May 3 will be opening night for Nightfall, Chattanooga’s longest-running outdoor summer concert series, held free each Friday for 17 weeks at Miller Plaza and Miller Park. For 32 years, the community at large has been drawn together on Friday nights in downtown Chattanooga with diverse music as its centerpiece. Featuring a local opening act at 7 p.m. and a regional or national headliner at 8 p.m., Nightfall will continue to host music on the Miller Plaza stage from May 3 through Aug. 30 (with the exception of May 31 during Riverbend). The music featured from week to week is as diverse as the faces in the crowd.
Headlining Nightfall for the opening of the season Friday, May 3, is Aaron Lee Tasjan, known as one of the wittiest, most offbeat, brilliant, Americana troubadours writing and singing songs today. However, Tasjan’s latest release, “Karma For Cheap” follows his restless muse into the kind of jingle-jangle power-pop tinged that taps into his first love of the Lennon-McCartney tunes he played in his Southern California childhood. Tasjan and his band take the stage at 8 p.m.
Opening the show at 7 p.m., is Oweda, one of Chattanooga’s newest bands, which was voted into the finals of this year’s Road to Nightfall competition. Oweda is a crowd-pleasing rock and roll band, with a soulful mixture of southern blues and catchy hooks.
Nightfall bulk discount beer and wine tickets will again be available this year at each show, offering a 20 percent savings on a packet of 20 beer and wine tickets. Food trucks and non-alcoholic drink concessions are also available on site. No outside food or beverages are allowed to be brought in to Nightfall, therefore coolers are not allowed.
Known for its family-friendly environment as well as being recognized nationally for the quality of its musical programming, Nightfall is a family-friendly concert series with an average attendance of between 2,500-3,000 each night.
With the addition of the renovated Miller Park in its footprint, Nightfall will expand activities such as outdoor games, vendors, family activities and artists into the new grassy lawn. Expanding its reach to include visual arts in addition to the music at Nightfall, artists of all types are now invited to sell, display or demonstrate during the Nightfall shows in the new lawn of the renovated Miller Park. Registration for booth space can be found at http://www.nightfallchattanooga.com/nightfall-registration-form.
Nightfall is produced by Chattanooga Presents.
For more information on this free community concert series, call 265-0771 or visit NightfallChattanooga.com for a complete, interactive website that includes music samples by each headliner, as well as other information for first-time attendees.