After two years, the Alive Concert Series has become a major summer event in the Des Moines area, and planners are trying to make it even bigger and better than before.

Conceived and created by Tom Zmolekof from Ames-based People’s Productions, the Alive series has taken place both summers at the Simon Estes Amphitheater in downtown Des Moines.

The series has brought a number of high-profile acts to Des Moines and has drawn more than 30,000 people in the last two years.

As the concerts solidify their place in the Des Moines summer nightlife, People’s Productions has been making some changes this year in order to present more interactive and community-friendly events for local fans of live music.

Among the changes in 2005 are the presence of charity organizations at the majority of the shows to inform attendees of important causes.

Kristina McMillan, director of operations for the concert series, says the charities aren’t there to beg, but to educate.

“The whole point of it is that we have all these people getting together, and we felt like it would be a great opportunity to use our plaza in a positive way,” McMillan says. “It makes more sense to us to bring in big causes to educate people than groups that are just going to ask for money.”

Among the charity organizations appearing at this year’s concerts are the Des Moines homeless shelter, DATA, which is concerned with the poverty crisis in Africa, and ONE, which focuses on worldwide poverty and the AIDS epidemic.

Other non-charity booths will also be out in full force at the events, as People’s Productions strives to create what McMillan calls a “festival atmosphere.” This will include food vendors, specialty beer vendors and merchandise vendors selling tie-dyes, flowers and other artistic wares.

Although the Alive Concert Series is young, it has showed considerable promise in its first two years of existence. McMillan says, this is only the beginning.

“It’s gotten bigger every year,” she says. “This is definitely going to continue.”