{"id":38275,"date":"2026-06-04T18:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T22:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=38275"},"modified":"2026-06-04T18:11:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T22:11:22","slug":"who-needs-to-rush-to-the-city-town-unveils-generation-spanning-concerts-in-the-park-summer-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/who-needs-to-rush-to-the-city-town-unveils-generation-spanning-concerts-in-the-park-summer-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Who needs to Rush to the City? Town unveils generation-spanning Concerts in the Park Summer Series"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you weren\u2019t able to snag a ticket to Rush\u2019s sold-out Toronto concert dates this summer, Aurora is offering the next best thing as part of its Concerts in the Park summer series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Epic Rush \u2013 the Canadian Tribute will take over the Aurora Town Park Band Shell on Wednesday, August 12, the same evening the original iconic band is playing to a packed house in Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might not be the real thing, but Epic Rush is billed as \u201ca high-energy tribute concert honouring the iconic sound of Rush, featuring classic hits, exceptional musicianship, and an electrifying live performance celebrating one of Canada\u2019s most influential rock bands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s TD Concerts in the Park lineup was unveiled by Mayor Tom Mrakas at Town Park, accompanied by TD representatives, on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a series that offers something for everyone \u2013 from tributes to Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, to the tried and tested Abbamania and Sheer Heart Attack, culminating in a showcase of grooves and tunes from the 70s to the 2000s with The 99s, the sister group to the popular Dwayne Gretzky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously as a Rush fan, Epic Rush is something that I\u2019m looking forward to,\u201d said Mayor Mrakas. \u201cThey\u2019re playing in Toronto, it\u2019s sold out, so if you can\u2019t get your tickets there to see them, come up to Aurora. I think we\u2019ll see a little bit of a bigger crowd because of the people that want to come and see that Rush music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think every single concert is exciting, I think they\u2019re going to be jam-packed, and I think staff are doing a tremendous job in creating a lineup that suits the needs of everyone\u2019s musical expectations. For me personally, I\u2019m a little bit biased because I always like an Aurora-based group, so The Beresfords are something that I will always look forward to and seeing them come here and playing their hometown \u2013 they do a phenomenal job every year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, the local sister-brother band The Beresfords opens the Concerts in the Park season on Wednesday, July 8, with Girls Gone Pop, a tribute to such artists as Carpenter and Roan, but also Taylor Swift and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe show celebrates female artistry with a dynamic, feel-good set that turns every anthem into a movement,\u201d say organizers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional shows include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 15 \u2013 Sheer Heart Attack: Tribute to Queen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 22 \u2013 History:  Tribute to Michael Jackson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 29 \u2013 Abbamania: Tribute to Abba<\/p>\n\n\n\n

August 6 \u2013 The Beatle Band<\/p>\n\n\n\n

August 12 \u2013 Epic Rush<\/p>\n\n\n\n

August 19 \u2013 Outlaw State of Mind and Beautifully Crazy \u2013 Tributes to Chris Stapleton & Luke Combs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

August 29 \u2013 Project Phoenix: A Tribute to Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 2 \u2013 The 99s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each concert takes place on Wednesday evenings at Town Park from 7 \u2013 9 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admission is free, but donations to the Aurora Food Pantry are encouraged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerts in the Park is a summer staple, with hundreds regularly filling the park each Wednesday to hear live music, meet their neighbours, and enjoy food available to purchase from local vendors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe always like to stretch across a wide variety of sounds and artists,\u201d says Shelley Ware, Special Events Supervisor for the Town of Aurora. \u201cWe\u2019ve reached across the pond with our tribute to Queen, but we\u2019ve also looked at our Canadian roots. With Rush performing in Toronto, we\u2019re proud to have Epic Rush here on the same night. As we carry down through the series, we\u2019re thrilled to have The 99s back. That is a band everyone can resonate with because they\u2019re spanning a vast variety of music and it\u2019s just banger after banger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also worth celebrating is showcasing local artists like the Beresfords and making important music anniversaries, like the 40th<\/sup> anniversary of Michael Jackson\u2019s History tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud to have this kind of talent,\u201d Ware continues. \u201cThroughout the year, and it\u2019s not an exaggeration, at least seven to 10 bands are contacting our office every day. There is so much talent in this area, and so many fans and individual vocalists coming to Aurora because not only is the band shell gorgeous, but our audiences \u2013 our bands tell us they\u2019re out all over the Province travelling and they always tell us Aurora has the best audiences hands-down. The appreciation of the artists is such a treat for them and it also shows how special our community is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the music and on-site vendors, some returning attractions on select dates this year will be a Battle of the Artists, sponsored by Royal Rose Gallery, line-dancing to coincide with the Chris Stapleton evening, intermission shows featuring performances from local dance companies, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, visit aurora.ca\/summerconcerts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you weren\u2019t able to snag a ticket to Rush\u2019s sold-out Toronto concert dates this summer, Aurora is offering the next best thing as part of its Concerts in the Park summer series. Epic Rush \u2013 the Canadian Tribute will take over the Aurora Town Park Band Shell on Wednesday, August 12, the same evening […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2026-06-04-06.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9Xl","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 20:55:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38275"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38277,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38275\/revisions\/38277"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}