The hills may be alive with the sound of music, but so is Tower Park in Peoria Heights, which kicks off one of the first events of the warm-weather season starting tonight.
Indeed, the park, situated next door to Peoria Heights Village Hall at 4901 N. Prospect Road, will host a Drum Circle from 6:30 to 8 p.m. today – Friday, April 9. That will continue on the second Friday of every month through the fall.
Drum Circle leader Natasha Greene, a local music teacher, founded the event four years ago and has seen it take off – first in Peoria, then at Forest Park Nature Center in Peoria Heights – but believes she has found the perfect place for it at Tower Park.
All are invited to attend and to participate, if they’d like. Many bring their own percussion instruments of all sorts and sizes, but drums also will be available to borrow upon request. Participants are asked to bring their own stools or chairs. Then, just let the spirit move you as everyone jams together.
Besides the plethora of percussion, there will be live acoustic performances before and after the main event, food – think taco and barbecue trucks – art, a strolling magician, fire artist, face painting, henna tattoos, antiques for sale and more.
“Come with scarves and dance, or come and just sit and listen on a park bench. Come to enjoy some art. Come because you want to your kids to have a musical experience or have that freedom to dance and play,” said Greene. “It’s a family-friendly event.”
“No expectations. Just a smile on your face and you’ve done your part already.”
Meanwhile, get ready to party with Sam Heppard, the owner of the mobile Clink Bar who intends to introduce “Friday Night Heights” to Tower Park starting at 5 p.m. Friday, May 7, and continuing on the first Friday of every month through October.
Again, expect Heppard’s Airstream Clink Bar, live music and food, with a concentration on Heights vendors.
Friday Night Heights – a clever play on words there – will be “almost like a happy hour vibe, a little extended” to about 10 p.m., said Heppard. It will be similar to the events he’s held in the parking lot of the Pabst building, with a bit more room to stretch.
Both Greene and Heppard hope to put the “unity” back in “community” after a long and trying year
complicated by a global pandemic. On that latter point, while we may be seeing the light at the end of the COVID tunnel, the organizers of these two events ask that attendees be responsible and respectful in their interactions. Event staff will be masked and employ all reasonable precautions to keep these events safe and healthy for all.
For both, the choice of Tower Park was a “no-brainer.”
“I live in the Heights. Our business is in the Heights. It’s such a great community, with so many events ... It’s easy to build on that energy,” said Heppard. “The Village is so great to work with. They’re so forward-thinking, they’re so supportive ... I cannot imagine really doing it anywhere else.”
“It’s so comfortable, so welcoming. It’s just such an attractive, gorgeous space,” said Greene, who also will continue with the Drum Circle at Forest Park down the hill on the last Friday of every month.
“Music and art have really suffered this year,” and artists in both camps need “a place to get back out there,” she said.
Again, all from 8 to 80 and beyond are welcome. In the meantime, please watch the recent Tower Talk broadcast with Natasha Greene and Sam Heppard here.