News Release

Weather Won’t Stop Symphony Coming to the Dunes

Date: August 2, 2018

INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE:  No matter the weather on Friday night, the show will go on. Conductor Kirk Muspratt will lead the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra in performing the Thunder & Lightning Polka, Pops Hoedown, America the Beautiful and many other songs as the sun sets behind the dunes; or he will lead the orchestra at the state of the art auditorium at Chesterton High School.  
 
Music will begin at 7:30 p.m., Friday August 3. We are hoping it will be located at West Beach and with the help of a variety of partners and food vendors, visitors can enjoy free music under the stars and purchase food, wine and beer for a picnic dinner in a “Ravinia”-like setting. Bring your camp chairs and picnic supplies. The gates will stop collecting fees at 4 p.m. to allow folks to arrive early and find a good spot. Food vendors open their doors at 5:30 p.m. The Symphony and Plum Grove Music will present an instrument garden starting at 6:30pm. The instrument garden is a place where children and adults alike can touch and play a variety of musical instruments. The symphony begins their performance at 7:30 p.m.
 
This concert is part of the Symphony’s South Shore Music Festival, sponsored by the John W. Anderson Foundation, with additional support from JP Morgan Chase, Strack and Van Til, Hammond Port Authority, and Northwest Indiana Clean Air.
 
The national lakeshore is able to host this fun evening of music because of the generous support of Dunes Learning Center, Dunes National Park Association, Friends of Indiana Dunes, and Eastern National. These partners began this musical tradition in 2016 when the park celebrated its 50^th birthday.
 
Featured again this year is a wine tasting event sponsored by Dunes Learning Center to raise funds for their education programs in the park.  Wine and beer will be available for purchase. Fee collection at West Beach will stop at 4:00 p.m. on the day of the concert. Please carpool if possible.
 
In the event of inclement weather, the concert will be moved indoors to the Chesterton High School Auditorium. If the concert is moved indoors, the information will be posted at the entrance to West Beach, on the park's website atwww.nps.gov/indu, on the park's Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/IndianaDunesNL and on Twitter @duneslearning.
 
Our partner, Dunes Learning Center, is handling free registration this year and asking participants to go online atwww.duneslearningcenter.org/public to register for the event. Registered participants will receive notifications in the case of inclement weather.
 
For information on this and other programs being offered this year at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, call 219-395-1882 or check the park’s website at www.nps.gov/indu.
  
www.nps.gov
 
The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is one of 417 units of the National Park System ranging from Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore includes 15 miles of the southern shoreline of Lake Michigan and 15,000 acres of beach, woods, marshes, and prairie in the northwest corner of Indiana.
 
Dunes Learning Center is a nonprofit education organization working in partnership with the National Park Service to provide year-round curriculum and standards-based education experiences to learners of all ages. Dunes Learning Center educators use nature as a classroom and catalyst, bringing lessons to life while encouraging critical thinking, problem solving and creativity through hands-on learning. Visit duneslearningcenter.org to learn more.