Chambers Bay Summer Nights: Two Calendars, One Neighborhood, And Where To Eat In Between

If you live within a few minutes of Grandview Drive, your July has two separate event calendars running in parallel and nobody hands you a combined version. The City of University Place runs one. Chambers Bay itself runs the other. They overlap on some nights, complement each other on others, and the residents who get the most out of summer are the ones who read them side by side.

Here is what the two calendars actually look like this year, who is playing, where to eat before the first song, and which fall dates to lock in now.

Two free concert series, two different rhythms

The City brings back both of its summer series in 2026, and the details matter because the venues, nights, and food rules are not the same.

Both are free. Both are sponsored by America's Credit Union with support from the City of University Place. Beyond that, they are different animals.

Wednesdays at Market Square

Music on the Square is the tighter, more urban of the two. It sits in Market Square right in front of the Civic Building at the Village at Chambers Bay, which means you can walk from a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods run straight into the crowd without moving your car. Music on the Square returns with eight Wednesday night concerts in Market Square beginning July 8, running through late August.

The July 19 slot is Latin inspired sounds from Flor de Luna, one of the leading bands in the northwest playing the music of Santana, as well as other Latin-music influenced bands like War, Malo, and Los Lobos. Later in the season the schedule folds in acts like Joey Jewell and the Cosmic Jazz Quartet and Bards of Paradise, so the genre swings week to week. If jazz on July 15 is not your speed, the following Wednesday probably is.

The food logic here is different from the Orchard. You are not packing a picnic. You are grabbing a food truck plate or ducking across the parking lot for takeout, then finding a spot on the lawn.

Thursdays at Curran Apple Orchard

Concerts in the Orchard has a slower cadence. It's a five-week series that begins Thursday, July 23 at 6:30 p.m. when the James Lee Murrary Band will take the stage with its blend of soul, funk and blues. Recent City postings have confirmed follow-ups from The Mistaken and others through August.

Two practical notes that trip up first-timers:

• Alcohol is not permitted in City parks. Beer or wine that would fly at the Village will not fly at the Orchard.
• In case of inclement weather, concerts will relocate to the Curtis High School Cafeteria, 8425 40th Street West in University Place. Bookmark that address on your phone before you leave the house on a marginal night.

The Orchard itself is the reason to go. It is one of the few places in the county where a working apple orchard doubles as a public park, and the acoustics under the canopy feel more intimate than any square could.

The other calendar: what Chambers Bay is running

While the City handles the concert series, the golf course runs its own separate slate of resident-friendly nights. If you only follow the City page, you miss half of what is happening on your street.

The one worth circling in July is the free Night Market. Chambers Bay is hosting a free Night Market on July 8 from 5 to 9 PM, featuring local vendors, drinks, and food offerings, with vintage finds, handmade crafts, and local deals. Note the date. It lands on the same Wednesday as the season opener of Music on the Square, which means residents can walk between the two without moving a car.

For the Fourth, the course is running two events. Tee it up in the Red, White & Blue Shamble, a 2-person holiday tournament on a U.S. Open-tested course, or join us later for BBQ on the Deck, open to golfers, families, friends, and the community. The deck also happens to sit above one of the best fireworks views in the South Sound, which is the kind of thing a local finds out by accident once and then plans around every year after.

Further out, two fall dates deserve a place on your calendar now, because parking and traffic around Grandview change on tournament weekends:

• The Pacific Northwest Invitational (PNI) is a three-day, 2-Person Best Ball tournament that sold out in 2025 — September 18–20, 2026.
• The Puget Sound Amateur is a marquee competitive event in the fall.

And if your idea of a summer evening involves nine holes and a glass of something, the course runs a rotating set of short-format social rounds. A series of social golf events runs regularly, including Wine & 9 ($50), 7 & 7 Seas ($45), and Social 6 ($40), each combining a short loop with a local tasting and 15% off at the Grill after play. The Social 6 is the one to try if you have never walked the course. It is short enough to squeeze into a weeknight and long enough to feel like you actually played.

Where to eat before the first song

The dining calculus depends on which series you are attending and how much time you have. Here is how residents tend to solve it.

For a Wednesday at Market Square, the food is either at the show or a short walk away. MOD Pizza sits inside the Village itself at 3626 Market Place W and is open daily for salad or pizza takeout and delivery, which makes it the default fast option when the food truck line is long. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are steps away for a picnic assembled in ten minutes. The Village at 3515 Bridgeport Way W is a dense little cluster on one of the busiest streets in the city, and that density is what makes it work on a concert night.

For a Thursday at the Orchard, the assignment is a real picnic. Pack it before you leave. The Orchard has no vendors, no food trucks, and no alcohol. This is a blanket-and-cooler night with sandwiches from home or a to-go order picked up on the way.

For a golf-adjacent night, the two on-course options are Chambers Bay Grill and The Landing. The Grill is the perfect spot to unwind after a round or savor the beauty of Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains, and the expansive golf course, and it hosts frequent specialty events including Winemaker, Brewmaster, and Distiller dinners that show up on the calendar throughout the summer. It is worth calling ahead on weekends because the restaurant is not on the OpenTable booking network, so to check availability, please contact them directly. The Landing sits closer to the course itself and works as an on-course refuel between holes or before a walk along the Sound.

The month at a glance

If you only remember four dates from this post, make them these.

• Wednesday, July 8 — Music on the Square season opener at Market Square, and the free Chambers Bay Night Market runs the same evening from 5 to 9 p.m. Two events, one walkable footprint.
• Thursday, July 23 — Concerts in the Orchard begins with the James Lee Murray Band at 6:30 p.m. at Curran Apple Orchard.
• Fourth of July — Red, White & Blue Shamble in the morning, BBQ on the Deck in the evening, with the Chambers Bay deck as a fireworks vantage.
• September 18–20 — PNI weekend. Even if you are not playing, expect more traffic and busier restaurants around Grandview.

One local rhythm to keep in mind

Chambers Bay is a working public course on a 930-acre county park, which means the summer calendar you actually live with is a blend of a municipal series, a county park's rules, and a tournament schedule that reshapes traffic on certain weekends. The residents who feel like they always know what is happening are not on some insider list. They are the ones who check both calendars every Sunday night and plan the week around the overlap.

If you have been thinking about a move within the Chambers Bay area, or you own a home here and want to talk through what the market has been doing between all these summer nights, Catt Johnson is happy to have that conversation without a pitch attached. Book a call and we'll pick a Wednesday.