Downtown’s Summer Music Series kicks off with the 29^th annual Michelob Women in Jazz Festival on June 26. The event will feature eight hours of soulful music, including performances by Teresa Hunt, Beverly Jackson with Audrey Whitaker, Elizabeth Hayes, April Aloisio, Patricia Berg, Sandra Rutledge, Linda Dachtyl and Brenda Flowers.

The festival, held at Dave Hall Plaza on Fourth St. between Jefferson and Main Streets is free. Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets and relax on the greenspace while they listen to the best female artists in the region. Food and merchandise vendors will also be present.

“We want crowds,” says headlining act Teresa Hunt from Atlanta. “Set up tents and bring your kids to hear both contemporary and traditional jazz all day.”

Hunt, a Dayton native, will be performing at the festival for the first time in five or six years. There’s one thing she’s most looking forward to about being in her hometown again.

“I’m excited to see my grandson, David,” she says. “He’s three and I’m hoping to have him front and center.”

The Michelob Women in Jazz Festival will be held from 1-9 p.m. No alcoholic beverages may be brought in (though beer will be sold at the festival), and no glass containers or pets are allowed.

The festival is presented by the City of Dayton Department of Recreation and Youth Services. The series is sponsored by Heidelberg Distributing Co., the Downtown Dayton Partnership, WROU, Martin Romie Talent, and the Crowne Plaza Dayton Hotel. For more information, call 333-8400.