free music overload

if you know me well, this won't come as a surprise, but i'm a bit of a planner. i like to plan. i like to organize. i like things to fit in their places, and to be just so. and at the start of the spring/summer season and again at the start of the fall/winter seasons, i map out a visual calendar of events for our family to plot out activities and anticipate upcoming plans. it's also an opportunity for doodling with markers, so i'm particularly pleased with this little calendar. here's the spring section of the calendar, hanging on the wall, and already so full of fun things to do.

and today, i started putting on the calendar all the free live music events in madison that we could reasonably attend. the music events that make it onto the calendar need to be nearby, with musical styles we enjoy, and with a family friendly atmosphere. i cannot believe how many make the cut, and how many free music events are offered within a mile of our front steps, all jammed into the short and intense madison summer.

but seriously, consider this:

the neighborhood festivals, full of fresh food, family activities, and full day long stages hosting world music, all located in beautiful neighborhood parks with tall old trees. there are four of these festivals, one per month from june to september. 
last year's waterfront festival:

last year's la fete festival:

and this year's line up:

there is even a festival to celebrate our tiny local independent radio station! look how much fun we had supporting WORT!


the "let's eat out" concert series starts in earnest this summer, with 5 dates of music from noon to 6pm on several saturdays or sundays, in a soccer stadium 6 blocks from here. there will be food carts. i can't resist food carts.

the central park sessions are coming back for a second summer, with thursday and sunday evening free concerts on the big stage in our new wonderful central park. it's always packed with friends and neighbors, and tucked off in a corner is a big muddy pit where all the kids go to fashion swords and paper hats and wrestle and play while their parents chat and dance and sip beer and eat from--you guesses it--food carts. there are four or five of these sessions planned.

concerts on the square starts in late june, and happens every week for 6 weeks on wednesday evenings. the crowd is unimaginable, and the chamber orchestra plays world class classical music. we sit on the capitol lawn, spread out on blankets that make a tightly packed matrix of blankets, spray on the big spray, open up the picnic dinners, and listen. it is my favorite. it has been since i started going with my boyfriend in 2002. he's been a good sport and a big fan ever since that first concert we attended together. he even brings me cupcakes sometimes.


(and last summer, we accidentally stumbled upon the dress rehearsal for the first concert on the square on a tuesday night in june while out on a date. it was such an intimate and overwhelming treat. check this out:)

live on king is coming back! six outdoor concerts in the evening and well into the night (babysitter REQUIRED) brings all sort of rock and roll and indie and hip hop and reggae artists from the B list to the stage on king street, just off the square. it is a party, and it is free.
here's the crowd for last year's ziggy marley show,


and here's a bit of the head and the heart concert from last summer.

did i mention that the monona terrace has a free rooftop concert once per week on thursday evenings? this year, there will be a talking heads tribute band. now you can't say no one told you. did you know that the terrace at the memorial union has music on, like, every night? i don't even have to go there because i can hear it right across the lake, but of course I WILL go there. because it's the terrace.


so many places to enjoy live music, all reachable in under 10 minutes of leisurely biking. all free. all reasons to meet up with old friends, and meet new friends. all evidence that madison loves its people, and is putting its time and resources to good use.
now, who wants to go to a concert? let's get something on the calendar....