First Church West Hartford will kick off its annual outdoor ‘Sun is Shining’ concert series on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017. 

By Joy Taylor

Summer isn’t over! You’ll have four opportunities to hear a great variety of live music right in West Hartford Center at First Church’s “Sun is Shining” concert series each Tuesday in August beginning Aug. 8, at 12 South Main St.

You can park for free in the church lot, which is accessible via Farmington Avenue, and bring a chair or a blanket and get comfortable on the labyrinth on the front lawn of First Church. Picnics are also welcome at this all-ages event.

The concerts are free, but food donations to the “Food for Friends” fund, which supports the West Hartford Food Pantry, are welcome.

All concerts begin at 6 p.m. and end at 8 p.m. Keep an eye on the First Church Facebook page for possible weather cancellations.

The schedule is as follows:

• We Happy Few: Aug. 8, 2017
  A unique cover band of folk, rock, and jazz music all rolled into one, fronted by multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Boratko.
• Still Kickin’ and the Big City Horns: Aug. 15, 2017
  Still Kickin’ and the Big City Horns, East Granby Connecticut’s premier horn band. Playing horn band favorites and a whole lot more.
• Dan Liparini Quartet: Aug. 22, 2017
  Dan Liparini is a guitarist, composer and arranger living in Hartford, Connecticut since 2010.
• The Jolly Beggars: 
Aug. 29, 2017
  The band performs music that is largely Celtic in origin (Irish and Scottish), with some pieces coming from an extension of that music in other cultures, such as Newfoundland. Known for their tight harmonies and use of guitars, mandolin, tin whistles, tenor banjo, double bass, bodhran, spoons, story-telling, and more.

Local Celtic/Irish band, The Jolly Beggars. Facebook photo

Site of the “Sun is Shining ” concert series. The labyrinth at First Church West Hartford, 12 South Main St., West Hartford. Photo courtesy of First Church and Paul Truebig