RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – After 17 years, Rapid City’s Summer Nights event is no longer, after the president of the event’s board, Judd Nielson, announced a permit for a new location was denied.
Community member Ted Wolk was one of the many residents frustrated with the decision to cancel summer nights, even taking to Facebook to voice his frustrations.
“The closing down of Summer Nights event is the loss of one of the most successful events that Rapid City has ever seen. It makes the community a great place to live in and the event has thousands of people who support it during the summertime and it’s an event people look forward to every summer,” Wolk said.
In a Facebook post, Wolk urged other community members to join him in a boycott of local businesses who signed the petition to shut down Summer Nights, with many mixed reactions. Some agreed with Wolk while others argued it would not be beneficial to hurt local businesses and offered solutions of their own.
“A Summer Nights discount day. You come downtown, you shop on Thursday and you get a 10% discount at our store. Or maybe if you come into our store Friday and Saturday wearing a wristband we give you a 10% discount. I brought up the idea of having a scavenger hunt. You go to every store and they give you a clue and there’s a box of money with $500 out there or something,” Wolk said.
Wolk noted he understands the concerns businesses have about low sales but added he wishes more was done in advance to try and find a more creative solution… as opposed to shutting down the event altogether.
Time will tell if Summer Nights will return in the future.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2025 KOTA. All rights reserved.
