Strong communities are vital to everyone’s well being. The more you participate in your community, and the more you learn about your neighbors and neighborhoods, the better off everyone will be.
Three Reasons Community Events Are Right For You
You may have never been very active in your community before, and want to broaden your involvement by attending more events, but something is holding you back. Community events can get a bad rap, and participating in them can mean stepping out of your usual humdrum routine. Why leave the comfort of your routine and venture out to meet the locals? Here are three reasons why you’ll be glad you did.
You Get to Meet People
Meeting people is hard. It’s especially hard if you can’t rely on school or work to provide friendships for you. It’s even harder if you move to a new place without knowing anyone. Dating gets most of the attention when it comes to difficulty, but making friends as an adult can be surprisingly hard. It was a lot easier when you simply asked the other kids on the playground to play tag.
By going to community events, you’ll meet people who live in your area and who share similar interests. You can find weekly meet-ups for running or yoga. You can join a business club or take baking lessons. There are so many opportunities to get involved and find people who are trying to do the same.
That’s why a community calendar of events is so important. You get a quick overview of what is happening in your area, and you will often find that there’s a lot more going on than you knew.
The website of your local television station is a great place to look for an events calendar as is the official website of your city. Here’s a great example. These sites make it really easy to see what’s happening, and you can often even search through their events to target your results.
Facebook events are another easy way to stay on top of local happenings. You can even see what things your friends are interested in going to, so the more people you know the more events you can find out about. The more events you go to the bigger your social circle gets. It’s a perfect cycle to get you active and engaged.
You Can Have Fun and Still Save Money
When you’re living on a budget it can feel like you can’t have any fun. Concerts, sporting events, and restaurants can all put a bite on your pocketbook. Saving money and staving off boredom are usually two opposing forces, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Lots of community events are free to the public or relatively inexpensive to attend. You might find that there’s a local library doing a free lecture series. Maybe there’s a gallery opening, or an after-hours event at the local art museum for a reduced price.
There’s no reason that binge watching television shows should be your only source of cheap entertainment. You can actually get out there and become a really well-rounded person. You can hit up a vintage flea market on Saturday and sit in on a Shakespeare in the park performance on Sunday afternoon. You’ll learn new skills, try new things, and still be able to pay your rent on time.
Even if you don’t have a lot of disposable income, there’s no reason to sacrifice enjoyment and adventure.
You Can Keep the Kids Happy
If you’ve got children to entertain then community events are vital to both your sanity and your bank account. There’s a limit to how occupied you can keep them at home, and after all, you would like them to be able to get out and experience the world too. Community events offer a wide range of activities from concerts to art festivals to book fairs, and they all have plenty of kid-friendly activities. You can find Face-painting, arts and crafts, and even petting zoos.
Because the focus of these events is building a community they are often centered on families. That means they are actually created with your little ones in mind. It can be a mine-field sometimes trying to determine where it’s appropriate to take your kids, but community sponsored events make it easy. Will they have fun? Will there be things for them to do? Will it be a kid-safe environment? Community events help check all the boxes.
Community events are good for parents too. They strengthen the sense of community in both you and your children. They might make new friends, and you might meet other parents who you can share experiences with. They may be able to recommend a good math tutor when you need one, or tell you which orthodontist did an amazing job.
Start Participating in Community Events Today
Now you’ve got three good reasons to give your local community events a shot. You’ll make friends, save money, and keep your whole family happy. So get out your calendar and start penciling away.
