Presented by the Franklin Park Coalition, the summer concert series at Elma Lewis Playhouse in the Park will take place every Tuesday beginning July 12 and running through Aug. 16.

The first show will feature Richie Rich & 24-Karat Funk, and throughout the summer, musical guests including The MastaDonis Project, Donna Nixon, Roots Alley Collective and Dion Knibb, E-Water Band, and Angelena Hightower and the Unit will grace the Playhouse stage..

Each concert is free of charge and attendees are welcome to bring family and friends, lawn chairs, and a picnic supper. Food trucks will also be parked at the evening shows. On Tuesdays at 11 a.m., special shows will be offered for summer camps, childcare programs, and families with OrigiNation or Music with Monet.

Franklin Park is accessible to walk or bike to, or by any bus that stops along Seaver Street, including Bus #16. 

Elma Lewis was a musician, arts educator, and one of Boston’s most iconic cultural figures of the 20th century. The daughter of Barbadian immigrants, she founded the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts (ELSFA) in Roxbury in 1950 and the National Center for Afro-American Artists (NCAAA) in 1968 to provide a space for arts education and performance for the Black communities of Boston and beyond.
In the 1960s, Lewis led a large-scale cleanup of Franklin Park and founded Playhouse in the Park.