Orleans swing, blues, R&B, tribute bands, classic rock, motown, and more. There are many concert dates not yet sponsored, but local businesses like Brown Funeral Home, 1st Source Bank, CK Home Group, Sturgis Bank, and The Laugh Lounge have already jumped at the cause.
“This will be the fifth season that my non-profit, Niles Music and More, has put on these summer concerts,” says Caryn. “We promote the concerts in five different Facebook groups with a following of over 28,000!”
Free Movie Fridays in the Park will begin on Friday, June 2nd, 2023, and are shown outdoors on a big screen, behind Wonderland Cinema on Front Street. Films begin at dusk, around 9:15 p.m – 9:45 p.m depending on the month, and have become an eagerly-awaited event that families love. This year, Caryn has picked up four new sponsors for the licensing to show movies in the park, keeping this activity free for the public.
You’ll be able to catch flicks like The Lego Movie, Back to the Future, Jumanji, E.T, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and more. Most of the movie nights already have sponsors: Thank you to Pratt Intermodal Chassis, Four Flags Apple Festival, Brown Funeral Home, Pride Portable Toilets, MiRealty, and Niles Culver’s, for ensuring this fourteen-week schedule can happen.
“The Niles Summer Concert Series and Free Movie Fridays are free, family friendly, and continue to remain traditions that have been long-standing in Niles,” Caryn says. “Both promote with and for local businesses, and raise community awareness. What’s given in Niles, stays in Niles, and helps Niles people!”
For a complete list of bands for Sunday concerts and films on Fridays, please visit the Niles Music & More Facebook group. Summer is almost here!
By Jocelyne Tuszynski, MOTM Contributor
