Update: Phase 1 lineup announced
On Friday morning, July 2, the Healdsburg Community Services Department announced the phase 1 lineup for the Tuesdays in the Plaza concert series. The lineup is as follows:
July 6: Rocio y Su Sonora
July 13: Roy Rogers & the Delta Rhythm Kings
July 20: Tom Rigney & Flambeau
July 27: Con Brio
The city will announce the phase 2 lineup in August.
The beloved Healdsburg summer tradition of having Tuesdays in the Plaza will return starting July 6 at 6 p.m.
The free outdoor concert series will run until Aug. 31.
“Tuesday concerts are a big deal … and I think it marks an important milestone in where we are with the emergency and so this coming back I think will be a sigh of relief that we’re maybe not out of it (the pandemic), but we are almost there,” said Matt Milde, the city’s community services facilities and events supervisor.
Not only was the weekly event put on hold due to COVID-19, but funding for the event was cut in 2020 and for the subsequent two years when the city of Healdsburg was forced to make budget cuts due to a decrease in revenue from Transit Occupancy Tax.
The return of the series is made possible by a $20,000 grant from the Healdsburg Tourism Improvement District.
In addition, the community services department will be launching a fundraising effort in the hopes of raising an additional $40,000 to support the series.
According to Healdsburg Community Services Director Mark Themig, the series costs around $60,0000.
“There’s a third component and that is our sponsorships from various businesses, so that is in process as well, so those three pieces will come together to help fund the entire series,” Themig said.
Folks can visit the city of Healdsburg website to make a donation to the Tuesdays in the Plaza series.
Milde couldn’t quite share yet who will be in the musician lineup for the series, however, he said this year they’ve tried to book a diverse array of artists in order to showcase a wide variety of musical genres.
“We’ll see some good local talent this year and we’ll also see some diversity in the style of music,” he said.
Milde said they will be following the latest California Department of Health recommendations regarding masks.
The Tuesdays in the Plaza concert series will also feature food from local vendors.
“This year will be very different because we are doing things in a very tight turnaround. Typically we would gravitate toward local food vendors and because of either staffing concerns or other reasons that they are not able to participate, we do have to do broader outreach, so we have a number of vendors that are coming in, some local and some mobile. We’ll have a good variety of food,” Milde said.
Dave Jahns, the city’s recreation manager, said he is thrilled to be able to announce the return of Tuesdays in the Plaza.
“On July 6, we look forward to seeing all of you out here at the Plaza,” Jahns said.