{"id":2388112,"date":"2026-04-24T22:01:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T22:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2388112"},"modified":"2026-04-24T22:01:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T22:01:40","slug":"jackson-ms-concert-series-begins-downtown-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/jackson-ms-concert-series-begins-downtown-saturday\/","title":{"rendered":"Jackson MS concert series begins downtown Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div class=\"column eleven-column byline-section\">\n<p><span class=\"author\"\/><span class=\"publication\"><span slot=\"bylineInfo\" class=\"authors\">Ed Inman<\/span><br \/>\n<span slot=\"bylineInfo\" class=\"credit\">\u00a0|\u00a0 Special to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"videoWrap\" class=\"spacer-large videoWrap\" style=\"position:relative\"><media-video video-id=\"77430760007\" title=\"Subscribe to Clarion Ledger: Local journalists covering local stories\" poster=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/videos\/wochit\/thumbnails\/77430760007.jpg\" util-module-path=\"elements\/media\" placement=\"snow-video-story-priority\"><\/p>\n<div id=\"uwVideoPlaceholder\" slot=\"placeholder\" style=\"z-index:19;width:100%;padding-bottom:56.25%;position:relative\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"vidplaybtn\" style=\"display:-moz-box;display:-ms-flexbox;display:-webkit-flex;display:flex;background-color:rgba(0,0,0,.4);border:2px solid #fff;border-radius:80px;cursor:pointer;height:80px;width:80px;position:absolute;top:50%;left:50%;transform:translate(-50%,-50%);z-index:10\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidplayicon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\" alt=\"play\" style=\"height:40px;margin:auto 18px auto 27px;width:40px\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div slot=\"videoDetails\" id=\"videoDetails\" class=\"videoDetails\" style=\"padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:8px\">\n<div id=\"videoDetailsContainer\" class=\"videoDetailsContainer\" hidden=\"\">\n<p>Subscribe to Clarion Ledger: Local journalists covering local stories<\/p>\n<p>Clarion Ledger journalists cover the important moments in Mississippi. Support local journalism by subscribing.<\/p>\n<p>Staff<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/media-video><\/div>\n<p><story-highlights class=\"spacer-small column ten-column no-gutter\" util-module-path=\"elements\/story\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A free gospel concert featuring the Mississippi Mass Choir will kick off the Levitt Amp Music Series in Jackson.<\/li>\n<li>The event is the first of thirty free concerts planned over the next three years, funded by a grant.<\/li>\n<li>Families are encouraged to bring blankets and picnics, though food and beverages will be for sale.<\/li>\n<li>The concert series will feature a variety of musical genres, including blues, Cajun, and reggae.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/story-highlights><partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"390\" fluid=\"\" outstream=\"\"\/>\n<p>The outdoor stage at downtown <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarionledger.com\/story\/news\/2025\/09\/05\/grant-vote-concert-series-smith-park-jackson-ms\/85976620007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jackson\u2019s Smith Park<\/a> will come alive this Saturday, April 25 with a free gospel concert featuring the Mississippi Mass Choir.<\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"600\" fluid=\"\" outstream=\"\" momentum=\"\"\/>\n<p>The family-friendly event will kick off at 11 a.m. and will also feature the children\u2019s choir from New Horizon Church International as well as several speakers, including Jackson Mayor John Horhn. The <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarionledger.com\/story\/news\/2025\/07\/08\/mama-mosie-burks-of-mississippi-mass-choir-dies-mosie-burks-funeral-arrangements-set\/84504396007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mississippi Mass Choir<\/a> will take the stage around noon and the concert will conclude by 2 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>As the kickoff event for what is called the Levitt Amp Music Series, it will be the first of thirty free concerts planned for Jackson over the next three years. The series is being funded in part by a $120,000 grant awarded to Downtown Jackson Partners by the Levitt Family Foundation. The grant requires a local match of $120,000, totaling $240,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><media-gallery-promo asset-id=\"89423630007\" class=\"column ten-column no-gutter spacer-large\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Downtown Jackson Partners President Liz Brister said out of 300 applicants nationwide, Jackson emerged as the No. 9 top-voted finalist in the competitive grant program, which is designed to strengthen communities by allowing people to celebrate music together.