Finlay Fridays 2026 Finlay Park Concert Schedule & What to Expect

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If you’re a long-time Columbia resident, you probably remember regular concerts, events, and even big music festivals in the Soda City’s downtown Finlay Park before it fell into disrepair.

After Finlay Park reopened in late 2025, with a music festival no less, there was a lot of speculation whether regular concerts or live music would be a feature of the newly updated park.

Now, we have our answer:

Yes! There will be weekly free Columbia, SC concerts at Finlay Park known as Finlay Fridays!

The 2026 Finlay Fridays Finlay Park concert series that will run from Spring into the Fall.

Read on to learn all about this exciting new chapter in the park’s history and what to expect during Finlay Fridays in Columbia, SC, including the Finlay Fridays schedule, below.

People sitting in chairs watching a free Finlay Park concert.
Reggie Sullivan Band at the inaugural Finlay Friday. Learn about what to expect at the rest of the free concerts at Finlay Park in 2026 here.

When Are the Finlay Fridays Free Concerts in Columbia, SC?

On Fridays, of course!

Ok, I imagine you gathered that.

The announcement of these Finlay Park free concerts came in early February 2026, and stated that the free concerts in Finlay Park, known officially as “Finlay Fridays: Live in the Park 2026” will run on, yes, Fridays during the following period:

February 20 through October 30.

That suggests there will be a free Finlay Park concert every Friday through the Spring, Summer, and into the Fall.

A full lineup has yet to be announced (more on the acts announced so far below), so it’s possible there may be other events or interruptions, but for much of the year, at least the decent weather parts of it, there looks to be a fun, free concert in Finlay Park every Friday.

Note: Some people search for “Finley Park,” “Finley Fridays,” or “Finley Park Concerts” — the correct spelling is Finlay Park.

People sitting in chairs and on the ground watching a concert at Finlay Park.
It was a gorgeous day for an outdoor concert for the first Finlay Friday of 2026!

What to Expect at Finlay Fridays

Every Friday will feature at least one local band, as well as food and beverage options.

I made it to the first Finlay Friday of 2026, so have a better idea of what to expect moving forward based on personal experience now.

Honestly, considering it had been blistering cold so much of January and February, the first free concert at Finlay Park on February 20 just happened to have absolutely terrific weather in the 60s.

It was a gorgeous night, and I enjoyed checking it out. I’ll include some practical notes on what I noticed to help you know what to expect in the sections below.

By the way, if you haven’t been to the newly revitalized park yet, be sure to check out my complete guide to Finlay Park.

Just in case it isn’t clear, admission is free and open to all ages with these being family friendly events.

People watching a free concert at Finlay Park in lawn and camping chairs.
There was a good turnout for the first Finlay Friday of 2026 too!

Food Trucks

During that first concert of 2026, there were 3 food options: Karen’s Food truck, that had stuff like pulled pork sandwiches, chicken tenders, chicken sandwiches, and the like, a little hot dog stand, and a “fair food” trailer that served up strictly desserts like ice cream and fried oreo type things.

To be honest, I would have liked to see some more options. Karen’s looked ok, a tad overpriced, but that’s almost all food trucks today. There was a really long line though.

The hot dogs did look reasonably priced. If I had gotten food, that’s probably what I would have gotten.

It’s not clear if there will be the same vendors every time or a rotation.

I hope they’ll have a few more options at future Finlay Fridays, similar to the 5 or 6 choices they had at the opening festival to make it sort of like a mini Soda City market.

Beer Sales

Although alcohol is normally prohibited at Finlay Park, I can confirm there are beer sales at the Finlay Fridays free Finlay Park concerts.

Just to the left of the stands, and kind of hidden on the opposite side of where the food trucks were, there was a little beer stand.

Two men buying beers at a Finlay Park concert.
There was a small beer stand to the left of the stage at the first 2026 Finlay Park concert.

They had Bud Light, Michelob, White Claw, and Wicked Weed Pernicious. There may have been more options, but I made a note of those.

Beer sales were definitely cashless, as a fellow concert goer in line after me who only had cash was disappointed to learn, so you’ll need a credit or debit card in addition to showing your ID to get a wristband.

I sipped on a Pernicious while catching a bit of the band after walking around and taking photos. I can’t remember if my $7.53 tab included my dollar tip or not. Certainly not cheap, but not crazy outrageous either.

You Can Bring Chairs

Despite the park’s normal clear-bag-only policy, there were plenty of people who brought things like camping chairs and blankets, which I guess makes sense.

There were plenty of kids and dogs too.

The band did start promptly at 6 pm. I only stuck around until a bit after 7, around the time they took a break.

I thought the sound was great too. I posted up near the back of the main lawn, known as the Oval, to sip my beer and thought I could hear pretty well despite being pretty far from the stage. I didn’t think it seemed overly loud when I walked around closer either.

Oh, and I enjoyed the Reggie Sullivan Band. It’s not every day you get to see a funky upright bass!

A band on stage playing during a free Finlay Park concert.
I enjoyed the Reggie Sullivan Band at the first free concert at Finlay Park in 2026!

Parking

I somehow managed to snag a spot on Taylor, probably like 30 yards from the park entrance, and just before starting time at 5:55.

