The City Park Jazz Summer Concert Series draws on a historic tradition that began more than 130 years ago. Photographs of City Park from the turn of last century offer scenes of ladies in fine hats and gentlemen in their Sunday best. They strolled around Ferril Lake and rested on the lawns while listening to concerts at the City Park bandstand. The current series began as a just a handful of jazz concerts in 1986. Each year since, thousands of fans of all ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds (over 80,000 guests in 2011!) descend upon the bandstand to enjoy the special combination of music, nature and community.