Summer Concerts and Music on the Cape

 

Summer on Cape Cod means the beach, sand in your shoes, seafood, Cape League Baseball and lots of stories about sharks.

There are a number of things quintessentially associated with the summer months here on Cape and that list certainly includes the abundant summer concerts available nearly every day to locals and visitors alike.

Long established as a community with an affection for the arts, Cape Cod offers dozens of live, primarily outdoor, often free, summer musical performances at venues from Bourne to Provincetown, from the beach to the town center.

Solo artists, to acapella groups, bluegrass to reggae, children’s music to Symphony performances, there is surely something for even the most finicky of musical tastes to enjoy.

“It’s great to have free music in the community, to enjoy the music, to employ local musicians and emerging bands,” said Arts Foundation of Cape Cod Executive Director Julie Wake, “It makes for a great community too.”

The Arts Foundation is just one of a number of local organizations putting on shows this season with more than 30 free, family-friendly shows scheduled at venues in eight different towns across the cape through their “2017 TD Bank Summer Concert Series.”

The Arts Foundation puts a particular focus on exposing the Cape’s own local musical talents and giving them the work and the exposure that is so important to a budding artist, “We focus on local bands and a mix of established and emerging artists. We also get a lot of requests, when people really like someone we try to make sure to bring them back next year,” explained Wake, “The arts and culture in general have become one of the many gems of Cape Cod and it attracts not just visitors but year-round residents and artists. It’s a great place to be an artist.”

The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, with the aid of their partners and local sponsors is offering free weekday shows throughout the season, a full schedule is available at their website, ArtsFoundation.org, shows typically begin at 6 PM and run through 7:30 PM.

The Town of Orleans Department of Public Works and Natural Resources Departments sponsor “The Nauset Beach Concert Series” a weekly presentation of a local artist or band occurring at the Nauset Beach Gazebo every Monday throughout the summer from 7 PM to 9 PM.

Music ranges from Rock to Pop, Country, to Folk, Bluegrass, to Jazz to Reggae. All free, all open to the public. It’s a great chance to get out of the beach at night and do something different, and should the weather happen to be lousy, The Nauset Beach Concert Series offers Tuesday rain dates for any of their performances.

Hyannis Sound is a decades old summertime tradition on the Cape, a group of ten college-aged guys, dressed head to toe in characteristic Cape Cod attire (namely Vineyard Vines apparel and Sperrys). The fellas spend the summer performing acapella versions of Pop songs and classic hits at private and public functions across the Cape. Weekly shows take place weekdays in Hyannis, Falmouth, Dennis, or Chatham and will run you $15., The band, and their sister group Cape Harmony, also regularly take part in street singing and public shows.

Hyannis Harbor Free Summer Sounds Concert Series is put by “Arts Barnstable” on Tuesdays and Fridays through July and August featuring performances by an eclectic variety of Cape Cod musicians. The public is encouraged to break out their blankets and beach chairs, dancing shoes perhaps, and come to Bismore Park on the harbor in Hyannis, from 6 pm to 7:30 PM for an evening of free, family-friendly entertainment.

Locals and visitors are also invited to join “Arts Barnstable” at their “Love LISTEN Local-Singer Songwriter Spotlight Series.” The events take place each Saturday evening during the summer and highlight a new local performer every week off of Ocean Street in Hyannis.

While there, feel welcome to shop and explore the neighboring Arts Barnstable Summer Artist Shanties featuring a rotating array art made by both man and nature that goes to support Cape artisans.

Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement Executive Director Elizabeth Wurfbain says that these performances, in addition to being fun and entertaining for all, also contribute to the economic interests of the community.

“Live entertainment is heartwarming and it adds to the walkability and strollability of our downtown,” she said, “The businesses are happy that people are happy to just come to Main Street for this positive experience and shopping and dining also become a part of thepackage.”

“Live entertainment is part of creating a memory,” continued Wurfbain, “Main Streets are important to the fabric of the community, not only for jobs and commerce but also for people to meet other people and be part of a group.”

The BID has also partnered with a number of local businesses to expand music on Main Street including Wackenhammer’s Arcade and Carousel in order to bring in family entertainment shows on Saturdays. “Our events add vitality and fun to the atmosphere on the street,” she said, “we hire local talent to play music, trying to mix it up so the whole street has had live music at different times.”

If jazz is more your thing, the Provincetown Jazz Festival comes to town this August with appearances from Japanese jazz pianist Takumi Kakimoto and singer and actress Molly Ringwald (“Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club,” “Pretty in Pink”).

The Cape Cod Symphony will be in Eastham at the National Seashore’s newly reconstructed outdoor amphitheater in late August.

Finally, the pièce de résistance of the Cape Cod outdoor concert calendar, the annual Pops By The Sea Concert, sponsored by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod and Citizens bank. The event is the Cape’s single largest cultural event and the most important fundraising event of the year for the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod. This year it will be held Sunday, August 13th.

For thirty years running the foundation has welcomed one of the nation’s finest and best-loved musical ensembles – the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra – to the Hyannis Village Green for an evening of the classic and modern orchestral music. The event features commemorative art and T-shirts and each year showcases a special celebrity guest conductor.

At the end of the day though for a casual night out with you and the family it is hard to beat a free local show. A rotating schedule of free local performances can be seen consistently each day of the week and one of the cape’s many venues…

Mondays: Parkers River Beach in South Yarmouth at 6 PM, Dennis Village Green Gazebo at 7 PM, The Windmill Green in Eastham, and Brooks Park in Harwich at 7 PM.

Tuesdays: Brooks Park in Harwich at 7 PM, Aselton Park in Hyannis at 6 PM, and Mashpee Community Park at 6 PM.

Wednesdays: Barnstable Village Courthouse Stage at the Courthouse Complex in Barnstable 6 PM, Kate Gould Park in Chatham at 6 PM, the Hyannis Village Green 7 PM, Rock Harbor Beach in Orleans at 6 PM, and Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown 6:30 PM.

Thursdays: Bourne Community Center Grounds at 6:30 PM, Dennis Port Village Green at 6 PM, Music and Arts Pavilion at Marina Park in Falmouth at 7:30 PM, Nauset Beach in Orleans at 6 PM, Osterville Village Library Green at 6 PM, Len Savery Bandstand at the former Wing Elementary School in Sandwich at 7 PM, Truro Town Green at 6:30 PM.

Fridays: Kate Gould Park in Chatham at 8 PM, Margaret E. (“Peg”) Noonan Park in Falmouth at 6 PM, and Aselton Park in Hyannis at 6 PM.

Saturdays: Bismore Park in Hyannis at 2 PM and Hyannis Harbor at 6:30 PM.

Sundays: Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown 6:30 PM and Drummer Boy Park in Brewster at 6 PM.

To stay fully up-to-day on concerts and performances across the cape this summer be sure to visit our concerts page by clicking the events tab at CapeCod.com.

By CapeCod.com Staff



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