Entering its fifth season in 2026, the Summer Series offers six weekly concerts on Thursday evenings from early July to mid August, 6-8:30 pm. Each concert features an opening act and headliner, outstanding sound engineering, and a festive atmosphere of picnickers, music lovers and community. All concerts are open to the public and free for attendees. The Series averaged about 2,000 attendees at each performance in 2025 and has become an essential part of summers in the park for the community and for the artists we support. 

Volunteer Park Trust is a volunteer-led nonprofit organization founded in 2012 with the mission to preserve and enhance this city and national landmark for today and for generations to come. As part of our work, we look to activate the park and bring the community together through a number of events each year, including our Summer Series, a Halloween Pet Parade and a Holiday in the Park celebration. We provide additional stewardship of the park, assisting Seattle Parks & Recreation's efforts, through monthly work parties and twice annual Park Restoration Days. 

Volunteer Park Trust operates through subcommittees that plan and execute our efforts in the park: Capital Projects, Landscape, Events, Summer Series Development, Marketing and Emerging Leaders. The trust is governed by a Steering Committee (rather than a board), which typically consists of 12 members including the chair, vice chair and treasurer, the chair of each subcommittee, plus additional committee members from our volunteer roster. The Summer Series chair has typically served as an adjunct member of the Steering Committee but can also be considered to join officially.