Camden County's Summer Concert series returns year after pandemic

HADDON HEIGHTS, New Jersey (WPVI) -- After a year spent social distancing and fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, a large crowd gathered Wednesday night for the kick-off of Camden County's Summer Concert series.

Singer Matt Duke was the opening act for the reemergence of the series. It's the first such event in the county in 600 days.

"We are expecting a lot of fun, excitement, and everybody's beginning to get back into joint activities," said Camden County Commissioner Jeff Nash, the liaison to the Parks Department.

Many were happy to be back in the crowd with friends enjoying music.

"It feels really, really good to finally be back in front of people," said Julia Bailen of the Alt-Rock Group Bailen out of New York City.

"It's been a year and a half since we've been out anywhere, so this is nice," said Florence Stevens of Barrington.

"It's just a long time coming, we've worked hard to do this and we're with our community," said Steve Coar of Cherry Hill.

The return of the summer concert series is yet another milestone in a county that saw 1,200 of its residents lose their lives to COVID-19. Through it all, the county has been working hard to vaccinate as many as possible. Wednesday night was no exception.

"How easy it is when you're on your way from your home or from your car, to stop in our tent, get your vaccine, protect yourself from the virus, and then enjoy a concert," said Commissioner Nash.

Kevin Kane was one of the concertgoers who decided to stop by the Camden County Health Department site to get vaccinated.

"I actually didn't plan on doing it but my wife kind of made me do it. I'm not used to getting flu shots to begin with, but I figured this was a lot more serious than other regular flu shots. So everyone's getting it, why not," said Kane of Haddon Heights.

So far, county officials say over 250,000 adults have gotten at least one dose of a vaccine. That's over 65% of the adult population in Camden County.