Group listening to the concert.
Steve Weiss
For as little as $1.75 a person you can enjoy live music in a tree-covered outdoor setting at Catalina State Park just 20 minutes away from SaddleBrooke Ranch on the first Saturday during the high season in the Tucson area. Since food and wine are allowed, a wonderful afternoon or evening, depending upon the time of the year, can be had. And you can take your furry friend as long as your dog is on a leash.
The Catalina State Park entrance is located on Oracle Road just opposite the entry to the Oro Valley Marketplace. For an entry of just $7 per car you can enter the park at any time, but on the first Saturday of the month you get not only the park entry but also the musical performance. The purpose of the concerts was originally to provide an enjoyable activity for the park’s visitors and nearby communities during the summer months. But because of the popularity of the concerts, which began with an attendance of only about 75 people, attendance has grown to anywhere between 150 to almost 400 per concert. So plan to arrive early for a good location.
The entertainment was chosen to have a wide variety of music so that it would appeal to people having various musical tastes. The schedule for 2015 appears below: