2026 Community Song
SPON Invites Newport Beach Residents to Help Choose the 2026 Community Song
What happens when local issues are set to music?
SPON—Still Protecting Our Newport—is inviting residents to find out by listening to 12 original songs created around some of the most important decisions facing Newport Beach and helping select the 2026 SPON Community Song.
The SPON Community Song Competition features three categories:
- Turn on the Light — Songs about transparency, accountability and the public’s right to understand how important City decisions are made.
- Save the Park | Pave Over Paradise — Songs inspired by the debate over placing a new police headquarters in Civic Center Park and the community’s desire to protect this distinctive public space.
- Responsible Growth — Songs exploring housing, development and how Newport Beach can accommodate change without losing the character that makes it special.
The “Turn on the Light” series focuses on a simple principle: Residents should not have to struggle to discover what their government is doing or why.
Through lyrics that are serious, spirited and sometimes playful, the songs encourage residents to ask questions, follow the facts and remain involved from the beginning of the public process through the final vote.
One of the songs captures the idea this way:
“Let the record show the questions.
Let the facts come shining through.
Tell us what was changed, considered—
Tell us what you chose to do.”
Participating is easy. Residents are invited to:
- Listen to the 12 competing songs.
- Choose the song they believe should become the 2026 SPON Community Song.
- Tell SPON why they selected it.
- Submit their choice by September 18.
There will be no elimination rounds. Every song will remain in the competition until voting closes, giving participants the opportunity to hear and consider all 12 entries.
The winning song will be revealed at SPON’s Annual Meeting, “What’s Happening in Newport Beach?”, on Saturday, September 19, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at Witte Hall. The SPON Community Meeting is free and open to the public. A continental breakfast will be served, and advance RSVPs are requested. The competition prize winner must be present at Witte Hall to collect the prize.
The song competition reflects SPON’s longstanding belief that an informed and engaged public is essential to good local government. By combining civic issues with music, SPON hopes to reach residents in a fresh way, encourage conversation and make complex subjects easier to understand and remember.
Listen, choose your favorite and tell SPON why it deserves to become Newport Beach’s community song.
Voting closes September 18. The winner will be announced September 19.
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