Warm, sunny weather and longer nights have returned to Northwest Georgia as we inch towards the official start of summer on June 21. With Memorial Day this past Monday marking the unofficial beginning of summer along with local schools out until August and September, it’s definitely time to enjoy being outdoors again.
There’s a perfect opportunity to do that this Friday — and every Friday through the end of July — as several local organizations have partnered to present the Off the Rails Summer Entertainment Series.
The free entertainment series returns Friday to the Burr Performing Arts Park in downtown Dalton after a fun and successful summer of events in 2021. In 2020, the series was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The concerts are family-friendly and are open to everyone.
This first concert for 2022 features three acts beginning at 6:30 p.m. with Not Without My Muse. The opening act on Showalter Stage is Athens, Georgia-based duo Hotel Fiction followed by headliner singer-songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan, who has collaborated with artists such as Pat Green, Tom Petty and Jack White.
“The format will remain the same this year,” said David Aft, president of the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia. “Things will begin at 6:30 (p.m.) in the Truist tent. At 7:30, the opener band will come on. Those acts will tend to be local, and the headliners will come on around 8:30. Those will be regional or even nationally touring acts. As our sponsorships have grown and our budget has grown, it has allowed us to grow a little bit bigger.”
The Community Foundation along with the Creative Arts Guild, the Dalton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Downtown Dalton Development Authority present the concert series. For a complete listing of concerts, go to www.downtowndalton.com/downtowndaltonevents.
If you haven’t been downtown in a while, we encourage you to arrive early and check out the new shops and dine at the new restaurants. We encourage you to attend these amazing gifts to the community.
