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Summer Nights and Live Music: Pacific Symphony’s SummerFest Returns to Great Park

Issue # 0608

Author

Joshua Tjia
10 Apr

In this Irvine Insider Issue . . .

😁 Laugh of the Day

🌤️ Irvine Weather

🥗🥪🫜 Fresh Greens and Spring Favorites: Four Irvine Spots Featuring Seasonal Dishes

🎷🎨🎺 Great Park Hosts Free Jazz Music and All-Ages Paper Art Activity This Saturday

⛳️ Don’t Miss Out: Last Day for Holey Moley’s $20 Unlimited Mini Golf Deal

🎶🎆🎻 Summer Nights and Live Music: Pacific Symphony’s SummerFest Returns to Great Park

🔬🌟 Irvine Students Recognized for Outstanding Science Fair Projects

🚑💥 UCI Health Partners with School and First Responders for DUI Prevention Event

🌳🌅 Explore Orchard Hills at Sunset on a Scenic 3-Mile Evening Hike, Apr. 21

🫟🖌️ Join a Fun DIY Rock Painting Craft Event at Katie Wheeler Library on April 19

🎼🎼 Upcoming High School Music Calendar

🐈🍼 Irvine Animal Care Center Seeks Foster Volunteers for Orphaned Kittens

🏐 UC Irvine Men’s Volleyball Earns 3-1 Win Over CSUN

🏀🏐🎾⚽️ UCI Anteaters Upcoming Home Games

🏀🏀 Upcoming home games for the IVC LASERS

🏈🎾 High School Athletics Calendar

🚓💊 Irvine Police Arrest Man Near Airport on Warrants, Narcotics, and Resisting Charges

🍏🥭🍑 Local Farmers Markets

🌟🏪🎉Irvine’s Best Kept Secrets: Is Your Business One of Them?

📅📅 Lots of Local Events

📞💡 Useful Contact Information

Why did the duck go to the chiropractor?

To get it’s back quacked.

We hope this joke brings some laughter to your day! 😁

Fresh Greens and Spring Favorites: Four Irvine Spots Featuring Seasonal Dishes

Spring is the perfect time to enjoy fresh, seasonal flavors across Irvine. From fresh salads and spring-inspired pasta to Persian herb rice and seasonal seafood, these four spots are offering delicious ways to celebrate the season.

  • Mendocino Farms
    Offering two fresh spring salads, including the Farmhouse Ranch with avocado, tomatoes, cucumber, Parmesan, and crispy polenta, plus the seasonal GOAT salad with chicken, goat cheese, oranges, fennel, mint, and kale.

  • Angelina’s Pizzeria Napoletana
    Features spring-inspired dishes like the salmon primavera served with orzo, asparagus, mushrooms, lemon, and capers.

  • Irvine Grill
    Highlights seasonal favorites such as sabzi polo, a Persian herb rice made with parsley, cilantro, and chives, paired with salmon, trout, or whitefish, plus New Zealand lamb options.

  • Heirloom Farmhouse Kitchen
    Showcases farmers-market fresh produce in dishes like hanger-steak salad with spring greens and pasta primavera with seasonal vegetables and chicken.

Great Park Hosts Free Jazz Music and All-Ages Paper Art Activity This Saturday

This Saturday, April 11, the Great Park is bringing back a fun afternoon of free live jazz and hands-on art activities for all ages.

  • 🎨 From noon to 3 p.m. at the Great Park Gallery, visitors can enjoy a creative paper art workshop featuring cutting, folding, layering, and building playful animal creations and imaginative mini worlds.

  • 🎷 Live jazz will also be performed from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Palm Court Arts Complex, where guests are encouraged to bring a chair or blanket for a relaxing open-air music experience.

Don’t Miss Out: Last Day for Holey Moley’s $20 Unlimited Mini Golf Deal

Today is the last day to take advantage of Holey Moley’s $20 unlimited mini golf spring break special. The deal is available through April 10, and guests can simply mention the promotion at walk-in while a caddy checks same-day availability. It’s a fun all-ages outing and a great activity for families and friends.

Summer Nights and Live Music: Pacific Symphony’s SummerFest Returns to Great Park

Pacific Symphony’s SummerFest 2026 is returning to Great Park Live for another season of open-air performances under the summer sky. With support from the City of Irvine and City of Hope Orange County, the series will feature crowd favorites including Star Wars, Back to the Future, the music of ABBA, the beloved Tchaikovsky Spectacular, and more.

Irvine Students Recognized for Outstanding Science Fair Projects

Over 70 students from Irvine Unified School District earned top honors at the Orange County Science and Engineering Fair, where they competed alongside more than 800 students from across the county with innovative STEM projects. They will now advance to the California Science & Engineering Fair and the ThermoFisher Junior Innovators Challenge on April 11–12. Congratulations to all participating students and award recipients!

UCI Health Partners with School and First Responders for DUI Prevention Event

UCI Health partnered with Servite High School, Anaheim Fire & Rescue, and the California Highway Patrol for the Every 15 Minutes program to help students understand the serious dangers of driving under the influence. The two-day program gave students a realistic look at the devastating consequences of driving under the influence through a crash simulation and a hospital emergency room reenactment at UCI Health, where trauma surgeons, nurses, and emergency clinicians demonstrated how crash victims are treated. The program aims to help teens understand the life-threatening risks of impaired driving and encourage responsible decision-making, as drunk driving continues to claim more than 30 lives each day nationwide.

