Great Park 2011 Flights and Sounds Summer Festival launches this weekend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AUGUST 2, 2011
CONTACT: JENN STARNES, 949-724-6574

Great Park 2011 Flights & Sounds Summer Festival Launches This Weekend

Disco August 5; Spend an Evening with Saxophonist Branford Marsalis August 6

IRVINE – The Orange County Great Park’s 2011 Flights and Sounds Summer Festival launches its fourth annual dance party and concert season this weekend. The fun begins August 5 with a theme, celebrating the City of Irvine’s 40th Anniversary featuring DJ HAPA, who will kick off the summer Friday night dance parties. On August 6 Grammy Award winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis will open the Saturday concert series with a mix of jazz, blues and funk. These free live events begin at 8:15pm on Friday and Saturday nights for five weeks straight.

This year’s outdoor Flights & Sounds Summer Festival will take place near the brand-new Palm Court Arts Complex and expansive North Lawn and Great Park Balloon. Admission is free, and parking for the performances is $10. Visitors will also be able to enjoy the Park’s inaugural exhibition in the new Great Park Gallery, Plane Air Power by Laguna Beach artist Jorg Dubin.

“We invite everyone to experience these wonderful events under the stars,” said Beth Krom, Chair, Orange County Great Park Corporation. “With five weeks of dance parties and concerts, there’s something for everyone at the Flights and Sounds Summer Festival.”

DJ HAPA has spun discs at events from Las Vegas to Hong Kong. He is one of the top DJ’s in LA’s club scene. His entertaining style and encyclopedic knowledge of music are sure to keep you on the dance floor as he gives your feet a lesson in disco music history.

Branford Marsalis is known to millions from his stint leading the Tonight Show band. He is at his fiery best with his own long-lived quartet demonstrating his versatility performing everything from jazz to blues and funk.

Pack a picnic or enjoy something from the menu at the Hangar Café, which will re-open in the newly-renovated historic Hangar 244. It will feature a fresh selection of delicious food that will be available for purchase to enjoy at the Café or on the lawn before the dance parties and concerts. Live music begins at 8:15pm. Hangar Café opens at 6pm before all shows.
Flights & Sounds Summer Festival is presented by the Orange County Great Park and produced by the Irvine Barclay Theater. Both theater-style seating and park space for lawn chairs or picnics are available for all shows. The Orange County Great Park is located at Sand Canyon and Marine Way, and can easily be reached by the 5 or 405 freeways. For more information go to www.ocgp.org

Upcoming Festival Events:

Friday Night: World Beat Dance Parties

August 12 – Nuriya – Salsa gone global with sizzling vocals, rumba flamenco, Afro-Cuban rhythms and Arabic melodies.
August 19 – Shotgun Wedding Quintet – From big band swing, to funk and gypsy jazz.
August 26 – H’Sao – High-energy dance music spliced with masterful a cappella vocals.
September 2 – BlackMahal – Punjabi funk with drums, horns and hip hop.

Saturday Night: American Music Styles in Concert

August 13 – Lucinda Williams – From folk, to country, rock and Americana.
August 20 – Jazz Mafia – One of the most powerful assemblies of virtuosic performers with top-tier brass and an always premium rhythm section.
August 27 – The Del McCoury Band – High lonesome vocals and knife-sharp band keep the bluegrass flame alive.
September 3 – Preservation Hall Jazz Band – Joyful mastery of traditional jazz.

About the Great Park

The Orange County Great Park, with its 1,347-acre master plan, is the focal point of the redevelopment of the publicly-owned portion of the 4,700-acre former Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro. The Great Park is currently nearly 60 acres and includes an iconic tethered helium balloon that rises 400 feet in the air, providing an aerial view of Park development. Other features include the Carousel, Farm and Food Lab, Kids Rock Playground, Palm Court Arts Complex, North Lawn recreation area, historic Hangar 244. The South Lawn lighted soccer fields and Community Garden will be added in 2012

For more information, please go to www.ocgp.org.

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