7/29 Forest Hills ‘Picnic in the Park’ concert features Big Hillbilly Bluegrass

What’s a little rain when you’re having fun? Friends of Forest Hills Playground’s June 24th “Picnic in the Park” concert started under sunny skies and ended in the rain. But that didn’t stop the show. The members of Spread Love didn’t stop playing when they felt the first drops. And the concertgoers who stayed were treated to a “dancing in the rain” finale.

A fun as that was, the organizers of the next free “Picnic in the Park” concert on Friday, July 29th are hoping for consistently sunny skies. Friends of Forest Hills Playground says Big Hillbilly Bluegrass was a crowd favorite last year. And Forest Hills Park is a band favorite, because they asked if they could return this summer.

The July 29th event starts with Armand’s pizza sales (cash or check only) at 5:30 p.m., and the music is set to begin at 6 p.m. The venue is the Forest Hills Park amphitheater between Brandywine and Chesapeake Streets, NW. (The park’s at 32nd and Chesapeake, a block east of Connecticut Avenue.)

Armand’s sold out by 6:15 at the June 24th event, so you’re encouraged to preorder to guarantee a hot whole pizza and cold salad is waiting for you when you arrive. Submit your preorder here and pay (again, with cash or a check) when you pick up. The deadline for preorders is 10 p.m. on Thursday, July 28th.

Armand’s will donate 25% of the sales to Forest Hills Playground. The proceeds from these and donations at the event pay the performers and support playground improvements and upkeep.

Another way you can help is by signing up to volunteer. Friends of Forest Hills Playground needs people to help with pizza sales, pick up stray trash after the show, and sell t-shirts and collect donations at its information table. Sign up here.

About Big Hillbilly Bluegrass:
International veterans of stage, screen and television, Bob Perilla’s Big Hillbilly Bluegrass performance highlights include a screen appearance in Chris Rock’s “Head of State,” a live television gig with Earl Scruggs, multiple Kennedy Center concerts and a residence at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. At the request of the U.S. Department of State, Big Hillbilly Bluegrass has toured Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and the Dominican Republic over the past several years, thus crowning BHB as America’s defacto Bluegrass Ambassadors. Their recordings have achieved widespread critical acclaim.

The Big Hillbilly Bluegrass Band, seen in this July 2015 photo, will return to Forest Hills Park on July 29.