Long Beach’s Summer and Music will see people ‘Dancin’ in the Streets’

Endless summer nights, feel-good music and dance parties unite for the fourth annual Downtown Long Beach Summer and Music Festival.

This year’s installment will bring in a new event, tentatively called “Dancin’ in the Streets”, which will instigate a huge dance party in the streets of Long Beach.  The big mainstay concerts such as Battle of the Tribute Bands, Long Beach Funk Fest and Buskerfest, will be revisited as well.

Festivities start on Saturday, June 30 with the Battle of the Tribute Bands event at the Rainbow Harbor, which is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.  This year, tribute bands will include renditions of U2, Iron Maiden, the Pixies and Tom Petty. 

The outdoor dance party, “Dancin’ in the Streets,” is scheduled to be held in July with a to-be-determined date.  The idea stemmed from previous Summer and Music experiences.

“One of my favorite parts is after Buskerfest, the streets turn into a huge dance party,” Rand Foster, cofounder of Summer and Music and owner of local record shop Fingerprints, said.  “It’s hard to quantify what makes it so special.”

Ideas for the event include a band that specializes in dance-inducing jams, a silent disco or performances by local club DJs, Foster said. 

Funk Fest will make a return this year on Saturday, August 18 from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Pine and Broadway near the Promenade.  The all ages boogie get-down will feature two stages with funk-greats like Dennis Coffey, previous guitarist of the Funk Brothers studio band from the ’60s Motown era, and Dawn Silva and the Brides of Funkenstein, who have worked with the Parliament Funkadelic and Sly Stone. 

Bobby Easton, member of the funk band Delta Nove and originator of Funk Fest, aims to showcase modern funk bands as well as bring back the groovy genre to its original roots.

“The golden age of funk music was in the 70s and 80s,” he said.  “[We’re] giving respect to those bands that have been there.”

Aside from live music, Funk Fest will also host a funk-inspired art gallery, face painting, games and DJs, who will spin funk music all day long.

Buskerfest will conclude the Summer and Music events on Saturday, August 25 from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the East Village Art’s District.  Local acts will be highlighted as they perform for wooden chips along the sides of the streets.  Whoever holds the most wooden chips by the end of the evening will win a grand prize, which has yet to be determined.

The headliner, which has yet to be confirmed, will then take the main stage and end the night on a high note.  Previous headliners include the Cold War Kids, the Delta Spirit and Everest.

Summer and Music was founded by Justin Hectus, member of the Arts Council for Long Beach, and Foster.  The summer-long festival stemmed from Hectus’s Schooled in Sound program, which supported local bands and after school music programs, and a series of small performances held by Downtown Long Beach.

“[The smaller performances] were more to make people feel good about Long Beach,” Foster said.  “It was an opportunity to do something to attract people to Long Beach.”

With the goal of creating fun events that bring focus to Downtown Long Beach, Foster and Hectus teamed up with Easton to create the summer concert series that highlights the local music community.

“A healthy music scene is what we strive for,” Foster said.

For updates on Summer and Music events and to find out how to volunteer, visit their website at www.summerandmusic.com.