When the music starts at the City of Columbia’s Finlay Park on a Friday evening, the scene can look deceptively simple. A band takes the stage, people spread blankets and lawn chairs across the grass, children play and food trucks serve dinner.
Behind that scene, however, is a carefully coordinated municipal operation involving musicians, sound equipment, park staff, police, fire officials, vendors and a budget that pays for considerably more than the performers.
Columbia’s newly renovated Finlay Park offers a look at what it takes for a city to operate a regular outdoor concert series — and why officials say the investment is about more than entertainment.
“Activation is key,” said John Katz, deputy director and program manager for Finlay Park. “And providing all these opportunities for the public to come enjoy this beautiful park is really what my job is.”
The city launched its Finlay Fridays series in February after completing a $25 million renovation at the 17.5-acre downtown park. Free concerts are scheduled most Fridays through spring, summer and fall with the lineup crossing genres, from jazz and R&B to rock and Americana.
“We work with a local promoter to help identify talent and book bands,” Katz said. “We try and make sure that the genres are all over the board.”
The variety is intentional.
“Our goal is to attract all walks of life,” says Henry Simons, assistant city manager. “When you have a variety of programming, that gives you the diversity that you're looking for.”
The city has committed about $2 million a year for maintenance and events at the park, with a goal that most events are free.
On a typical concert day, Katz said, audio equipment begins going into place around 2 p.m. The band generally arrives around 4 p.m. for a sound check, followed by event staff and police. The city rents a basic production system that handles most of its needs. Larger or specialized performances can require additional microphones and speakers.
Food and other vendors buy permits to sell at the concerts, and there is a designated beer seller for the free events. Patrons can bring in food and nonalcoholic beverages in soft-sided coolers and the park has a clear-bag policy like many large venues. The free events draw about 1,500 to 2,000 people, Katz said, depending on weather.
The city staged a ticketed event in May — the Songbird Music Festival, a two-day Americana and roots music festival — and it drew about 4,000 people. It featured nationally touring acts, including Old Crow Medicine Show and Sam Bush, and Katz said the city hopes to do it again.
The concerts also are designed so that people do not necessarily have to sit and watch the stage for the entire evening.
Finlay Park’s 60,000-square-foot event lawn is surrounded by an asphalt walking loop. The playground, splash pad and other amenities remain part of the experience, allowing families to use the park while music is playing.
Renovations also considered how the concerts interact with the park’s neighbors, who were kept involved in the redevelopment. Simons said the stage was reoriented during the renovations so that sound projects away from its nearby residential area.
When the City of Travelers Rest built its public gathering space on the site of a former high school in 2014, city officials included an amphitheater specifically to host concerts.
“We didn't have a public gathering space — a big green space — for lots of community events,” Programs and Communications Director Beth Sicignano said of the plan to create the complex that now includes city hall, the fire department, the police department and Trailblazer Park.
Events at Trailblazer Park started small, but have grown. For example, 6,000 attendees came to the 2026 concert and drone show celebrating the United States’ 250th anniversary. Sicignano wrote the script for the drone show that incorporated local history and imagery, including references to local Revolutionary War figure Dicey Langston, the Swamp Rabbit Trail and Travelers Rest’s high school mascot.
Over the years, the city’s budget for the summer concert series has grown to about $40,000 with some offset coming from sponsors and food truck permits.
“City council, in our last comprehensive plan, identified arts and culture as one of their four core values,” said Town Administrator Shannon Herman. "A lot of what we do in the programming is try to bring arts and culture to the community.”
The free concert series runs on Saturdays in May and June, and the first three Saturdays in September. The 2026 lineup included local and regional acts spanning rock, country, R&B, Appalachian, Celtic and other genres. Food trucks arrive at 6 p.m., with music beginning at 7 p.m.
Sicignano said the town has gradually increased its programming budget, allowing it to book better-known regional performers whose followings extend into markets such as Atlanta and Charlotte. That planning also helps the town anticipate crowds. Sicignano tracks bands’ social media followers and engagement to estimate attendance and determine the level of support an event will require. Larger events can require additional portable toilets and trash receptacles. Afterward, city employees clean the park and a contracted company collects the bagged trash.
Weather is another consideration with contracts that address cancellations and rescheduling.
“We had a band recently that was rained out in May,” Sicignano said. “They're coming back and we've already paid them.”
For the City of Tega Cay, outdoor concerts in Runde Park have been a staple almost since the city was incorporated in 1982.
“The concerts bring community together,” said Caroline Hasty, Tega Cay’s events manager.
Typically, the city hosts four concerts, with most held at Runde Park, and two other festivals a year. The 2026 schedule included June, July, August and October concerts, with the July performance incorporated into the city’s Independence Day and anniversary celebration.
Because of its size and location on the shores of Lake Wylie, the city’s biggest logistical issue with concerts and events is parking. To accommodate as many as 500 attendees at a concert, the city provides free shuttle buses that run continuously during the event. Many attendees also simply walk from their nearby homes, taking advantage of the city’s sidewalk network.
Most of the logistics of setup and cleanup are handled by city employees and volunteers, Hasty said. The bulk of the funding for concerts comes from the city’s operating budget, although some money does come from vendor permits and sponsorships, which include in-kind donations, such as hay bales for seating or golf carts for transporting guests.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs and blankets, but the city also offers a upgrade opportunity that includes seating and drink service.
Tega Cay's concerts are intentionally focused on local and regional acts. Hasty said the city has plenty of musical talent of its own, and she likes to showcase musicians who live in or identify with Tega Cay. Concerts can also feature local veterans' groups or school and music programs.
For Hasty, the measure of success is creating an experience people remember and want to repeat.
“We want to do it so great that they'll come back and bring their friends,” she said.