Free Movies, Concerts And More At CA's Lakefront Summer Festival

Another great summer of movies, concerts is set to begin this year in Columbia. With a packed schedule of 23 movies and 50 concerts, Columbia Association’s Lakefront Summer Festival includes completely free, family-friendly options nearly every day of the week. The festival begins on Wednesday, June 21 and continues into September. A full schedule can be found at ColumbiaAssociation.org/lakefrontfestival.

Movies will be screened at Lake Kittamaqundi under the stars on Mondays and Fridays from Monday, June 26 through Monday, Aug. 28. All films are closed-captioned.

Films shown on Mondays are appropriate for young audience members, with G- and PG-rated selections such as “Sing,” “Despicable Me 2,” “Cars,” “Pete’s Dragon (2016),” “Finding Dory,” “The Little Mermaid,” “The Princess and the Frog,” “The Secret Of Pets,” “Moana” and “Zootopia.”

The Friday movies are rated PG and PG-13, with selections such as “Sully,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “La La Land,” “Hidden Figures,” “The Lego Batman Movie,” “Doctor Strange” and “Kong: Skull Island.”

And then, from Sept. 1 through Sept. 9, CA will show movies every Friday (PG-rated movies) and Saturday (PG-13 movies). These titles include “Beauty and the Beast (2017),” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”

All showings will begin at dusk, about 8:30pm. Movie nights have been hosted by Tom “Mr. B” Brzezinski for the past 46 years and are sponsored by Columbia Association.

Also, 43 nights and seven afternoons of music are scheduled through September. Concerts and performances are held on almost every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday through Aug. 20, with additional concerts on four Sundays in September.

Start times are as follows:

• Tuesdays, 7:30pm. No concert on July 4.
• Wednesdays from June 28-Aug. 16, noon (formerly known as CA’s Lakefront Wednesdays Lunchtime Concert Series). No concert on July 5.
• Wednesdays from June 21-Aug. 16, 7:30pm
• Thursdays, 7:30pm
• Saturdays, 7:30pm
• Sundays through Aug. 20, 6:30pm
• Sundays from Sept. 3-Sept. 24, 3pm

Four Tuesdays — July 11, July 18, July 25 and Aug. 1 — will feature talented youth musicians performing at CA’s Teen Open Mic nights. Sign-up begins at 6:45 p.m. and performances are first-come, first-served. No bands with drum sets will be allowed. For more information, please email CALakefrontFestival@gmail.com.

And, finally, CA’s annual “Dancing Under the People Tree” free dance lessons will be hosted every Friday from June 30 through Sept. 8. Instruction with music will be held under the People Tree from 6:30 to 8 p.m., with dances that are fun both for beginners and those with experience. And when the dance session ends, the movie begins.

No glass containers or alcoholic beverages are permitted. The schedule is subject to change without notice. Events may be canceled due to severe weather. The Lakefront Summer Festival Severe Weather Hotline is 410-715-3127. Attendees are encouraged to post on social media with the hashtag #CASummerFest.

Columbia Association is also a sponsor of the Merriweather Movie Nights at Merriweather Post Pavilion. The remaining schedule of movies includes “The Last Waltz” (Wednesday, June 28), “Moana” (Wednesday, July 26) and “School of Rock” (Wednesday, Aug. 30). Gates open at 5:30pm. Movies begin at 7:30pm. For tickets and more information, visit the Downtown Columbia Arts and Culture Commission website at DCACC.info/mppmovies.

About Columbia Association
Columbia Association (CA) is a nonprofit community services corporation that manages Columbia, Maryland, a planned community that is home to approximately 100,000 people and several thousand businesses — and was named the No. 1 small city to live in by Money Magazine in 2016. Additional information about CA is available at ColumbiaAssociation.org.