- October 10, 2024
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Palm Coast’s first concert performance at The Stage turned out quite a crowd of Palm Coast residents.
Kaila Thrown, the recreation coordinator of marketing and events for Parks and Recreation, said the event was an over-all success and the department is already planning the next several concerts. She said she was excited to see the event appealed to residents of all ages.
“I really loved that this event was multigenerational,” she said. “It really just spread throughout the community.”
Southern Chaos — a country-rock band that plays up and down Florida’s northeast coast and is originally from Ormond Beach — performed at the first concert on July 25. Parks and Recreation will be hosting a concert at The Stage each month, and each concert will feature a band local to the area, Thrown said.
“Our focus is to highlight these local bands that are loved by the community,” she said.
The Parks and Recreation department was looking for ideas of how best to use The Stage for community events since it came under the city’s management. The goal was to make the events free and inclusive to everyone, she said.
“Live music is just something that I think we need in the community, especially as a free event, because there’s so many ticketed things that happen throughout the year,” Thrown said.
She said the city did get some complaints about the gnats that were flying around during the performance. While there isn’t much the city can do except wait out the rainy season, Thrown said, Parks and Recreation is brainstorming ideas of how to deal with them.
The August performance will also have more vendors and food trucks, she said.
“We were just testing the waters for the first one,” Thrown said. “We didn’t want to get all of these vendors and food trucks out there and it not be as successful as it was. So next time we’re trying to double up on food trucks, double up on vendors and kind of make it bigger and better.”
Parks and Recreation already has its next band at the Aug. 29 concert: Soul Fire. Soul Fire performs a blend of dance, disco and soul music.
“That’ll be different and maybe get some more people on the dance floor,” Thrown said.
As the concert series continues, she said the department will be looking to host a variety of music genres and is considering expanding the performance to include opening acts for lesser-known musicians who are just getting their start.
Thrown said that Parks and Recreation team is definitely looking to grow is arts and culture events.
“It’s something that’s not necessarily missing, but that can be built on and improved,” she said. “We just want to continue that in our community, with the concert series, but also other activities as well.”