Drumming up a crowd in Newport

Play along or simply enjoy the music, as the Newport/Oregon Coast Community Drum Circle presents the 12th Annual Summer Celebration Outdoor Concert Series, beginning this Saturday, July 30.

The free monthly performances, featuring the not-for-profit drum circle’s popular Thunder & Lightness World Beat Ensemble, became something of a Nye Beach institution as a street performance in 2009 and then, for nearly a decade, as a full-fledged monthly summer variety show on the large outdoor theater stage in the courtyard at the former Café Mundo.

Since the closing of that venue, the event has continued in a variety of locations, including online for a year as it dodged the initial COVID outbreak, and at the Literacy Park Amphitheater behind Newport Public Library.

This Saturday’s performance will be at Newport’s newest park, located next door to the Newport Performing Arts Center. Officially named Coast Park, it is better known as “Pirate Park” for its pirate ship playground feature.

Drum circle coordinator Chander Davis said the park has a small performance area with amphitheater-style seating and audience members can also bring lawn chairs or blankets to spread out on the grassy areas. The park also features picnic tables, a playground, ample parking and bathroom access.

“It's very much a family-oriented park,” Davis said. “That’s perfect for us because we are very much a family-oriented ensemble that appeals to all ages and musical tastes.”

Saturday’s performance will feature the group’s usual high-energy multicultural traditional and indigenous rhythm and song with Davis on percussion, Mary-Beth Nickel on the Native American flutes and special musical guests. Audience members are invited to bring their own acoustic hand drums and light percussion instruments to jam along with the performers. 

The performance begins at noon at Coast Park, located at 100 SW Coast Street in Newport. For more information, email chandler@chandlerdavis.com or call 541-351-5757.