Local Band Pictured: Strictly Bizzness Photo Credit: Jay Hermoso

Summer wouldn’t be summer without music. From listening to your favorite artists on your smartphone to bringing a larger boombox to the spot on the beach where you’ve set up camp for the day, to (perhaps?) listening to the transistor radio your grandfather always insists on bringing with him to remind him of the good old days of his own youth “checking out the babes on the beach.” (“Grandpa!!!”)

Virginia Beach has upped this “summer is meant for music” effect by placing several music and entertainment stages in different locations along the Oceanfront. In fact, you’ll also often find musicians and other live entertainers performing at street corners all along Atlantic Avenue in the summer.

Virginia and its music stages come alive during the summer season. Read below for more information:

The 5th Street Stage, located at 5th Street and Oceanfront, is the epicenter of Virginia Beach’s annual American Music Festival over the Labor Day weekend. This festival is one of the largest outdoor music events on the East Coast and offers music lovers the chance to see and hear local, regional and national acts play on the 5th Street stage (as well as at stages all along the Virginia Beach boardwalk).

Musicians also perform throughout the summer at free concerts at the 7th Street, 13th Street, 17th Street, 20th Street, 24th Street, 25th Street, and 31st Street stages (all located at their respective locations along Oceanfront).

Some of the stages also offer movies at night, as well as plays and other live entertainment.

For more information on the music, musicians, and the dates different bands will perform during the summer, as well as other events on or near the beach, check out BeachStreetUSA.com, a website developed by the City of Virginia Beach to tout summer events and provide more information on them.