VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Parks After Dark is launching for the first time in Virginia Beach!
It’s a new summer program to create safer neighborhoods and provide free, fun activities for young people.
The idea is a new strategy by the city’s mayor's youth violence prevention task force to tackle crime.
“It is recreation, it’s educational,” said Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation Youth Opportunities Coordinator Tiffany Cowell. “It’s family fun.”
Three nights a week all summer long, the program will take place at Williams Farm Park in Virginia Beach. The free activities will take place Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. The program ends on August 26.
“There will always be food trucks available for the first 300 or so families that come,” Cowell said “There will always be sports, there will always be games and field activities, there will always be bounce houses. And then, we will have entertainment that filters in. So tonight, we will have Mosaic Steel Orchestra, we will have movies in the parks on Saturdays, we will have our library system here doing STEM programs with our kids on Thursday nights. So, there will always be something going on that is fun and exciting.”
The new city program aims to create a safe space for teens to hang out over the summer.
"Keeping our young people away from the day-to-day violence that continues to happen in many communities,” said Virginia Beach City Councilwoman Dr. Amelia Ross-Hammond.
Ross-Hammond oversees District 4, an area she said is majority-minority. She is excited to see the new program kick off in the Lake Edwards and Bayside communities.
“These youths sometimes do not have the opportunities during the summer to be able to participate in certain kinds of sports and certain kinds of educational opportunities like this at no cost to them,” Dr. Ross-Hammond said.
Cowell said many city departments are involved in making a difference.
“The police department will be here every night that we are here,” Cowell said. “Their role is going to be to engage with the community and to help build those ties between the community and law enforcement.”
She’s hopeful for a successful summer season.
“We have other communities in the city that we would like to see this happen in as well, we are starting here, but this is just the beginning,” Cowell said.
Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer has talked about this new program at many regional mayor’s forums. He said he is thrilled that the Parks After Dark program is kicking off.
“These safe, family-friendly events are meant to provide residents with activities that have been developed by individuals from the neighborhoods who will partake in the offerings,” Mayor Bobby Dyer said.
“It is truly an opportunity that has been crafted by the people, for the people, in collaboration with our fantastic Parks & Recreation staff. In addition, this gives our youth and their families an opportunity to get outside, be active and build relationships with their neighbors and city partners. It is my sincere hope that these events will be a valuable addition to our efforts to reduce youth violence and have a positive impact on our city.”
The city’s parks and recreation team said there are only a few dates they will not have programming due to busy weekends in the city, those dates are June 22 to 24 and June 29 to July 1.