Explore Orchard Hills at Sunset on a Scenic 3-Mile Evening Hike, Apr. 21

Enjoy a beautiful evening outdoors at the Moderate-Paced Sunset Hike in Orchard Hills on Tuesday, April 21, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. This 3-mile, level-3 hike follows the Orchard Hills loop trail around an avocado orchard, featuring steep climbs, uneven terrain, and stunning ridge-top sunset views of Irvine and the Pacific coastline.

Join a Fun DIY Rock Painting Craft Event at Katie Wheeler Library on April 19

Get creative at the Create-It-Yourself: Rock Painting workshop on Sunday, April 19, from 2–3:30 p.m. at Katie Wheeler Library in Irvine. Adults are invited to paint their very own miniature masterpiece for their home, garden, or as a personalized gift. The event is free, and walk-ins are welcome while supplies last.

Upcoming Northwood High School’s Music Calendar

  1. April 11, 12:00 - 3:00 PM: Friends of Jazz, Long Wolf Brewing Company

  2. April 15: IUSD Jazz Festival, Woodbridge HS

For the latest updates or additional details, please visit https://timbmusic.org/events/

Upcoming Woodbridge High School’s Vocal Music Calendar

No further upcoming events for this month

For the latest updates or additional details, please visit https://woodbridgechoirs.weebly.com/calendar.html

Upcoming Irvine High Choral’s Music Calendar

  1. April 15, 6:00 PM: SPUR Awards, PAC

  2. April 18, 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM: Choirs Host Forum Festival

For the latest updates or additional details, please visit https://www.ihschoralmusic.org/calendar.html 

Upcoming Portola High School Music’s Calendar

No further upcoming events for this month

For the latest updates or additional details, please visit https://www.phsmusicbooster.org/buy-ticket

Irvine Animal Care Center Seeks Foster Volunteers for Orphaned Kittens

The Irvine Animal Care Center is looking for compassionate foster volunteers to help care for orphaned bottle baby kittens until they are old enough for adoption. Foster families provide love, time, and care, while the center supplies all needed equipment, supplies, and veterinary support. No prior experience is required, making it a flexible and rewarding way to help save the lives of vulnerable kittens during kitten season.

Find more information here

UC Irvine Men’s Volleyball Earns 3-1 Win Over CSUN

UC Irvine earned a 3-1 home win over CSUN, led by freshman Andrej Jokanovic’s standout performance of 23 kills and 13 digs for his third career double-double. The Anteaters improved to 16-5 overall and 4-3 in Big West play, with William D’Arcy adding 14 kills.

UCI Anteaters Upcoming Home Games

Men’s Tennis

  • Fri, Apr 10 - Cal Poly, 12:00 PM

🏐⚽🏀 Upcoming home games for the IVC LASERS 

Men’s Volleyball

  • Fri, April 10 – Santiago Canyon, 6:00 PM

Baseball

  • Sat, April 11 – Golden West, 12:00 PM

  • Thu, April 16 – Santa Ana, 2:00 PM

Men’s Tennis

  • Tue, April 14– Ventura, 3C2A SoCal Regional Semifinals, 2:00 PM

High School Athletics Calendar

**

Updated With April Schedule

Upcoming Irvine High School’s Varsity home games:

April 2026

Friday, April 10

  • Volleyball, Boys - 5:15 PM vs Woodbridge

Irvine Police Arrest Man Near Airport on Warrants, Narcotics, and Resisting Charges

During a patrol check near the airport, Irvine police officers contacted a man who was found to have active warrants and was in possession of narcotics. The individual was safely taken into custody after resisting officers and was subsequently booked into Orange County Jail.

Irvine’s Best Kept Secrets: Is Your Business One of Them?

We know our community is brimming with businesses that have fascinating stories and big hearts. If you’re a local business owner making waves, crafting unique experiences, or simply putting a smile on our faces, we want to chat with you! “Irvine Insider” is eager to shine a light on the unsung heroes of our city. Let’s collaborate and let the community know what makes your business special.

Click the link below and fill out the Local Business Spotlight Application Form to be featured and let’s celebrate the spirit of Irvine together!

Irvine Insider is sent to a local audience of Irvine residence Monday through Friday with 50% - 60% open rate. Our newsletter is a great way to reach Irvine residents.

  • Kaiser Permanente Irvine Farmers Market

  • Saturday Farmers Market at Mariners Church Irvine

    • When: Saturday, 8 AM - 12 PM

    • Where: 5428 Bonita Canyon Dr, Irvine, CA 92603

  • Great Park Certified Farmers Market

  • Manassero Farmers

    • When: Daily, 9 AM - 4:30 PM

    • Where: 33 Irvine Valley, Irvine, CA 92604

  • Tanaka Farms

    • When: Daily, 9 AM - 5 PM

    • Where: 5380 3/4 University Dr, Irvine, CA 92612

    • More Info:Tanaka Farms

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