BIDDEFORD — Music lovers in Biddeford and Saco can rejoice, as a multitude of free summer concerts are making their way to the Twin Cities in the coming weeks.

Heart of Biddeford, Biddeford Savings Bank and Saco Main Street are all hosting summer music series throughout the summer, all kicking off Wednesday night in Shevenell Park in downtown Biddeford with a performance by Portlandbased zydeco group Sylvain’s Acadian Aces.

That show, sponsored by Heart of Biddeford, is part of the nonprofit organization’s Music in the Park series, which began five to six years ago, according to Joe McKenney, a member of the HOB Board of Directors and chair of the Promotions Committee.

“It’s certainly not a new idea to do music, a lot of cities do music in the park,” McKenney said. “But there’s nothing like music outdoors.”

HOB’s Music in the Park series hosts the summer concerts on Wednesday nights in Shevenell Park. McKenney said the program began with all emerging Maine artists, but continues to grow each year, featuring a unique mix of local, up-and-coming and prominent artists.

“It’s been cool to bring quality music to downtown. It’s one thing to have anybody just come and play, but if you can bring quality acts for people – and for free – it’s great.”

But HOB isn’t the only organization to host a concert series this summer, and it’s not the first in the city to do so.

Biddeford Savings Bank has been emceeing its own series, Music on Main Street, since 2006, according to the bank website. The program presents mostly local acts that perform in the park adjacent to the bank at 254 Main St. during lunchtime. For a suggested donation of just $5, spectators can grab lunch and listen to music while supporting local charities.

“This is a way to bring people to downtown Biddeford and just bring the community together and find a way to raise funds for charities,” said Betsy Boudreau, vice president of marketing for the bank.

Boudreau said every year the bank selects five charities to sponsor, to which 100 percent of the lunch proceeds are donated. Over the years, it has raised more than $60,000 that it donates.

The concerts will take place mostly on Thursdays and will begin in early July.

Across the river in Saco on Thursday nights, locals will have the chance to indulge their musical thirst with another concert series. Nonprofit organization Saco Main Street will be hosting its own version of Music in the Park … parking lot, that is.

Starting on July 7, the appropriately-named “Music in the Park’ing Lot” will bring acts to the space between the Saco Museum and Dyer Library. Proceeds will benefit numerous nonprofit organizations in that community, according to Saco Main Street Executive Director Robert Biggs.

“I grew up in Massachusetts in a small mill town that, every Wednesday night, we had a band concert,” Biggs said. “That was sort of summer to us.”

Every Thursday, Biggs said, three nonprofit organizations will benefit from donations collected at the series, which is sponsored by Bangor Savings Bank. Biggs said some of these organizations include the First Parish Congregational Church and the Boy Scouts of America, among others.

This is the first time Saco Main Street has attempted a project like this, but Biggs said he is excited to bring people together for a common purpose.

“It’s a gift to the community,” Biggs said of the concert series. “But it’s also to build a new community by bringing together different demographics.”

Biggs’ sentiment was one shared by all three event organizers, who said they are happy to see positive change in their communities.

“The more positive things that are happening in our community, you see more and more people taking pride in the community and really kind of looking forward to everything that’s happening,” McKenney said. “I think there’s a huge amount of pride in our community and people coming out for stuff like this, which is why we keep doing it.”

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].