 Well for its second year the first city on the Mississippi is celebrating its community and downtown with a summer long weekly music festival. Josh Peterson was there as they debuted a new stage as well as another season of music in Bemidji. Last summer the sound of music could be heard each Wednesday night in downtown Bemidji as part of the Mississippi music concert series. Hosted at Paul Bunyan Park, the mix of music with a scenic setting drew large crowds and was an instant success. Surpassing the organizers hopes and goals for the event. We expected it to be great. It was even better than we'd hoped for. We had probably 300 people our first night. We had good crowds every night. With the overwhelming success of the concert series in its first year, plans were in the works to make improvements to the event offering something for everyone. One thing that we definitely want people to be able to say week to week is that the quality is of a certain level and if that's true then if people have an open mind they're probably going to be impressed when they come down. In its first year the largest struggle was dealing with the weather. Through a partnership form with La Valley Industries the Mississippi Music Committee helped create a portable stage that can protect its performers from the elements of the weather. Last January when we started having the conversations to a week ago the stage came together and it rolled down the street last Saturday was ready for the block party and it's here tonight for our first concert so we're pretty excited. The new stage provides the flexibility to change the location and the ability to offer the portable amphitheater to be used for other events securing the longevity of the event and the possible creation of more events for years to come. In Bemidji, Josh Peterson, Lincoln News. For more information about Mississippi music and which bands are performing we have a link on our website at lptv.org slash news. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.