No More 'Savesies' at Concerts in Park

It’s official: No cuts, no butts, no coconuts.

The Seal Beach City Council unanimously approved a new policy banning people from laying out blankets and chairs in Eisenhower Park all day to save a spot for the wildly popular Seal Beach Summer Concert series. Anyone hoping to get a choice seat for the show will now have to wait in line like everyone else. This year, city personnel will round up all unattended blankets and chairs at the park by about 3:30 p.m., because concertgoers will not be allowed to save a spot before 4 p.m.

The shift in policy is a reaction to last year’s concert series, when locals lined up chairs and blankets in the park as early as 5 a.m., leaving them there all day until the 6 p.m. concerts. Many in the community became increasingly frustrated with the empty chairs monopolizing the blufftop park all day. One incident in particular brought the tension to a head, said Mayor Mike Levitt.

“A group of kids thought it would be real fun to pile up all the chairs and all the blankets and, with people cheering them, they started to want to set them on fire when the police arrived,” said Levitt.

The Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the eight-concert series, argued in favor of the new policy.

“Bearing in mind that the use of the park is for everyone in the community and for our visitors all day, impeding their use of the park prior to the Wednesday evening concert is an issue which I’m pleased the Council is addressing tonight,” Chamber President Nat Ferguson told the council. “The chamber’s goal is to provide fun, safe and neighborly event, and we welcome any changes that will allow us and the city to accomplish this goal.”

City officials plan to post signs alerting people to the new policy, but they estimate that it might take some getting used to.

“People will get the idea that we are serious,” said Deaton. “We want everyone to be able to go to the concerts.”

The free concerts will be held at Eisenhower Park at the foot of the Seal Beach Pier on Wednesdays from 6 to 8 p.m. Nat Ferguson will be posting the concerts streaming live at www.sealbeachconcert.com.

Concert Schedule

• Today: Sgt. Pepper
• July 18: Urban Dread
• July 25: Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real
• Aug. 1: The King Salmon Band
• Aug. 8: Robby Armstrong
• Aug 15: Walking Phoenixes
• Aug 22: Elm Street Band
• Aug 29: L.A.vation- A tribute to U2

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Is this a good policy?