The Last Few Fridays Before Summer Starts Feel Different
- Rusty Foster
- May 1
- 3 min read
There is a particular kind of Friday that only exists in late spring.
It is not quite summer yet, but everyone is starting to act like it is.
The evenings are getting longer. The calendar is starting to fill. People are making loose plans again. Someone mentions a cookout. Someone else talks about a trip. A group text that has been quiet since last year suddenly comes back to life with, “What are we doing this summer?”
And somewhere in that shift, Tarara starts to come back into focus.
Not all at once.
Quietly at first.
You hear a song that reminds you of a past concert. You drive home a little later and notice the light hanging around longer than it did a few weeks ago. You start thinking about chairs, coolers, friends, wine, the lake, and that first walk from the parking area toward the lawn.
That is how summer announces itself here.
Not with a date on the calendar, exactly, but with a feeling.
And once you know that feeling, you recognize it every year.
The Tarara Summer Concert Series does not begin when the first band walks on stage. Not really.
It begins in the weeks before, when people start choosing their nights.
It begins when someone says, “We should go to that one.”
It begins when a couple decides which Saturday will be their date night.
It begins when a friend group realizes they have not all been in the same place since last summer and picks a show because someone has to make the first move.
It begins when regulars look at the schedule and start building their season in their heads.
There is something underrated about this part.
The anticipation.
Most of us rush past it. We treat planning as a task. We buy the ticket, put the date in the calendar, move on.
But the best summer nights usually start before the night itself. They start with the decision to protect the time.
That matters more than people admit.
Because summer has a way of disappearing if you do not claim some of it early.
One minute it is May. The next, you are halfway through July wondering how every Saturday got away from you.
That is why these last few Fridays before the season begins are important.
They are a warning and an invitation.
A warning that the easy, open part of the calendar will not stay open forever.
An invitation to decide what kind of summer you want before it decides for you.
At Tarara, that decision does not have to be complicated.
Pick one night because you love the band.
Pick one night because your friends will love the band.
Pick one night because you need an excuse to be outside, under the sky, with music in the background and nowhere else to be.
That is enough.
You do not need to plan the whole season at once. You do not need to know every detail. You just need to give yourself a few nights worth looking forward to.
Because that is what these concerts become.
Not just something to attend.
Something to anticipate.
The first show of the 27th Annual Tarara Summer Concert Series is now close enough to feel real. Soon, the gates will open. The lawn will fill. The lake will catch the evening light. Someone will arrive too early. Someone will arrive too late. Someone will dance before they planned to. Someone will say, “We needed this.”
And they will be right.
But before all of that happens, there is today.
One of the last few Fridays before summer starts.
The perfect time to look at the schedule, choose your nights, and give yourself something better than another weekend that slips by unnoticed.
Summer is coming either way.
You might as well put music in it.
Explore the 2026 schedule and start choosing your Tarara nights: www.tararaconcerts.com/schedule
For those who already know one night will not be enough, Concert Club is available here: www.tararaconcerts.com/concertclub
