Paso Robles' Concerts in the Park moving to Thursdays this summer

Paso Robles’ Concerts in the Park will be moved from Friday to Thursday evenings this summer on a one-year trial basis after some downtown merchants expressed concern that parking and congestion negatively affected their businesses.

The popular concerts, held each summer by the REC Foundation, typically attract hundreds of residents and visitors to the lawns of Downtown City Park from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

That's a problem for some merchants who rely on Friday and weekend customers.

One example, according to the Paso Robles Downtown Main Street Association, was restaurant patrons who sought dining or made reservations at downtown eateries couldn't find parking during the concerts, as they were held at dinnertime. And that lost traffic wasn’t recouped from concert-goers, who often picnicked during the shows and left after dinnertime.

The REC Foundation plans to "evaluate the community attendance, merchant feedback, and general response to Thursday evening concerts and will determine whether to permanently implement the schedule change for the 2016 concert season," the group said in a statement.

This year’s concert schedule and performers will be available by March 1 at www.recfoundation.com.

This story was originally published February 5, 2015 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Paso Robles' Concerts in the Park moving to Thursdays this summer."