Like every Friday this summer, Tuscaloosa’s Government Plaza was full of music. 

Fans stretched out on blankets and relaxed as they listened to the Lamont Leaders Band on June 29. The smell of food from local food trucks hung in the air. 

The Lamont Leaders Band was one of many to perform as part of this year’s Live at the Plaza concert series. In its fourth year, Live at the Plaza gives residents a chance to relax, enjoy local food and listen to a new set of artists for a few hours every Friday night.

Michelle Smart, the community engagement manager for the city of Tuscaloosa, shed some light on how the city chooses its band for the event.

“We really try to focus on local bands and local acts,” Smart said. “At the beginning of the year, we open up an application process for all of our local artists to apply. Then, we have a committee that makes the decisions on who is going to perform that season.”

Live at the Plaza is a family event, and Smart said maintaining that inclusive atmosphere is an important factor when deciding which artists to book.

“We want to make sure that it is a family-friendly focus,” Smart said. “We have never really had an issue with not being able to perform clean, family-friendly songs. We try to make sure we also appeal to a diverse audience where everyone has something over the course of the season that they were interested in coming to see.”

Additionally, with its large variety of bands, Live at the Plaza is also geared toward fans of multiple different genres.

“We will have jazz one night, rock another night and have something that is more country-focused some nights,” Smart said. “To me, if you go to Live at the Plaza, you go because you enjoy live music and you really are not as worried about the genre of the music, but we do have cross genre artists as well.”

The concerts will take place every Friday at 6 p.m. through July 27. Attendance for the event is free. More information regarding the bands is found on Tuscaloosa.com.