Above: The annual end-of-summer festival includes a slew of free family-friendly activities. (photos by Beth Melo and family)
Southborough Recreation’s “Summer Nights” festival takes place tomorrow night. I’m rounding up all the details about the fun, the parking, and other logistics.
A warning for residents with skittish dogs — make sure they’re well secured. As always, the night will be capped off with bangin’ fireworks.
Schedule
Parking & Food sales are set to open at 5:00 pm tomorrow, Saturday, August 23rd. (Scroll down for parking details.) Live music will begin at 6:00 pm. The festivities run until dark, ending with the fireworks show to shoot off around 8:15 pm.
Event Map
Last year, Rec encouraged families to come up with a plan for where to meet if parents and kids get separated. (You can use Recreation’s tent, where there will be staff to help. But there are plenty of easily spotted landmarks to choose from.) The map (right) for the campus layout right is from 2023, but things should be pretty much the same.
Fun for all Ages
The free family-friendly fun has evolved over the years. But this year is expected to be very similar to recent summers.
In the Kids Zone, families can again enjoy inflatables (including an obstacle course), a photo booth, face painting, and other free kid-friendly entertainment.
Booths for groups promoting themselves will offer giveaways and/or free fun (like Southborough Youth Basketball’s “pop-a-shot” mini hoops game and Middlesex Savings Bank’s twisted balloon creations). And on the tennis courts, kids can take a turn trying the ARHS Robotics team’s devices.
Vendor booths will also include the usual vendor selling light up toys, etc.
A new addition to this year’s fun is a public art area, courtesy of Southborough Rotary. The “rotary” by Neary School will be dedicated to allow attendees to make street art drawings using chalk. (Read more here.)
For teens and adults, the other entertainment is the food and music.
The live music is an encore from the past three years. A local favorite, Hit the Bus, will hit the stage again.
You may want to bring your picnic blankets and/or chairs to enjoy dinner with the show. . .
Food Trucks Galore
Close to a dozen vendors will be parked/setup on the “food truck court” on the blacktop (near the playground):
PotatoPotato: Poutine, fries, tots- Cousins Maine Lobster: Lobster rolls, quesadillas, mac and cheese
- Birds Nest Italian Street Food: Meatball & chicken parm sliders, fried ravioli
- Anzios Brick Oven Pizza: Pizza
- Trolley Dogs: Gourmet hot dogs
- The Grub Guru: Asian fusion
- Easy Street Tacos: Tacos, nachos, quesadillas
- Mac Daddy: Gourmet Mac & Cheese with toppings
- Trombetta’s Farm: Ice cream
- Uhlman’s Ice Cream: Ice cream
- Yummy Mummy Bakery: Brownies and cookies
Parking & Pickup
Parking will start at Neary School (59 Parkerville Road) then be diverted to Trottier Middle School (via the Deerfoot Road entrance) with an overflow lot at 225 Turnpike Road (at the corner of Parkerville and Route 9, about a 10 minute walk). There is no street parking on Parkerville.
If you are dropping off or picking up attendees, you should use the Lundblad Field turnoff on Parkerville Road. (See image right.)
Below are my pics of the fun from past years (taken by me and my kids):