<\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" fluid=\"\" bottom=\"\" lazy=\"\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"390\" outstream=\"\"\/><partner-inline util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" class=\"spacer-large\" placement=\"native-article_link\" sizes=\"[[300, 250], [3, 3]]\" min-height=\"250\" fluid=\"\" outstream=\"\"\/>\n<p>\u201cWe are very excited. I can\u2019t think of any other place in the country that needs this more than Jackson,\u201d Brister said.<\/p>\n<p>She said the gatherings will be a great way to bring together people from throughout the metro area, \u201cto feel good about our capital city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><cta-atoms-container-inline util-module-path=\"elements\/cta\" class=\"spacer-large\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Families are encouraged to bring their own blankets and picnic items, but brunch items will also be offered for sale by celebrated chef Nick Wallace, who most recently opened the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarionledger.com\/story\/business\/2025\/08\/12\/jackson-mississippi-hen-and-egg-restaurant-at-sun-n-sand-motor-hotel\/85629117007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hen and Egg Restaurant<\/a> inside the historic Sun-n-Sand building.<\/p>\n<p>Menu items will include: Bacon Sausage Dog &#8211; $10; \u00a0Brisket Potato Bowl &#8211; $14; Braised Pork Tacos &#8211; $13; and Chicken Fried Rice &#8211; $12. Desserts by Nick Wallace will also be available, as will beverages courtesy of Hal and Mal\u2019s Restaurant.<\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" fluid=\"\" bottom=\"\" lazy=\"\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"600\" outstream=\"\" momentum=\"\"\/><media-image image-set=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/04\/01\/PJAM\/89423580007-4126-camel-jackson-tcl-lw-04.JPG bestCrop, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/04\/01\/PJAM\/89423580007-4126-camel-jackson-tcl-lw-04.JPG?crop=3165,2373,x334,y0 4:3, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/04\/01\/PJAM\/89423580007-4126-camel-jackson-tcl-lw-04.JPG?crop=1780,2373,x175,y0 3:4, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/04\/01\/PJAM\/89423580007-4126-camel-jackson-tcl-lw-04.JPG?crop=3499,1969,x0,y202 16:9\" image-alt=\"\" credit=\"Lauren Witte\/Clarion Ledger\" caption=\"Shirley Martin takes a selfie with Frank the Camel during Downtown Jackson Partners' Hump Day event at Smith Park in Downtown Jackson, Miss., on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. &quot;Downtown is the place to be,&quot; Martin said. &quot;It's great.&quot;\" orientation=\"horizontal\" class=\"spacer-large\" util-module-path=\"elements\/media\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-link\"><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">Hal&#8217;s St. Paddy&#8217;s Day parade photos: <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarionledger.com\/picture-gallery\/entertainment\/2026\/03\/28\/thousands-gather-for-the-2026-st-patricks-parade-in-jackson-ms\/89361780007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">See photos from the 2026 Hal\u2019s St. Paddy\u2019s Parade in Jackson, MS<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<partner-inline util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" placement=\"native-article_link\" sizes=\"[[300, 250], [3, 3]]\" min-height=\"250\" fluid=\"\" outstream=\"\"\/>\n<p>Smith Park is located at 302 East Amite Street. In the event of rain, festivities to will move indoors to the Old Capitol Inn at 226 North State Street, Brister said.<\/p>\n<p>The Levitt Family Foundation was founded in 1966 by Mortimer and Mimi Levitt of New York City. Mortimer Levitt, who died at age 98 in 2005, was recognized as an outspoken advocate for the arts and a dedicated philanthropist.<\/p>\n<p>He built a men\u2019s fashion empire of made-to-measure shirts, starting with single store in New York City in 1937 and growing to include more than 60 others around the country. He was also the author of several how-to books about men\u2019s fashion including \u201cThe Executive Look: How to Get It, How to Keep It\u201d (1981), and \u201cClass: What It Is and How to Acquire It\u201d (1984).