Orange Concerts in the Park 2025
For more than 25 years, the Kiwanis Club of Orange has sold concessions at the Concerts in the Park series every summer, raising funds for student scholarships, teacher grants and other youth-focused services and activities.
Sadly, the City of Orange has found itself in an unfortunate financial situation. As a result, last year amidst a series of budget cuts, many city events were due to be scrapped. Seeing these activities fall by the wayside seems to not be in the cards, however, as many businesses and local organizations have come forward to preserve the events that make Orange so special.
“The fabric of Orange is made up of community events,” says Kiwanis Club President Shannon Tucker. “Last year, when the city announced they were going to cancel the concerts and only agreed to one more, Wilson Automotive stepped up and paid the costs for the rest of the summer.”
While Wilson Automotive rallied to save the concert series in 2024, giving the Kiwanis Club a chance to reach their fundraising goals, the future of the concerts remained in limbo. Wilson Automotive hoped their donations to the city last year would inspire other businesses to donate this year, and they decided not to bankroll 2025 events. As a result, the Kiwanis Club wasn’t sure if they should step up, or even if they would be able to.
“We decided that we could do a smaller version,” Tucker says, “but we didn’t seriously start talking about it until January.”
The city has given the Kiwanis Club plenty of guidance for putting together the concert series. As a result, in six weeks, the club was able to book five bands for their first year running the series. In doing so, many past talents have been added to this year’s lineup.
One such band is New Romantics, A Taylor Swift Tribute. They’ve been playing local stages for more than a year and loved the energy Orange had for them last year.
“Orange was one of the first shows we played,” says New Romantics’ singer, Katie Faith. “Such a diverse group of people filled the park. It was great to see so many people come together over the music of Taylor Swift. Orange is a fantastic city.”
While planning this year’s concert series, the Kiwanis Club is closely looking at overhead costs. Fortunately, many of the performers have lowered their performance costs to help ensure the event takes place.
“I heard last year they had to fight to keep the concerts they had scheduled,” Faith says, “so when I found out there was a group who saw how important music is to the community, I lowered my rates for them.”
Tucker says that all of the community support is helping the Kiwanis Club ensure it won’t have to dip into its savings to host the series. If this year proves successful, they plan to add a sixth show to next year’s bill.
“At the end of the day, we’re a children’s service organization without any staff,” says Tucker. “We have 24 members, 18 of whom are active, and it’s going to take everybody to make the concerts a reality. Luckily, we have had some really amazing sponsors stepping up, so we feel confident we’re going to be able to pull this off and not lose money.”
Anyone looking to sponsor this year’s concert series can reach out to Tucker at KiwanisOfOrangeCA@gmail.com. The concerts will begin at 6 pm and be held every Wednesday starting July 9th at Hart Park. Parking is free, and proceeds from the concessions will go to the Kiwanis Club of Orange.
Hart Park Bandshell
701 South Glassell St., Old Towne Orange, CA 92866
www.KiwanisOfOrange.org
