When you hear about a free music festival what comes to mind? A soapbox for a stage … a bullhorn for a PA system … an old guy with an acoustic guitar who thinks he’s kickin’ out the jams, but in reality is doing anything but.
Free doesn’t always translate into lame though. Every now and then you can catch a performance from a renowned musician for the price of the effort it took to get to the show.
The Flights and Sounds Summer Festival is just such an event. This series of free concerts held over five weeks in the Orange County Great Park (browse through the selection of cheap flights to California) is serving up a diverse mix of internationally acclaimed musicians and dancers.
Topping the bill is the legendary South African male choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Other headliners include Grammy Award-winning Latin jazz bandleader Poncho Sanchez, Persian electronica phenomenon Niyaz and Grammy Award-winning bluegrass legend Del McCoury.
Get a taste of last year’s festival from this short video:
The festival starts today with a weekend of Latin music (August 2-4). The following weekend sees World Beat take the spotlight (August 9-11). Week three sees a focus on British and Irish music (August 17-18), while the penultimate weekend showcases Blues, Swing and great American guitar-based music (August 23-25). The closing night of the series takes place on August 31 with the brilliantly named Lavay Smith and Her Red-Hot Skillet Lickers.
If you’re in New York, you’re even more blessed with free shows thanks to the Central Park SummerStage.
Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…
