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07/19/2016 04:00 PMA summertime favorite is coming back to town this week. The summer Concert on the Green series will kick off this Sunday, July 24 at 6:30 p.m. and officials say it’s a show you won’t want to miss.
The concerts, sponsored by the Parks & Recreation Department, are held each Sunday through the end of August and feature a series of different musical acts. Parks & Recreation Director Rick Maynard said the first group performing will be What It Is.
“It is an eight-piece act with a full horn section and very good vocalists,” he said. “They play rock, soul, pop, [and] jazz and they do songs from groups like Steely Dan, Chicago, Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison, Paul Simon, so they have a good variety.”
Concerts are free and open to the public, but it usually costs the department anywhere from $1,000 to $3,500 to bring the musical groups in. Maynard said he has lined up several tribute bands, which focus on a specific artist or era, for future performances this summer.
“The tribute bands are normally what we bring to the Green because they are a hit,” he said. “People like these tribute bands and we usually get pretty good crowds, 800 to 1,200 people, and if we are going to have a concert I want to make sure people are going to enjoy it.”
For the next concert held on Sunday, July 31, a group called the Nifty Fifties will play many hits from the decade, according to Maynard.
“We had them several years ago and they really put on quite a show,” he said.
Maynard said the concerts are one of the highlights of the summer.
“The ambiance of the Green is just wonderful,” he said. “We have one of the nicest town greens in all of new England and it is a great thing to be out there on a Sunday evening and seeing the Green filling up with people out there having a great time. There are many highlights of my job and this is definitely one of them.”
Concerts are held on the Green from 6:30 to 8 p.m., but in the event of rain, the location changes to the Community Center at 32 Church Street. Maynard makes the weather determination by 3 p.m. the day of the show and info can be found on the department’s weather line at 203-453-8134. Residents are reminded no smoking or alcohol is allowed on the Green per town ordinance.