HARTFORD, Conn — Concerts are returning to Connecticut after the pandemic brought many cancellations.
Concert goers said they are just happy to be back out, enjoying music and each other’s company after the pandemic lockdowns.
“It’s just nice to have social interaction and see other people smiling and happy instead of miserable and depressed being home all the time,” Bianca Lambert from New Haven said.
Lambert is one of the thousands of country music fans who flocked to Xfinity Theatre in the North End for Friday’s Luke Bryan concert. This is the first concert in more than a year and a half at the theatre. We’re told it is a sell-out with 21,000 tickets sold.
Fans said it feels amazing to get back to normal. For Lambert, the concert means even more; she said she survived the Las Vegas shooting back in 2017.
“The biggest thing for me is finding comfort in country music so it was the part of me that I lost and the part of me that I’m now gaining back so just remembering to live life and not live in fear and just enjoying what country music has to offer and that is healing,” Lambert said.
Locals are also flocking to Bushnell Park about 2 miles away for the 2021 Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz.
“I love jazz,” attendee Gloria Stanley said. ”It’s smooth, it’s soothing, funky.”
This year is the 30th anniversary.
“Everybody’s been closed up for so long with this pandemic so it’s just—glad to be out,” Donna McBride from Hartford said. “It stopped raining so it’s nice to be out.”
The festival has a three-day lineup of artists, plus guests can grab a bite from food trucks in the park while listening to music.
Organizers are encouraging social distancing and masks.
The jazz festival continues Saturday and Sunday starting at 2:30 p.m.
Click here to view the lineup of artists
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