Free Blues, Free Strings, Zero Cover: Your Weekend Starts at the Fountain

Here's a radical proposal for the weekend of July 10: spend nothing and hear plenty. South Bend's free summer series is doing the heavy lifting this stretch, and it opens for business Friday at high noon — well, quarter to noon — in the shadow of the Morris.

Fridays by the Fountain returns to Jon R. Hunt Plaza on Friday, July 10, from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., with Don Savoie on the bill. This is the lunchtime series that turns the plaza in front of the Morris Performing Arts Center into a downtown block party built for the 90-minute midday window — food trucks parked and steaming, office lanyards loosened, the fountain doing its thing behind the band. The series leans blues, soul and variety, and it's the rare civic event that asks nothing of you but your lunch break. Bring cash for the trucks; bring nothing for the music, because it's free.

A word to the wise on the fountain gig: the good shade goes fast, so if you like your blues without a sunburn, arrive on the early side. The band plays through the noon hour, which means you can catch a full set and still slink back to the office only slightly late. We won't tell.

Then the weekend saves its cleverest trick for Sunday, when the city runs a two-park doubleheader along the St. Joseph River — same afternoon, two very different flavors, both free.

First pitch is at Seitz Park, riverfront, Sunday, July 12, from 3 to 5 p.m., with Mr. Z taking the stage. Seitz sits right down on the water near the East Race, which makes it the kind of spot where the current is part of the show — bring a blanket, stake out some grass, and let the river do the ambient track.

Then shift a few minutes east and reset your evening at Potawatomi Park, where Michiana String Collective plays from 6 to 8 p.m. a nice tonal pivot from the afternoon, trading the Seitz vibe for strings as the light goes gold. Two acts, two parks, one Sunday, and you can absolutely do both with time to spare in between.

Why does a lineup of free lunchtime and riverside shows deserve your Friday-through-Sunday devotion? Because this is what South Bend summer actually sounds like. The Morris is dark until late August, the Palais Royale is napping under its chandeliers, and the town's live-music energy has migrated outdoors to the plazas and the parks. The free series isn't the consolation prize this month — it's the main event. Skipping it because it doesn't cost anything would be like skipping the river because you didn't pay admission.

So here's the plan, laid out plain: Friday, pack a lunch, walk to the fountain, and let Don Savoie soundtrack your midday. Sunday, follow the water — Mr. Z at Seitz in the afternoon, Michiana String Collective at Potawatomi as the sun drops. Two days, three sets, a grand total of nothing spent on tickets.

Kicker: the cheapest weekend in South Bend is also, this week, the best one. See you by the water — I'll be the one who packed too many snacks and no sunscreen.

Sources: SBVPA Summer Concert Series; Fridays by the Fountain — 95.3 MNC