Jan

Great Cultural Date Ideas

Continuing my theme of great date ideas, here are four cultural date ideas that are sure to provide a great time.

Concerts, free community concerts, Open Mic Nights
When it comes to attending musical events, there are many different options. Commercial Concerts by popular artists can be fun, but you will need to navigate large crowds and it can be difficult to talk, additionally they are frequently expensive. Benefits Concerts and free community concerts by local artists can be really wonderful – sometimes popular artists will do smaller venues to benefit a charity. Some of my personal favorites are smaller non-commercialized venues such as jam sessions, and open mic nights. Jam sessions will usually involve just a few bands. Open mic nights tend to offer lots of variety. These smaller venues generally have from a few dozen to a hundred or so people, and the variety of music and atmosphere is really impressive. If you have the space you may consider holding weekly Open Mic nights yourself – years ago I had some friends that did this, there easily hosted a variety of artists with fresh content every week.

Attend an Orchestra
Attending an orchestral event can be quite entertaining as you expand your musical tastes to new genres and develop you appreciation for music. Orchestral events are not only limited to classical artists, you may find several specialty events combined with orchestral events such as big bands, contemporary music and historical pieces. You may also find that you enjoy dressing up for the evening, the architecture of the orchestral halls, or the variety of music and productions available. Some city orchestras will offer discount tickets for students, a school orchestra event will also fit tighter budgets. These dates are generally better if you go with another couple. Taking your date for a good meal at a late night breakfast serving restaurant is a nice way to top off the evening.

International Culture Dinner
This is the time to experiment, find some recipes for international cuisine and make an evening of preparing the meal and dining together. This type of an evening is usually best done with groups, so that everyone can pitch in and share the kudos or blame depending on how the food turns out. Do not cause yourself undue stress my making this into a ‘date’ where everything has to be prepared before hand, but rather invite everyone over to assist in the preparation. This allows everyone to have great conversation, improve cooking skills and learn to work together. You can add to the effect of the dinner by having theme music or videos playing in the background. If you have friends who are familiar with the culture, invite them to share a presentation or supervise the cooking to make certain it turns out authentic.

Local Festivals
Local festivals and events can be great opportunities to learn more about the area where you live. These events may be put on by religious groups, charities, towns, historical societies, businesses, schools or other organizations. There are many different activities that are available at these types of events; generally the standard fare consists of live music, games or craft displays and food – sometimes you will find dancing and live shows. Looking and listening are usually free, dining and souvenirs are probably not.

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