Forget sleeping in this Saturday morning; the music starts at 9 a.m.
The fourth annual Summer’s Best Music Fest and Downtown Street Bazaar will run all day Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The festival is the Downtown Improvement District’s largest special event and has been in the works since last November.
The downtown area will have three main music venues with free performances throughout the day. The Allen Street Stage will host a variety of different music genres while the Hiesler Street ‘Rock the Block’ stage and The Calder Way Acoustic stage will have contemporary and coffeehouse styles, respectively.
Jody Alessandrine, Downtown Improvement District Executive Director, is particularly happy about the high volume and diversity of the bands participating this year, providing more than 12 hours of music.
Some of the bands to look forward to include the featured Salsamba, a Latin Jazz band from Pittsburgh playing the final show at 8 p.m., Sugabone, Keenaband, Liz Longley, and some of last year’s favorites.
The Downtown Street Bazaar has been hugely popular in the festival’s history, and this year will not only occupy Allen Street but also extend onto Calder Way to Pugh Street with many Calder businesses also setting up stands.
Saturday’s list of things-to-do includes concerts and other strategically placed events as well.
For the second year, BMX demonstrations will take place on ‘Action Alley’ located between Garner and Hiesler Streets. The ‘Public Safety Zone’ will feature Keno and the State College K-9 Unit, Smokey the Bear, and other public safety entities at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.
Last year, the Allen Street Stage became a notorious hang out for many festival attendees and their dogs, which helped pave the way for the debut of ‘Canines on Calder’ and dog watering stations. On Calder at Humes Alley, PAWS will be hosting a dog contest fundraiser from 11 a.m.-3 p.m..
Another debut this year is the presence of recycling cans all over the downtown area, something that is very important to Shannon Bishop, a veteran SBMF committee member. Bishop says the recycling cans will be placed at key areas all over the festival in hopes people help ‘protect our future.’
The event may only last for 12 hours on Saturday, but SBMF discounts last all weekend with the purchase of a SBMF wristband.
Wristbands will be used to waive bar cover charges as well as discounts on downtown restaurants and retail. The Lion’s Den, The Brewery, Rotelli, and G-Man will have free cover all weekend as well as half-off appetizers at G-Man and Rotelli. Bill Pickle’s Tap Room, Cafe 210, Indigo, The Shandygaff, and Zeno’s Pub will have free cover for all patrons wearing a wristband on Saturday.
Retail discounts include Access, Connections, House of Kashmir, Rapid Transit, Reflections, and Kranich’s Jewelers, along with many others. All participating businesses will have a SBMF sign displayed in the window.
The Atherton Hotel and The Days Inn Penn State are also participating in discounts and wristband offers.
Wristbands are being sold for $10 at the Downtown Improvement District’s office on Fraser Street or at information booths throughout the festival. All proceeds from the wristbands go to the Heritage Foundation of the State College Area School District to provide musical instruments and instruction to children who can’t afford them.
‘We wanted a way for people to come down and enjoy the music outside,’ Bishop said, ‘but also go to businesses downtown. Make a weekend of it.’