<\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" fluid=\"\" bottom=\"\" lazy=\"\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"390\" outstream=\"\"\/><media-image image-set=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/04\/01\/PJAM\/89423579007-4126-camel-jackson-tcl-lw-02.JPG bestCrop, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/04\/01\/PJAM\/89423579007-4126-camel-jackson-tcl-lw-02.JPG?crop=3110,2332,x0,y0 4:3, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/04\/01\/PJAM\/89423579007-4126-camel-jackson-tcl-lw-02.JPG?crop=1749,2332,x0,y0 3:4, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/04\/01\/PJAM\/89423579007-4126-camel-jackson-tcl-lw-02.JPG?crop=3499,1968,x0,y182 16:9\" image-alt=\"\" credit=\"Lauren Witte\/Clarion Ledger\" caption=\"The Mississippi Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet performs during Downtown Jackson Partners' Hump Day event at Smith Park in Downtown Jackson, Miss., on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. Frank the Camel and the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra will be back every Wednesday through May 13.\" orientation=\"horizontal\" class=\"spacer-large\" util-module-path=\"elements\/media\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Future concerts as part of the series for 2026 have been announced as follows:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>May 2: Mr. Sipp, 5 \u2013 8 p.m. (Delta Blues)<\/li>\n<li>May 16: BeauSoleil Avec Michael Doucet, 5 \u2013 8 p.m. (Cajun)<\/li>\n<li>May 30: Chambers DesLauriers, 5 \u2013 8 p.m. (Blues, Rock and Soul)<\/li>\n<li>July 4: Stars, Stripes &amp; Symphony with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 \u2013 9 p.m. at the Old Capitol (Classical)<\/li>\n<li>September 10: Soul City Swingers, 5 \u2013 8 p.m. (Funk and Soul)<\/li>\n<li>September 17: Cary Hudson, 5 \u2013 8 p.m. (Country, Folk, Blues and Rock and Roll)<\/li>\n<li>September 27: The Wailers, 4 \u2013 7 p.m. (Reggae)<\/li>\n<li>October 1: Grits and Greens, 5 \u2013 8 p.m. (Psychedelic Y&#8217;Alt Rock)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A final October concert will be announced soon. All concerts (except for the July 4 event at the Old Capitol) will be at Smith Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n<lit-timestamp class=\"column ten-column no-gutter spacer-small\" slot=\"timestamp\" publishdate=\"2026-04-24 09:03:35.787827478 +0000 UTC\" updatedate=\"2026-04-24 09:03:35.787827478 +0000 UTC\"\/><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.clarionledger.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ed Inman \u00a0|\u00a0 Special to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger Subscribe to Clarion Ledger: Local journalists covering local stories Clarion Ledger journalists cover the important moments in Mississippi. Support local journalism by subscribing. Staff A free gospel concert featuring the Mississippi Mass Choir will kick off the Levitt Amp Music Series in Jackson. The event is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2117432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[39915,30218,22220,399527,399535,22005,239661,23849,22846,22221,28151,6297,284334,21741,22783,384013,306688,382990,364639,51971,66715,352986,21739,298114,22764,345130,350843,21800,22782,21738,28774,239343,239347,428729,21940,23083,23759,355368,415276,415278,428728,428733,23152,284335,239344],"class_list":["post-2388112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-affiliate","tag-ai","tag-arts","tag-cajun","tag-cajun-culture","tag-concerts","tag-concerts-u0026-music-festivals","tag-country","tag-country-music","tag-culture","tag-day","tag-eamotion","tag-enabled","tag-entertainment","tag-festivals","tag-fourth","tag-fourth-of-july","tag-gospel","tag-gospel-music","tag-highlights","tag-jackson","tag-july","tag-local","tag-local-affiliate-arts-u0026-entertainment","tag-local-news","tag-mississippi","tag-ms","tag-music","tag-music-festivals","tag-news","tag-of","tag-overall","tag-overall-positive","tag-patricks","tag-pop","tag-pop-music","tag-positive","tag-reggae","tag-religious","tag-religious-music","tag-saint","tag-saint-patricks-day","tag-story","tag-story-highlights-ai-enabled","tag-u0026"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Madison-MS-approves-The-Gallery-entertainment-complex.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2388112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2388113,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388112\/revisions\/2388113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2117432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2388112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2388112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2388112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}