I think I just got incredibly lucky and someone had left right before I came by.

There did look to be a fair amount of street parking around the park, and the lot on the corner of Taylor and Gadsen did look to be open, but I can’t 100% confirm that. If anyone who did notice one way or another would like to let us know what you saw in the comments, that’d be great.

Given that there isn’t a whole lot of night time things to do in the couple block vicinity of the park, I’d think you should be able to find a spot ok.

Keep in mind that City of Columbia parking meters do technically apply until 7 pm on Fridays.

Most of the street parking around here uses the Passport App and does not have an actual meter you can feed coins anymore, by the way.

I didn’t think to confirm if the Laurel Street Parking lot at the top of the park was open or not or if it was being used for equipment. I’d love anyone who knows to drop a comment below!

People sitting in chairs and standing to watch a free Finlay Fridays concert.
The park really looks great around sunset time and after the lights get turned on the fountain.

What Time are the Free Finlay Park Concerts?

As part of the announcement of Finlay Fridays 2026, the events are slated to run from 6 pm to 9 pm.

Finlay Park Concert Schedule: 2026 Lineup So Far

As noted above, the initial announcement included only the first 6 acts, so all the free Finlay park concerts on Fridays through March.

As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a big announcement of additional bands, but this event page on the City of Columbia’s website, does have additional upcoming acts listed through the end of June.

Here are the acts announced there so far, up to date as of my last revision on April 20, 2026:

Other Free Concerts at Finlay Park

In looking over the events page on the park’s website to put together that lineup for Finlay Fridays, I stumbled on several other free concerts in Finlay Park coming up and figured I would list them here too for reference.

  • April 30: International Jazz Day Celebration by ColaJazz
    • Genre: Jazz. ColaJazz will have live Jazz music at Finlay Park from 5:30-9:30 on Thursday April 30 in honor of International Jazz Day. Scheduled bands are Amos Hoffman Trio at 5:30, Adib/Ben/Zee/Nigel/Kris 5tet at 6:45, and Soda City Brass Band at 8:00. Event listing on ColaJazz’s site here.
  • May 9: Terrance Young Band Mothers Day Celebration
  • May 16: Day 2 of the ColaJazz and Roots Fest
    • Day 2 of the Jazz and Roots Fest. Admission for both days is free. Acts listed for Saturday are Brittany Turnipseed at 1:00 pm, Wille Bradley at 2:45 pm, Folderol at 4:00 pm, Lucia at 6:15 pm, and Endea Owens & the Cookout! at 8:00 pm. More info on the festival here.

There is also the Songbird ’26 Music Festival on May 30 and 31 with Old Crow Medicine Show headlining. That does require a paid ticket though. You can learn more about Songbird, including a full lineup and ticket information at the festival website.

What Kinds of Bands are on the Finlay Fridays Schedule?

As far as I can tell, and taking into account this is a free concert series, the bands featured will mostly be local acts, although it’s possible some regional or better known acts might perform at some point.

It also seems like they are going for a mix of genres.

When Will We Learn the Full Finlay Fridays Concert Schedule?

It’s hard to say for sure when we will know the full schedule for Finlay Fridays 2026. The initial announcement in February included the Finlay Park concerts planned through the end of March.

As I’m updating this in early April, there is only a Finlay Friday schedule through the end of April, with no schedule for May published yet.

That leads me to suspect, we will only get a monthly Finlay Park concert schedule, probably announced sometime near the end of the previous month or on the first of the month when that events page is updated.

I will do my best to keep an eye on that events page as well as for any other announcement and update the list above as more acts are announced and added to the Finlay Fridays schedule, but if you’re reading this closer to May or beyond, you might want to look there yourself.

Do keep in mind that I’m not an official representative of the park or the city, so you may want to double check on lineups in case there are any changes or I miss an announcement.

A lit up stage and other structures with people standing around during a Finlay Park Concert with a small crescent moon overhead.
A beautiful crescent moon overhanging the park really set the mood! For what it’s worth, I made this photo a bit darker than it actually was to try to make that beautiful moon more visible!

Ready to Enjoy the Free Concerts at Finlay Park?

I hope you found this schedule for Finlay Park’s Finlay Fridays 2026 concert series useful for planning when you’ll check out these free concerts in Columbia, SC.

I look forward to checking them out myself, and I’d love for you to share what you’re looking forward to or what you thought if you go to one of the early ones in the comments.

Cheers and Happy Exploring!

2 thoughts on “Finlay Fridays 2026 Finlay Park Concert Schedule & What to Expect”

  1. Can you please advise a list of bands who will be performing at Finley Park and also will you be bringing name bands and or beach bands.

    The park looks great.

    Reply

    • Hi Danny. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to get around to an update to this since the initially announced listed bands have worked through their dates. I will try to get it asap. For what it’s worth, I haven’t seen any announcements either. Checking social media for the park and Columbia recreation department might be your best bet.

      I’m also not officially affiliated with the park, just sharing local info. I’d speculate that it looks like this free concert series will primarily be local artists with different genres. I’d wager a beach music band will perform at some point, and I’d also wager that larger name bands probably won’t be part of this free series but may perform in festivals in the future as there used to be a few larger festivals at the park years ago before it fell into disrepair.

      Reply

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