Roosevelt Summer Sundays will return to Roosevelt Park on Sunday for their third show of the season.

With shows occurring every Sunday from June through mid-August, Summer Sundays offers the longest calendar of events of the weekly concert series available in Ames. The event is free of charge and is put on through donations from sponsors and community donors.

This week’s musical entertainment will be provided by Exit 113, who will perform a mixture of variety rock songs and classic pop. The band is based out of Des Moines. 

Now in its 17th year, Summer Sundays offers an open space in Roosevelt Park that can be used not only for music, but for kid-centric activities as well.

“Being located in a park gives all sorts of opportunities for people to do other things along with the music,” founding member and current committee member John Hascall said. “Kids on the playground, they’re playing ping-pong now, kicking a soccer ball around.”

Attendees of the concert are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs for seating.

Having a weekly concert series in a mid-sized town is an important part of enriching the community said Stacey Ross, another founding member and current committee member.

“It’s quite unique for central Iowa, certainly Ames, to have a family-friendly music venue,” Ross said. “Most venues are over-21 and at bars and that kind of thing so this gets a variety of music into the ears of people of all ages from the newest babies to the older folks in the community and everyone in between.”

The planning process for Summer Sundays is no small feat. Preparing the venue and booking musicians for three months worth of concerts takes a group effort in order to be executed correctly. The concert series’ committee consists of nine members and planning starts months in advance.

“Our committee meets generally from January through March,” Ross said. “We brainstorm some ideas for bands to invite to the series for the following summer. A few of our committee members will reach out to those bands and the scheduling is kind of a juggling match. We’re pretty pleased with the diversity of genres we’re able to offer.”

In case of unsatisfactory weather, the concert will be moved to The Annex at 130 S Sheldon Ave.

For more information regarding future concerts, visit www.summersundays.org.