The sounds of piano and jazz will fill the air June 30 when the city of Vicksburg hosts Downtown at Dusk, a musical program featuring a DJ and live performances by musicians Ben Shaw and Jessie Primer III.

“This is part of an initiative on the part of the city and the Mayor’s office to bring families to the downtown area to listen to music and to shop,” said Angela Jenkins, one of the community organizers for the event. “This is the first of a series. We’re going to have one once a month and it’s going to go through the fall.

“We want people to come out with their families and bring their chairs and enjoy the music. All the stores downtown will be open during the event so people will be able to shop downtown while the performances are going on.”

The musicians will perform at the River Stage Plaza at the corner of Crawford and Washington streets.

The program begins at 5:30 p.m. with music by DJ Reo, who will play a selection of music for the audience.

Local musician Ben Shaw, who is a regular performer at Roca, performs from 6 to 7:30 p.m., with saxophonist Jessie Primer III from Jackson performing from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Food and beverages will be available for sale during the program.

“We did three of these (programs) in the spring and they were quite successful,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said. “The purpose is to showcase downtown. It will give people a chance to walk downtown and get a good look at our revitalized downtown area. It’s an idea I got from visiting other cities — Louisville (Ky.) and Oklahoma City. This is funded by the mayor’s office out of my discretionary fund.”

He said the programs are the start of a regular feature for the downtown area that will be held in the spring and summer months and will eventually be held at the city’s farmers’ market site at the corner of Washington and Jackson streets, where the city is planning to build a pavilion.

“We’re going to provide all kinds of music, jazz, blues, and I want to bring in some gospel,” Flaggs said.