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Address: Bird Park (north-east corner of Balboa Park at intersection of 28th Street and Thorn Street).
Best For: Date night, family outing, summertime hanging, a peaceful evening with a view
Time and Date: 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM every other week starting on June 15 and ending August 10
Additional Information: Website
Balboa Park encompasses 1,200 acres in the heart of urban San Diego. The area around El Prado comprised of the San Diego Zoo and most of the museums in the park is typically thought of as the ‘heart’ of Balboa Park.
However, there is much more to the park and the various neighborhoods on the fringe of the park have their own ways of claiming Balboa Park as their own.
South Park has the popular Grape Street Dog Park and Golden Hill has the Golden Hill Park with a never-ending flow of residents walking the loop around the park.
North Park sits on the north-east portion of Balboa Park and the North Park Community Association presents a free concert series in Bird Park each summer; this is the 11th edition of the program. I wasn’t familiar with the concerts before moving to North Park in January and thus haven’t attended one in person but many of my neighbors have talked about how enjoyable they are. I’m looking forward to my first Bird Park concert this Saturday, June 15th.
The lineup for the 2013 concert series is:
- June 15 – Lenny Rankins (Jazz)
- June 29 – Okapi Sun (Indie Rock)
- July 13 – Todo Mundo (Latin Jazz)
- July 27 – Kanan Road (Country Rock)
- August 10 – Big Papa and the TCB (Blues)
Attendees are reminded that alcohol, glass, grills, and unleashed dogs are not allowed at the Bird Park concerts.
The North Park Community Association wants the concert series to “encourage the entire community to come together, bring along a picnic, enjoy the music, dance, and mingle with friends”. From the photos of past concerts and thoughts from North Park residents it appears that they have been successful in making these things happen.