WHO:        City of Little Rock Parks & Recreation Department

WHAT:       More than 1,200 children will participate in a talent show and art exhibit hosted as an end-of-summer celebration for the kids who participate in Little Rock Parks & Recreation summer programs.

                The program will include eight three-minute acts, a performance by the 2013 Summer Bash winner and a special presentation announcing the continuation of the partnership between Bank of America, the Museum of Discovery and Little Rock Parks & Recreation.

WHEN:     Monday, July 21 at 10 a.m.

WHERE:     First Security Amphitheater in Riverfront Park

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (July 18, 2014) – The second annual Summer Bash has been scheduled for Monday, July 21 at the First Security Amphitheater in Riverfront Park. The talent show and art exhibit event is an end-of-summer celebration for the children who participate in Little Rock Parks & Recreation summer programs.

The talent show will begin at 10 a.m. on the stage. Each of the eight locations that hosts either the Summer Playground Program or the Summer Laureate Program will have one act representing their site. Each act will have three minutes to perform in front of a panel of judges and the rest of the more than 1,200 participants.

Following the acts from each site there will be a special performance by the “Junior Temptations,” who were declared the winners of the Summer Bash in 2013 and went on to perform at a number of other events around central Arkansas.

There will also be a special presentation regarding a continuing partnership between Bank of America, the Museum of Discovery and Little Rock Parks & Recreation. This partnership will allow summer-program participants to visit the Museum of Discovery during the summer of 2015.

The talent show judges for this year will be Truman Tolefree, director of Little Rock Parks & Recreation, Geneva Lamm and Gina Pharis, executive directors of the Little Rock Marathon, and former NBA star and Little Rock-native, Sidney Moncrief.

The Summer Laureate Program serves 175 children between the ages of 6-15 and operates at the Southwest Community Center. The Summer Playground Program serves 1,080 children ages 6-15, and operates out of seven locations throughout Little Rock, including Dunbar Community Center, Stephens Community Center and five Little Rock School District schools.

About Little Rock Parks & Recreation

Little Rock Parks and Recreation oversees 59 developed parks and 12 undeveloped parks totaling over 6,100 acres. In addition, Little Rock Parks & Recreation offers a wide range of youth and adult recreational and sports leagues, after-school and summer playground programs for children ages 6-15, outdoor recreation, therapeutic recreation and programs for seniors. For more information about Little Rock Parks & Recreation, please visit www.lrpr.org.