Summer is here and that means we all get to be outside more and participate in two of my favorite summer Oak Park activities: Concerts in the Park and Thursday Night Out.
Concerts in the Park, organized by the Park District of Oak Park and sponsored by various local establishments, takes place on Sunday nights at Scoville Park (Lake Street and Oak Park Avenue) from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The first concert of 2026 will be on June 14, featuring the All-Female classic rock band, The PriSSillas.
When I attended these concerts last year, Scoville Park was full of lawn chairs and blankets. Children were doing cartwheels near an older gentleman using a walker. There were singles, families and couples joined by several well-behaved dogs, listening to and dancing to a salsa band. The final concert of the season will be on Aug. 30, featuring Harmonix, a Rock/Pop/Party Cover Band. For information on performers each week, readers can go to www.pdop.org.
Thursday Night Out begins this week on June 4 with Jazz Night Out, sponsored by WDCB Radio. Each Thursday, Marion Street is closed to car traffic between Lake Street and North Boulevard. The street is filled with people of all ages, from babies to older adults, in addition to well-behaved dogs on leashes. There are often two sets of music, the first set from 5 to 7 and the second from 7 to 9. The music includes rock, folk, blues, reggae, Latin and country. A schedule of the musical acts can be found at https://thursdaynightout.com/music.
Did you know that Thursday Night Out will celebrate their 20th birthday on Aug. 6? We will be serenaded by The Half-Brits, a Classic Rock band, and Bardware, a Funk/Jazz group.
The final concert of the season on Aug. 27, called “Dog Days of Summer Night” is sponsored by the Animal Care League.
These nights out often include children’s activities like balloon making and art activities. Especially if the weather is hot, younger kids frolic in the Marion Street fountain.
Various food and drink options are available at Thursday Night Out. The first is a four-ticket, dine-around booklet for $25, featuring specials from more than 20 local restaurants and stores.
Another food option is to order food directly from an area restaurant and bring it back to your table. I often call and order while I’m listening to the music instead of waiting for the food to be prepared at the restaurant. You can get food from Q-BBQ or Kyuramen restaurants and sit at their outside tables. Concertgoers also bring food from home or other restaurants.
During Thursday Night Out, Marion Street is filled with round tables and chairs. I have found that many of the tables are occupied unless you arrive near the beginning of the evening. I’ve enjoyed sitting at tables with people I know and people I don’t know. However, I often bring my own lawn chair. This allows me to move to different locations and get to Thursday Night Out later in the evening and still get a seat.
I look forward to seeing you and hearing some good tunes this summer.
Joy Aaronson is an Oak Park resident who writes stories for Wednesday Journal/ Newswell about her favorite things in the village.