Some of the most popular attractions across America are the many free concerts offered to the public throughout the year. These involve not only amateur performers, but live professional artists as well. The public parks of many cities across the country are usually equipped with band shells and expansive lawns. As a service to its citizens, they rent out space to performers free of charge. Amateur groups, for example, with nothing more than a desire to perform offer their talents freely to the public. Even semi-professional artists are pleased to get the chance to perform before the public to perfect their craft and nurture the hope of being discovered before beginning a professional career. In addition, high-ranking professionals also give free concerts to make contact with their admiring fans. Often such concerts are sponsored by a large corporate organization and offered to the public free of charge as a cultural service and support for the arts.

Thanks to the sponsorship of some big corporations high profile professionals
are invited to perform in the parks. Artists like Pavarotti and the New York Philharmonic have been able to perform free of charge to tens of thousands of people who would not otherwise be able to see them in the concert hall.

These concerts feature all kinds of music from rock and roll, jazz, country-western and the classics. In addition, free performances may include the plays of Shakespeare or experimental theater of modern playwrights. In New York's Central Park there has long been a summer Shakespeare festival which draws huge crowds to the free performances.
Some concerts may even be featured in atriums of commercial buildings during lunch hour or in museums and libraries on the weekends as part of a concert series. On a more informal basis a gifted musician from Julliard may play his violin at a subway entrance or a jazz saxophonist may play his instrument at a busy streetcorner.

Perhaps the most popular of these concerts are the ones held on a summer evening in the park. These concerts take on a festive air. Friends and groups gather together after work and spread out a blanket on the mall or lawn facing the performer's stage. The early comers get the best locations and enjoy a picnic supper while it is still daylight. The free seating is on a first come basis. Therefore, by the time the concert begins, as many as five thousand or more people may be in attendance. The concerts usually begin at 8 P.M. and are performed under the stars. The sound is sufficiently amplified that no matter where one chooses to sit, he can hear very well. The only disruption may be the sound of an overhead airplane on its final approach to an airport or the far-off siren of an ambulance on its way to the hospital. This matters little! What counts is to soak up the atmosphere created by the music and to be with friends in the fresh open air. The best part of it all is that it's free!