LEVITT PAVILION: Downtown Center Stage Music Festival starts Friday

Levitt Pavilion Arlington opens its fifth year of free music under the stars on

Memorial Day weekend with the second annual Downtown Center Stage Music Festival

and one of its biggest opening weekend line-ups yet!

First on the Levitt stage for 2013 will be Delta Rae, whichdebuts at 7 p.m. The up-and-coming alternative pop band was victim to one of the few concert rain-outs last year. Since

they were originally booked for the Levitt, Delta Rae has played an event for First

Lady Michelle Obama and appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien

and Last Call with Carson Daly.

Sarah Jaffe, break-out Indie artist from Dallas, takes the stage after Delta Rae. Their concerts kick off the music festival and the Texas Power 2013 Summer Concert Series on Friday, May 24.

The three-day Downtown Arlington Center Stage Music Festival continues at 8 p.m.

 Saturday, May 25, with another Dallas band, The Polyphonic Spree, the hard-to-describe

23-member pop choir. Opening for the Spree are Jody Jones at 5:30 p.m. and Calhoun

at 7 p.m.

Popular area band Old 97's takes the stage to conclude the festival at 8 p.m. Sunday,

May 26. Ryan Hamilton getsthings started before the Old 97's at 5:30 p.m., followed by Telegraph Canyon at 7 p.m.

The Memorial Day weekend music festival is free and includes Downtown Arlington

restaurants at the Levitt to sell food from their menus. Restaurants include J.

Gilligan's, MountainTop Snow, Potager, Coolberry Frozen Yogurt, Freebirds, Fuzzy's,

Maverick's Bar & Grill, Grease Monkey, Blaze's Sports Grill, Pho Xpress and Digg's

Taco Shop.

In addition to food and free music, the festival will have a variety of artists

selling paintings, watercolors, handmade greeting cards, metal jewlery, glass art

and more. The festival is sponsored by Texas Power, Downtown Arlington Management

Corp., Experience Arlington, University of Texas at Arlington, FW Weekly and Coors.

The Texas Power 2013 Summer Concert Series runs May 24 through July 14 with no concerts

on July 4 or 10. Children's Concerts on Wednesdays in June are at 9:30 a.m. and

7:30 p.m. Concerts on Thursday through Sunday are at 8 p.m. Concerts will start

at 8:30 p.m. beginning July 5.

The Levitt Pavilion has open lawn seating on blankets and chairs. Audiences are

welcome to bring picnics, snacks and coolers with beverages, but no glass containers.

The Levitt Pavilion is located in Downtown Arlington at 100 W. Abram St. at the

corner of Abram and Center streets. A complete summer concert calendar and information

about visiting the pavilion, including directions and a parking map, can be found

on the Levitt website, www.levittpavilionarlington.org.

Season sponsors for the Texas Power 2013 Summer Concert Series are Texas Power,

Levitt Pavilions, the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, the City of Arlington,

Arlington Parks & Recreation, the Arlington Chamber Foundation, Coors, Downtown

Arlington Management Corp., FW Weekly, Pianotex, Bonnie and Alan Petsche, the

Star-Telegram,

Texas Health/Arlington Memorial Hospital, the University of Texas at Arlington,

WFAA, and grants from the Arlington Cultural Tourism Council, the Arlington Tomorrow

Foundation, the Texas Commission on the Arts and the Union Pacific Foundation.

Editor's note: High-resolution photos are available of allof the summer concert

artists.

About Levitt Pavilion Arlington

Last year, more than 108,900 music lovers visited The Levitt Pavilion for the

PerformingArts in Arlington, which made its debut in October 2008 as the fifth member of the

family of Levitt Pavilions across the country and the only one in Texas. The pavilion

is located in Founders Plaza at the intersection of Abram and Center streets. The

Levitt Pavilion provides more than 50 free concerts a year with a broad-based, eclectic

list of performers from world music to jazz and country to hot Latin rhythms. The

pavilion's programs provide the community with an accessible gathering place for

free music and performing arts open to everyone - all ages, all ethnicities, all

neighborhoods  and all income levels - to enjoy under the stars. For more information

and a complete calendar of summer concerts, please visit the Web site at

www.levittpavilionarlington.org