"The Park" has planted itself firmly as THE premier local hangout for good food, drinks, music and all ages family enjoyment. I've been many times and went again last night 5/19/2022.
The band for the night: NorthBeat Classic Rock
Let me start with a brief review of the music. NorthBeat is a group I've seen a couple times now and are a genuinely nice group of guys who know a lot of the local people and a lot of the local people know them. Before this night, I had just seen them a few days earlier at Three Shastas Bar & Grill at the Red Lion Hotel on Hilltop Drive and the experience was pretty much the same at both venues: friendly interactions with the patrons, well know classic rock songs that everyone (over say...25) knows. The Beach Boys, Elvis, Johnny Cash, Tommy Tu-Tone, John Mellencamp, The Monkees, Neil Diamond... I could go on, but the variety is a widespread picture of music in the USA from the 60's through the 80's. The atmosphere they create is a casual, (not sleepy) backyard BBQ Party with good friends. You feel at home with these guys. I like that vibe. Some minor sound issues plagued the 2nd set, but at the time my wife and I had to head out, it seemed to be resolved. It's live music. Doesn't deter me at all.
As for The Park. We were quite impressed with the crowd size given the other competing events this night (a Thursday by the way), namely the Redding Rodeo starting up where we earlier had passed a long line of vehicles entering that area.
We tried one of the newer food trucks to the location, "The Corndog Company of Redding California" and I can tell you, as corndogs go, this is the place to be! So fresh and such good batter around a footlong dog is enough right there, but drizzled with Honey? Wow. Nice. I will be having more of these this summer. Sorry diet plan.
The beer is always cold, and the selection is outstanding. The service is reasonably quick given the lines of people consistently at the order window.
So, what's left? A bunch! More food trucks with all the variety you want, a boatload of lawn games, enough seating for all of this and a super cool vibe with lights and tabletop fire rings to sit around. Kids roasting marshmallows? Yep, saw it. Families with young kids (even a couple babies), groups of young people, groups of old people. Who's not at home here?
Some pictures of the park and the vibe from various nights:
So, my final words are: LOVE IT. Will spend many summer nights here this year. This is what's possible when good people create something with the community in mind. We can all be eternally thankful for Todd Franklin and the efforts he had to undertake to get this thing off the ground a few years ago. It has certainly turned into a successful location for the community to enjoy.
Links:
NorthBeat Classic Rock on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/northbeat.classicrock
The Park on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theparkredding
or website: https://norcalfoodtrucks.com/