After a shortened season last year and a canceled 2020 slate, the South Hills School of Business & Technology’s annual Music Picnic Series is back in full swing this summer for its 33rd year. The 12-concert series will feature new bands and new picnic options as it continues the tradition of multi-generational, family-friendly community fun.
The free outdoor concert schedule kicks off on Sunday with Joy Marie and the Gill Street Band and continues weekly through Aug. 28 at the Tom Mazza Memorial Band Shell on the South Hills campus, 480 Waupelani Drive. Each week features a food truck picnic at 4 p.m. followed by the concert at 6 p.m.
The concert series’ penny-a-glass lemonade tradition will continue, but the organizers have kicked up the snack bar food a notch by inviting food trucks to provide new picnic choices. This summer South Hills will welcome three food trucks: Brazilian Munchies, Rebelz and Marin Eats. Rita’s Italian Ice will also be on hand the evening of July 31.
Brazilian Munchies will have food for sale during the series opener on Sunday.
The first Music Picnic was held in the summer of 1989, just after the South Hills School of Business and Technology moved into its new home on Waupelani Drive. Owners Paul and Maralyn Mazza designed the new property with a large grassy backyard to hold various school events, as well as re-creating the cherished memories of the State College community sing-alongs of the 1950s.
A community sing-along was the creation of Hum Fishburne and Frank Gallo. The two Penn State professors were great friends and served as chairman of the school’s music department and director of the Glee Club and Choral Society, respectively. They teamed up to host many community sing-alongs throughout the late 1940s and 1950s at Schwab Auditorium.
Upon completion of their new 25,000-square-foot building in 1989, the Mazzas decided to plan summer activities to try to re-create those community, family friendly events that they fondly remembered from decades before. They decided that their creation would be called a Music Picnic—a free outdoor concert every Sunday evening during the summer where young families and older residents alike could gather, meet and enjoy the sounds of local musicians.
Thirty three years later, South Hills School continues to treat theState College community to that same cozy, locally flavored event series live each summer Sunday evening from the Tom Mazza Memorial Band Shell.
South Hills Summer Music Picnic Series Band and and Featured Food Truck Schedule
June 5 Joy Marie and the Gill Street Band | Brazilian Munchies
June 12 Triple A Blues Band | Brazilian Munchies
June 19 mISS mELANIE | Rebelz
June 26 Tussey Mountain Moonshiners | TBA
July 3 Jay Vonada Quartet | Brazilian Munchies
July 10 Bellefonte Community Band | Rebelz
July 24 State College Municipal Band | Rebelz
July 31 Little German Band | Rita’s Italian Ice
Aug. 7 Sultanz of Swing | Brazilian Munchies
Aug. 14 Nittany Knights | Brazilian Munchies
Aug. 21 Keystone Big Band | Brazilian Munchies
Au.g 28 Zeropoint | Marin Eats
