Dating is expensive. Dinner, gas to pick up your date and get to where you’re going, even coffee is $5 a cup. Then there is the pressure of being labeled a “cheap date” if you don’t order the most expensive thing on the menu. Realistically, no one has any money, and you are more than likely to wind up eating milkshakes and fries at B&D — which can still be a good $15. It’s ridiculous. So maybe you scratch dinner entirely or cook at home (assuming you have a kitchen and don’t live in a dorm) and you just go do something. Sugarhouse movies are$5 on Tuesdays, and that is about a cheap as it gets. Plus, you have to book a week out in order to get tickets. Everything else is $10 or $15 minimum for classes or concerts or laser tag. Everything, that is, except the Gallivan Center.

The Gallivan Center is an awesome date venue, and it’s not just for ice skating in the winter. In June, it had its Salt City Sounds series on Wednesdays sponsored by Broadway Media. The concert series is free and all ages just in case you are in that awkward phase where you (or your date) is younger than 21. I went to see Party Favor which was EDM. A mosh area formed if you’re into that, but there was also plenty of room away from the mass of people to dance if you’re not. Local breweries like Squatters and Wasatch had their own area where you could get drinks, and there was a food truck and some pop-up tents handing out free stuff. The concerts are all four hours, so there is plenty of time to be late, get lost or wait for your date to get off work.

Free exercise classes are also offered at the Gallivan Center if you and a date want to try yoga or pilates together without spending $15 each for a drop-in class. The classes are almost every day of the week, so they are also perfect for getting into shape (and that will help impress your date, too). I recommend Pulp Lifestyle Kitchen for a post-exercise snack. It’s healthy and delicious, and you can go in your Lulu’s and fit right in, because everyone has Lulu’s right?

Not into concerts or exercise? That’s fine. The Gallivan Center also does free movies on Monday nights in July, no movement necessary. This summer’s theme is “A Summer of Spielberg,” so you won’t be watching endless Disney or old documentaries. It’s a beautiful grassy location under little twinkly lights, serious twinkly lights that you don’t have to set up yourself. There is plenty of parking nearby so you can arrive early and walk through City Creek a block over. The Gallivan Center even has a concession stand if you get the munchies.

Pretty much all of the Gallivan’s events are all-ages, and a good majority are also free. Located downtown, the events offer are a great way to walk around the city, and it gives you something to do. The venue offers something for everyone this summer without breaking the bank.

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