By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer
On April 25, Bowling for Soup and Two Tons of Steel will join forces with the City of Waco for the annual Brazos Nights concert series in Indian Spring Park.
Brazos Nights has been a Waco tradition for over 30 years with the help of the City of Waco Parks and Recreation Department. The concert series has also hosted other notable artists such as Dwight Yoakam, Kaitlin Butts, Ty Myers and Gary Clark Jr.
According to Cameron Wolf, events and promotions coordinator with parks and recreation, gates will open at 6 p.m. for the event. The first band, Two Tons of Steel, will arrive on stage at 7:30 p.m., and Bowling for Soup will headline at 9 p.m.
The event will be located at 101 N. University Parks Drive next to the historic Waco Suspension Bridge. There will be a multitude of free parking spaces around Waco for festivalgoers to utilize.
“Heritage Square in front of City Hall is probably the most notable one, as long as there are not any other events going on that week,” Wolf said. “We put on a good show of music entertainment. It is a free event, free admission, so there’s no cost to attend. You’re more than welcome to bring your own food, drinks, anything like that.”
The concert is free and family-friendly, Wolf said. There will also be a variety of food and drink trucks for festivalgoers to purchase, and patrons are also welcome to bring chairs, coolers, drinks and snacks.
“We have between nine and 12 food trucks show up,” Wolf said. “They can range from major food vendors that are selling your carnival food, hamburgers, barbecue. And then we also have some sweet treats and some drink vendors as well.”
For the upcoming concert, the vendor lineup includes Dancing Bear Pub, Fat Boy’s Pizza, HTeaO, Shiver Me Shavers and a variety of others, Wolf said.
The event’s main focus is community and ensuring that families can partake in a fun and free concert led by the City of Waco, according to Wolf.
“We want to put these events on for members of our community and such,” he said. “Waco does have a [growing] music scene, and again, it’s free. I think that’s a really big draw.”
The concert series helps draw new people into Waco, inviting music lovers from all walks of life to join the free event, Wolf said.
Bennington, Neb., freshman Britt McIlnay said she’s excited to be able to attend live music in Waco for free and see new artists with her friends.
“It’s cool that Waco has such a great music scene and fun to see artists for free when they come to town,” McIlney said. “I’m excited to bring my friends and see what food trucks they have.”
Following the concert on April 25, the City of Waco will be hosting a Cinco de Mayo concert with Grammy-winning artists on May 2. The event will be free and family-friendly.
“Opening that act, we have Sunny Sauceda,” Wolf said. “He’s a pretty good … musician out of San Antonio … he puts on a really good show. And then he opens up for De Parranda.”
For more info on the upcoming shows, visitthe concert series website.
