The Summer of the Arts’ 2012 Saturday Night Concert Series will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Saturday on the Pedestrian Mall. Natty Nation, a Wisconsin-based band with a blend of hard-roots rock, reggae, and dub, will perform.

The series, formerly known as Downtown Saturday Night, seeks to attract people to downtown.

"The goal is to have more people be able to patronize the businesses, the restaurants, the shops that are downtown and really have a vibrant, active community on Saturday night just as we do Friday night," said Shane Schemmel, the Summer of the Arts assistant executive director.

Natty Nation’s unique "good vibrations" reggae style contributes to Summer of the Arts’ goal to feature bands across a spectrum of genres.

"We’re really trying hard to have a variety of sounds and band types at both the Friday and Saturday Night Concert Series, so we don’t want to have just one style of music all summer long," Schemmel said. "We want to appeal to a variety of audiences with different types of music."

The event is free for the public.

— by Emma McClatchey