Redlands Bowl

The Redlands Bowl holds the distinction of being America’s longest continuously running summer music festival where no admission is charged. At 8:00 p.m. every Tuesday and Friday evening during the summer, the Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival draws thousands to its world-class performances. Since its inception in 1924, the Bowl has been a special place in Redlands for families, friends, and music-lovers of all ages and backgrounds to gather and enjoy its superb programs. For almost a century, Redlands Bowl Performing Arts (RBPA), has served the city of Redlands and the Inland Empire region by providing quality performing arts to the community free of admission charge via their core program, the Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival. Other programs include: The Children’s Summer Festival Workshops, Music in the Schools Programs, the Arts Education Impact Initiative to address the needs of under-served youth. These programs known as the “Eighty-Eight Keys for Youth” program serves over 30,000 youth in the region. Redlands Bowl Performing Arts also holds an annual young artists competition, which in 2017 was reformatted to a concerto competition where competitors compete on the Bowl stage with orchestra. The competition has grown to include competitors from outside of the United States. Redlands Bowl Performing Arts (RBPA), formerly known as the Redlands Community Music Association, was founded in 1923 by a woman with a vision – Grace Stewart Mullen. The first Bowl season was in 1924. Mrs. Mullen believed that the performing arts should be accessible to all regardless of their ability to pay for admission. Her dream of bringing professional quality, classically-oriented performing arts to her community has prospered for over 90 years. The Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously running summer music festival in the United States where no admission is charged. Over 100,000 people attend each summer. Since its inception, an estimated eight million people have attended an evening of entertainment under the stars at the Redlands Bowl. RBPA’s programming is family-friendly and serves a multi-generational audience. We are non-sectarian and non-political, bringing people together through the profound power of the performing arts. Each year the programs for the Summer Music Festival include a broad base of cultural programming including symphonies, opera, dance programs and musical theater. World-famous names have appeared on the Bowl stage including: John Jorgenson, Angel Blue, John Raitt, Isaac Stern, Marilyn Horne, Grace Bumbry, Percy Grainger, Andre Previn, Leontyne Price, Jerome Robins, Howard Keel, Marni Nixon, Lotte Lehmann, Rudolph Friml, Roger Wagner and his Chorale, Shirley Verrett, Glenn Dicterow, Lola Montes, Lorna Luft, Marcus Roberts, Rita Coolidge, and many more! Redlands Bowl Performing Arts is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit organization. All contributions are tax-deductible.