Hatch Foundation and Springfield Sister Cities Association present Gigs in the Garden, an outdoor concert series at 2 p.m. on Sundays in October 2023. Bring your lawn chairs or blankets and enjoy a variety of local performance groups in an extraordinary setting.
The concerts take place at the Peace Through People Pavilion located within the beautiful Kay Cummins Finnie Memorial Dogwood Garden at the Springfield Botanical Gardens at Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park, 2400 S. Scenic Ave., Springfield, Mo.
Admission is free with a $10 suggested donation to support garden accessibility projects. Beverages are available for purchase, and kids will love the playground nearby.
Ilace Mears and David Wilson kick off the series on Sunday, October 1 at 2 p.m. At the musical intersection of fun and beautiful, Mears and Wilson provide genre-spanning, acoustic instrumentals with a unique blend of hammered dulcimer, fiddle and mandolin.
Next up is The Ozark Songbirds on Sunday, October 8 at 2 p.m. The group is a collective musical experience brought to you by Melissa Rea, Betsey Mae, Melinda Mullins, Jessamyn Orchard and Kunti Bentley performing originals and a few covers in a song circle format.
Republic Community Band continues the series on Sunday, October 15 at 2 p.m. The band is an intergenerational organization that plays instrumental versions of hits from classical music, Broadway, movie soundtracks, pop/rock medleys and more.
On Sunday, October 22 at 2 p.m., singer-songwriter Lyal Strickland performs. With a raspy voice that is at times soothing and at other times raw with emotion, Strickland beautifully captures the soul of working-class America by telling stories that help you understand the greater human puzzle.
The teenage boys of MJAW close out the series on Sunday, October 29 at 2 p.m. The string quartet is eager to delight their audience with music from a wide range of genres that is sure to entertain people of all ages and backgrounds.
In the case of inclement weather, the concerts will move inside the adjacent Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center.
The series is sponsored by Hatch Foundation, Mid-Missouri Bank, and Guaranty Bank. It is managed by Springfield Sister Cities Association in cooperation with the Springfield-Greene County Park Board.
The Peace Through People Pavilion was constructed in late 2016 to encourage more cultural performances and community events in the Springfield Botanical Gardens.
For more information, please visit peacethroughpeople.org/gigs or call 417-864-1191.
