Jackson Park · Chicago's South Side

Honoring Our Past.
Building Our Future.

For more than fifty years, drummers have gathered at 63rd Street Beach almost every day it's warm enough — a living tradition Chicagoans simply call Bongo Beach. We're organizing to protect it, grow it, and pass it forward.

Culture Community Lakefront Legacy
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Where things stand right now

In July 2025, the Chicago Park District installed gated parking at the 63rd Street Beach House lot and raised hourly rates from $2 to over $4, displacing the drum circle from its longtime spot. The Jackson Park Advisory Council has publicly called the circle "a living tradition... one of Chicago's most important and unique cultural landmarks," and 5th Ward Alderman Desmon Yancy has proposed a permanent memorial and an annual season-opening ceremony honoring the drummers. This council exists to help carry that momentum forward — see our full history and how to get involved.

Four Pillars

Everything this council works on falls under one of four commitments — the same four that anchor our seal.

Culture

Protecting the drum circle, Nyabinghi and diaspora music traditions, and the artists who keep Bongo Beach's sound alive.

Community

Bringing neighbors, families, and generations back to the beach with regular, welcoming programming.

Lakefront

Stewarding the dune grassland, the historic beach house, and public access to the water itself.

Legacy

Collecting the photographs, stories, and oral histories that keep fifty-plus years of Bongo Beach from being forgotten.

What is "Bongo Beach"?

63rd Street Beach sits inside Jackson Park, part of the Olmsted-designed South Side lakefront. Since roughly the 1970s, drummers have gathered here almost daily — building a circle so consistent and so beloved that Chicagoans simply renamed the place after it.

The historic 63rd Street Beach House, built in 1919 and restored by the Chicago Park District in 2000, still anchors the site today.

Read the full history
The historic 63rd Street Beach House, a 1919 Mediterranean Revival pavilion overlooking Lake Michigan

Find Your Way In

Three easy starting points, however you'd like to help.

Volunteers cleaning up the beach and planting dune grass along the shoreline

Volunteer

Join a beach cleanup, a dune-planting day, or lend a hand at an event. No experience needed.

Sign up →
Drummers gathered at sunset on 63rd Street Beach with a bonfire and string lights

Come to an Event

From sunrise wellness to the Bongo Beach Drum Call, see what's proposed and share your ideas.

See events →
Community members meeting at a lakefront picnic pavilion

Join a Meeting

Meetings are open to the public. See our proposed cadence and how the council is taking shape.

Meeting info →

This Council Is Just Getting Started

We're a Ras Tafari Inc. initiative working toward formal recognition alongside the Jackson Park Advisory Council. The earlier residents, drummers, and neighbors get involved, the stronger our case — and our community — will be.

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