Live at The Shell

Your generous donations help us to continue to bring admission free public events to the Long Beach Community at this beautiful historic outdoor amphitheater in Recreation Park.  With enough funds over time, this unique architectural gem can also be fully revitalized.

Reactivation & Revitalization of the Historic Recreation Park Bandshell

📍Location:  Off Federation Drive in Recreation Park (NEC Park Avenue and 7th Street, Long Beach, CA - across from Wilson High School).

☀️Admission Free. Shared Joy. Providing live events at the Bandshell reengages the community to have a stake in preserving its future.  We believe that vibrant live music, theater, and performance art bring shared joy to our public park, completely removing financial barriers to bring people together.

🏛️Preserving Our Heritage. Built in 1929, this beautiful Spanish Baroque landmark is owned by the City of Long Beach. While it has a rich history of packed community gatherings in its early years, the venue fell out of regular use in recent decades and has fallen into significant disrepair.

📋Grassroots Activation. Live at The Shell is a registered 501(c)(3) all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to bringing regular cultural life back to this historic space. We operate with zero paid staff, ensuring 100% of community contributions go straight toward funding our free live events, while larger gifts and grant resources are utilized for asset care, maintenance, and future historic revitalization.

Our 2026 Season Realized Impact

To honor the venue's 97th anniversary season, we launched a targeted campaign to engage our grassroots supporter network, anchored by our special Long Beach Gives Live! Expo & Festival where all 300 participating Long Beach Gives nonprofits were invited to create a fun day for the public while also sharing their missions. While the platform's automated counter only reflects online clicks, our final campaign goal was achieved by a grand total of 98 individual campaign donors (67 online supporters and 31 vital offline donors who gave directly via check, cash, or to our own online portal).

Our finalized 2026 single-season metrics include:

• 14 Vibrant Events: Delivered 100% admission-free and open to the public.
• 8,100+ Audience Members: Relaxing on the benches, picnicking on the grass, and dancing anywhere and everywhere.
• 60+ Local Nonprofits: Active community resource, heritage, and neighborhood groups sharing our stage and lawn space.
• 266 Performance Artists: Showcasing 142 next-generation youth, student, and community musicians performing right on our stage.

A 4-Year Legacy of Stewardship (2023–2026)
Over four consecutive seasons, our team has successfully brought 60 free shows, 12,000 volunteer hours, and over 23,000 public attendees to Recreation Park. Live at the Shell and its sponsors fully absorb all operational, performer, and sound engineering liabilities - exceeding $90,000 annually when accounting for our significant in-kind operational and equipment support. This track record includes managing a $50,000 capital improvement grant from the Long Beach Navy Memorial Heritage Association for renovations of the stage, ramps, and stairs completed in May 2025.

Testimonials

"Thank you for all that you have been doing to save the bandshell!  It is so great to see it finally being used for performances.  We have loved attending all of the different concerts, and we got to see the Shakespeare performances, too!  All of the performers have been so good!"

"Thank you for inviting us to participate in the student Battle of the Bands!  For many of my music students, this was their first time performing on a large stage, with such a large audience, or with a professional sound system.  This was a great experience for them!"

"As a booth volunteer, it lifts my spirits when I see how people react to the positive energy of the organization's leaders.  The concerts are top notch with an array of live music genres and great performers!  I enjoy volunteering for the Bandshell because I value satisfying a CITY need that is important to our community.   You can see the importance reflected in the enthusiasm of the audiences.  The Bandshell is a treasure and easily accessible that warrants reactivation/revitalization."

 "We loved it!  My two year old did, too.  You might have heard her yell "More!" between songs."

"The Shell at Rec Park is an iconic outdoor amphitheater and 1929 Historic Landmark.  The shows rival those at the Hollywood Bowl, but in Long Beach, and free!”