Anyone else in need of a night out? Enjoy free, family-friendly fun tonight with official National Night Out events that are going on around the Midlands.

If you haven’t heard of it, or have and want to learn more, we’re giving you the rundown on the national event.

National Night Out is an annual event that takes place on the first Tuesday of August. It was introduced in 1984 as a community-building campaign and has grown in popularity ever since. Currently, 66 cities in SC participate in the event + make up a part of the 16,000 communities around the country that celebrate.

Columbia | The Meeting Place Town Centre, 201 Columbia Mall Rd. | 5-9 p.m.
Earlewood | Earlewood Park | 6-9 p.m.
Forest Acres | Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 3909 Forest Dr. | 6-8 p.m.
Irmo | Irmo Community Park | 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Lexington | Icehouse Amphitheater | 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Fort Jackson | Patriot Park | 6-8 p.m.
Lower Richland | RCSD Region 1, 2615 Lower Richland Blvd. | 6:30-8 p.m.
Lake Carolina | Centennial Park on Crestmont | 6-8 p.m.

Don’t see your neighborhood above? Check out Richland County Sheriff's Department’s website for more locations.

While the events are fun and make for a good reason to get out of the house, there’s a deeper motive behind the holiday. NNO promotes police-community partnerships and encourages residents to get to know their neighbors with the goal of creating safer + happier communities.

So, get out and meet your neighbors tonight while grooving to live music and enjoying entertainment, games, food, drinks + more.