The Rec Your Hood event was made to replace and improve the ideas of the Summer Music Series

Until 2024, the city of Dayton has hosted the Riverscape Metro Park Summer Music Series and with the end of that event comes a new one. The Rec Your Hood event was made to not only replace but also improve the ideas of the Summer Music Series by bringing the fun to the people of Dayton.   

Starting in 2024, with 4 neighborhoods, the Rec Your Hood Events were the city’s way of bringing recreation and community to the people. “The goal of this was to eliminate barriers,” says Kyle Gebhart, Program Coordinator of the Rec Your Hood. Taking these free events from downtown to neighborhoods eliminates barriers like transportation.  

The Rec Your Hood Events bring free food and entertainment to selected neighborhoods, but similar to the neighborhoods, every event is not the same. The aim of these events is not only to bring recreation to each neighborhood but to provide an experience unique to that neighborhood. This year’s first event is an example of that, with the bike walk parade starting at the public library and ending at the event site at Stuart Patterson Park.   

Rec Your Hood is still in its beginning stages, being only a year old; however, there are already plans to grow. “We visit four neighborhoods a year, but I’d like to grow that to five or six, and we’ll rotate between different neighborhoods,” says Gebhart.  

Riverscape Metro Park’s Summer Music Series is not gone forever, though. The London Pavilion has taken on the task of hosting these free music events in Dayton while the city refocuses on events like Rec Your Hood.  

Events take place in nearby parks of the selected neighborhoods and are held between 1-  4 p.m.