What are your summer traditions? Everyone camps, BBQs, goes to baseball games, and more. There are all types of activities that are synonymous with summer. For me, summer means concerts at the Botanic Gardens. For the last eight years, I’ve been going to at least three concerts every summer at the Botanic Gardens. Every year, I renew my membership at the Gardens and eagerly await the release of the new summer schedule and the wait to find out the date I can stand in line to buy my tickets.

For me, music, summer nights, wine, and lounging on a blanket under the stars – this is heaven. Regardless of the fact that most of the artists I go to see at the Botanic Gardens are not ones that I even own the music for – this means nothing. Going to a concert at the Denver Botanic Gardens is just as much about the venue as it is about the actual musician or band you are going to see.

I’ve seen Emmylou Harris (who I love and own many of her CDs even though I’m not much of a country fan), John Hiatt, Los Lobos, Indigo Girls, Cowboy Junkies, Linda Ronstadt, and so many more at the Gardens. And all have been great shows. Plus, the Botanic Gardens is probably the last concert venue where you can bring in all of your own food and drink. There are no rules or restrictions so you don’t spend an arm and a leg on eating and drinking.

And tonight was my last concert of this summer, so in a way, for me it signals the beginning of the end of the summer of 2008. Tonight I saw Bruce Hornsby and as always, it was a night where everything was spectacular, because summer nights at a Botanic Gardens concert are always the best.

So, what are your summer traditions?