BERKELEY SPRINGS – Live music is back at Berkeley Springs State Park with the return of the Morgan Arts Council’s “Saturday Concerts in the Park” series, offering free outdoor performances every Saturday evening through August.
The Saturday concert series is a nearly four decades old tradition, having been run by the Morgan Arts Council since 1987. The free concerts are open to all ages, and attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets, and pack a picnic for a festive, laid back atmosphere
The concerts are held every Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
According to Jordan Warren, executive director of the MAC Ice House, the concerts started as an educational series, funded by a grant in order to bring music to Berkeley Springs with a goal to educate the community on different types of music.
“We’ve had everything from jazz to Zydeco to traditional Japanese flute, to Appalachian folk, to classical rock and to almost everything in between,” Warren said. “Throughout the years it has maintained that educational aspect, but we’ve kind of loosened up those terms a little bit and just continue to bring free and accessible music to Berkeley Springs.”
While the Morgan Arts Council also holds concerts on Fridays at the same venue, Friday’s concerts feature more local and regional bands, while Saturday’s concerts are their national stage, bringing in bands like the U.S. Air Force Full Spectrum Band, a six-piece classic rock band coming to Berkeley Springs all the way from Langley, Virginia.
They performed a mix of recent pop hits and timeless classics, from Run-DMC to Maroon 5. The band aims to inspire pride in America, while amplifying recruiting efforts for the Air Force.
“This concert, specifically on Independence Day weekend is just to come together and re-evaluate the patriotism in the world and to just kind of make sure that everybody comes together for music,” Warren said. “Music, I believe, is the universal language and having them here to showcase what they can do on their level of music and still showcase that they are military, hopefully it can prove that military is just not the war zone,” Warren added.
The Saturday concerts will continue very week until August 23, featuring groups like Trio Caliente next week, playing Flamenco, pop and Latin dance music and the Jaq Tariq Band, coming from Memphis playing blues and jazz performing July 26.
More information about the Morgan Arts Council, along with the full schedule of Friday and Saturday concerts, is available online at macicehouse.org.
