George Bedard and the Kingpins get the crowd dancing at Ann Arbor Summer Festival

ANN ARBOR – The Ann Arbor Summer Festival hosted a concert by George Bedard and the Kingpins at the Leslie Science and Nature Center Saturday, July 3.

Around 6:30 p.m., friends and family started to trickle in, lay out blankets and set up lawn chairs in the large, grassy space designated for the concert. The RSVP form for the event had reached full capacity earlier in the day, according to A2SF’s Twitter account.

Members of the audience got up and started dancing around a stretch of lawn in front of the band shortly after the performance began at 7 p.m.

“George Bedard is just such a local legend. He always brings a huge crowd and people are always dancing,” said Natalie Robbins, the marketing and communications manager for A2SF.

Some of the members of the audience are longtime fans and have attended multiple George Bedard concerts over the years. One man in particular, David Arsen, from Ann Arbor, has been attending the Ann Arbor Summer Festival for 30 years.

“He played at my 20th wedding anniversary. We had a joint party with another couple. That was 14 years ago,” said Arsen.

When asked why he keeps returning to perform for A2SF, Bedard replied, “Oh, because it’s so much fun! I always see people I haven’t seen in years.”

Bedard will be performing “Jump Blues—Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Big Brother” at The Ark in Ann Arbor on Saturday, August 28.

“If you like blues and want to explore the roots of today’s music, come check me out.”

The festival’s concerts were rained out two nights in a row the previous weekend.

Check out scenes from the concert below.

Read more about this year’s festival:

Ann Arbor Summer Festival to host private performances and spontaneous concerts

‘Temping’ offers immersive theater experience at Ann Arbor Summer Festival

Storms cause Ann Arbor Summer Festival to cancel shows two nights in a row