Monterey County Pops! and the City of Seaside celebrate Labor Day with a concert on September 7, 2026. Monterey County Pops! will again perform on the lawn in front of the iconic City Hall’s Flag Poles as an extraordinary backdrop.

The day starts at 2:00 p.m. with the Monterey County Pops! orchestra that will delight audiences of all ages with an engaging and memorable program of popular and patriotic music under the skilled baton of award-winning Dr. Carl Christensen and Associate Conductor, David Adams. The orchestra features twenty-two players of the finest musicians in our region.

The program entitled “Honoring Labor” will feature special arrangements of three traditional labor anthems sung by college music majors: Tiana Magdaleno, Diego Ramirez, and Tahlia Magdaleno: “If I Had a Hammer” by Pete Seeger, “Union Maid” by Woody Guthrie, and “Solidarity Forever” with lyrics written by Ralph Chaplin in 1915 as a labor anthem for the Industrial Workers of the World. It uses the existing tune of the Civil War song “John Brown’s Body.”

The program will also include music by John Williams’ “Midway March” from the 1976 epic war movie “Midway” starring Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda; and music from the film “The Cowboys " starring John Wayne. More Traditional Americana will be heard in the medleys “American Pageant,” “Our America,” and in Aaron Copland’s “Hoe-Down” from his ballet “Rodeo.”  The program includes a series of marches from around the world: “Colonel Bogey” from England (used in the movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai”), “Thunder and Blazes”, a traditional American circus march, “Radetzky March” from Austria, the “Valdres March” from Norway, and the paso doble “El Gato Montes” from Spain.

The concert on the lawn is free, live, and family-friendly, so bring your lawn chairs and picnics for an afternoon of musical enjoyment.

 Visit our website for more information: www.montereycountypops.org.