Changes To Arlington Heights Sounds of Summer Concert Series Approved

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — Following feedback from downtown businesses, particularly those that participate in Arlington Alfresco on Friday nights in the summer, along with residents, the Village is making changes to its popular Sounds of Summer concert series. At its Tuesday night meeting, the Arlington Heights Village Board voted, by a count of 7-2, to only hold concerts on Thursday nights, as well as expand the season from June through August.

The concert series, which have been hosted by the Village since 2001, are held at Harmony Park. Traditionally, the 12 concerts are held on Thursdays and Fridays from June to July.

The changes, proposed by Village staff, are being made to address confined space at Harmony Park and adjacent streets on Friday nights due to the concerts and Arlington Alfresco, the outdoor dining experience introduced to downtown Arlington Heights in 2020. Officials said having the dual events on Fridays have presented "ongoing challenges for staff and businesses" with big crowds at each. The changes being made at this time are only for the 2024 season.

"This is a difficult decision for me because I enjoy both nights so much. I'm down there almost every concert, so I really it. The best part of my job, I say it all the time, is the smiles I see of people both at Alfresco and the Sounds of Summer," Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said. "I think this is at least a reasonable compromise to at least try for one year to see how it goes.

According to officials, some downtown businesses in favor of the tweak to the scheduling said the Friday night concerts conflict with their own activities and they request they be "focused on nights where downtown wasn't already as busy."

After being directed to do so by the Village Board, Village staff met with the Arlington Economic Alliance Commission to obtain feedback about potential changes earlier this month. Officials said the commission indicated their unanimous support of the proposed modification to the concert series.

According to the Village, during some Friday nights, there are 6,000 guests in the entirety of the Arlington Alfresco area, not including Harmony Park, and the number increases to 7,500 when the concerts are held.

"We are victims of our own success. I don't think anybody that was on the board during the pandemic when we were talking about Arlington Alfresco, anticipated this was going to turn into what it turned into," Trustee Richard Baldino said.

Baldino, who admitted also receiving emails from residents against the changes, said that people he's talked to about the issue face-to-face have told him they don't want to frequent the downtown area on Friday nights due to the crowds. He also compared the downtown area on those nights to Mardi Gras and described them as "unwieldy."

In addition to the aforementioned public safety concerns, the Village said other issues that have come up on Friday nights include:

• Maintaining safe access for all guests, of all ages – and all abilities
• Parking issues – Vail Street Garage filling up. This results in additional challenges for guests trying to make their dinner reservations, as well as guests illegally parking in resident spaces, leaving them without parking when they come home from work
• Securing adequate staffing levels for the back-to-back events each week
• Negative Impacts on the grass and underground irrigation system at Harmony Park with back-to-back concerts on Thursdays & Fridays each week
• Stage is left unattended overnight from Thursday to Friday, requiring overnight monitoring
• Adjacent businesses have expressed interest in hosting their own Friday night entertainment and events, which they cannot currently do because of Sounds of Summer sound
• Managing Village staffing when also trying to complete projects associated with summer, including important construction projects that must be completed on a specific timeline

With the decision, officials said the Village staff is now able to begin booking bands for the "very popular and desirable" concert series.