Five City parks are coming alive this summer every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night for Parks After Dark, a series of free, outdoor, multicultural and multigenerational celebrations. These special events are full of activities for the entire family and are open to everyone.

The San Diego Parks Foundation, the City of San Diego, the County of San Diego, Price Philanthropies and the Prebys Foundation kicked off the fourth annual Parks after Dark summer program earlier this month at City Heights Recreation Center, Linda Vista Recreation Center, Memorial Recreation Center and Skyline Hills Recreation Center with events taking place every weekend through August 9, and at Silver Wing Recreation Center with events through July 26.

"Parks After Dark provides a space for everyone to come together in the summertime and play outside,” said Andy Field, Director of the Parks and Recreation Department. “We are proud to join our community partners and supporters to provide these activities each summer which bring our parks to life in the evening hours. We invite your family to join us!”

During the summer program, every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Parks After Dark provides families in San Diego communities with free outdoor music, theatre, movies, arts and crafts, games, sports clinics, tournaments, resources from community-based organizations, and free food for children.

Modeled after a successful Los Angeles program that started at three parks in 2010, Parks After Dark is designed to create social cohesion and reduce crime by creating safe spaces in public parks for communities to gather and play on summer nights. Data from the Los Angeles program indicated a 32% decrease in serious and violent crimes between 2009 and 2013 in the program’s three initial park communities.

The San Diego program was launched in 2022 by the San Diego Parks Foundation to provide free, safe summer activities for families in neighborhoods with high crime rates and few activities for kids. In the short time the program has been operating in San Diego, decreases in crime have been noted in the communities that surround Parks After Dark programming sites. Hundreds of children and families come together each week for these special programs.

Due to the Independence Day holiday, no Parks After Dark events are scheduled for July 3-5 at any of the sites. For more information about Parks After Dark, visit the San Diego Parks Foundation’s webpage.