Although the ninth annual Summer Solstice Jazz Festival will fill downtown East Lansing with community interaction and live music, the event could also bring downtown businesses more money in the future.

The Arts Commission, which planned the event, has several objectives: One is to expose people in the community to various forms of culture and art, said Ami Van Antwerp, East Lansing community events coordinator.

Under a huge tent located on the east half of Lot 1 on Albert Avenue, Summer Solstice patrons will have two stages for viewing jazz acts.

A musician who grew up in East Lansing, Carl Cafagna, will be playing in the festival with his group, North Star Jazz.

"We are a modern jazz sextet," he said. "The best way to describe it is orchestrated modern jazz, and it's a very exciting three-horned format where a lot of the music is arranged. We have found that it has been quite popular."

But the event is more than a gateway to good music and art; it also helps local businesses by luring people into the downtown area, Van Antwerp said.

"A lot of people go to the area restaurants or go shopping," she said.

The restaurants that will sell food at Summer Solstice are East Lansing-based businesses. Van Antwerp said the measure of limiting the event to local restaurants could get people interested in exploring other downtown businesses.

"It's a marketing tool for the businesses," she said, adding that this is the third year food vendors will be at the event.

The involved local stores will receive "on site recognition," such as advertisement signs, posters and some announcements on the platform stages throughout the event.

Paul O'Connor, owner of Flats Grille, 551 E. Grand River Ave., said he's excited about the exposure and participating in the Jazz Festival for the first time.

"It's priceless," he said. "It gives Flats the opportunity to show its customers it can do other things, like catering."

Besides the businesses providing catering services, Van Antwerp said other local stores sponsored the festival, such as Mackerel Sky Gallery of Contemporary Craft, 217 Ann St., and Harper's Restaurant & Brewpub, 131 Albert Ave.

"Truly if we didn't have these sponsors, we wouldn't be able to do this," she said, adding that the event received about $3,500 from businesses that are sponsoring the festival. "That's how we're able to do this for free."

Other funds to pay for the Jazz Festival came from private donors and grant money.

Downtown Management Board Chairman Mike Wylie said the free event provides attendees with the chance to stop by some dining places for ice cream or good drinks and said the timing of Summer Solstice will benefit a lot of local businesses, besides the food industry.

"We purposely selected to have the Sidewalk Sale overlap with the festival," he said.

People who attend the festival will see merchandise along downtown sidewalks and might be interested in shopping, Wylie said, adding that people who come to shop might hear the jazz music and could be steered into joining the event.

Wylie said local businesses depend on these festivities and sales to make up for students being gone in the summer.

Julie Sawaya, owner of Woody's Oasis Bar & Grill, 211 E. Grand River Ave., said she hopes the turnout of the festival will be better than last year, which was good.

"We promote and love having festivals in the summer months because quite a few students leave and the vitality of the city (at the time of the festivals) helps promote the city."

The Summer Solstice Jazz Festival will take place from 3 -10:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Staff writer Rashad L. Jackson contributed to this report.