Jun 18, 2026
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While it is often said imitation is the highest form of flattery, as community pioneers who forged the blueprint for creating celebratory regional events that have endured the test of time, the non-profit public service group that began 51-years ago as PRIDE in Saginaw and is now known as Positive Results Downtown has consistently re-imagined and evolved its purpose while remaining true and steadfast to its mission of building a stronger community.
By creating successful celebrations and signature events such as Bringing Back the Ice, Holidays in the Heart of the City, Harvest Days, The Outhouse Races, and the annual Memorial Day Parade designed to engage and attract thousands of people throughout the Great lakes Bay region and beyond to the unique assets and architecture that the City of Saginaw has to offer, without doubt their most successful endeavor was to introduce the concept for packaging six consecutive weekends of premier musical entertainment through a series of Theme Concerts known as FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE that would open the door to introduce patrons throughout the Mid-Michigan area and beyond to the dynamics of the Downtown Saginaw Business District and the cross-section of peoples and cultures who populate it.
Long before such outdoor summer concert series such as Party on McCarty, The Commons Music Series, orConcerts in the Park, Friday Night Live wrote the template as the original outdoor concert series to merge commerce, culture, and community together at Downtown Saginaw’s Morley Plaza to enjoy live world-class music, local food and beverages, family-friendly activities, and the unique energy and ambiance that makes Downtown Saginaw a destination point for all ages.
Building upon this legacy, Positive Results Down Saginaw (PRD) is now poised and excited to announce the return of the 28th Annual FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE Concert Series, bringing six weeks of FREE live entertainment to Downtown Saginaw from July 17 through August 21st, 2026.
"This year's lineup truly reflects our organization's 'We Love Saginaw' theme," reflects Ann Marie Batkoski-Sullivan, Executive Director of Positive Results Downtown Saginaw. "From celebrating America's 250th Anniversary to showcasing hometown talent, country favorites, rock legends, Latin music, and Motown classics, there is something for everyone to enjoy this summer in Downtown Saginaw."
A Legacy of Evolution
The vision behind Positive Results in Downtown Saginaw began back in 1975 through the joint efforts of the downtown Saginaw business community, the Junior League and the City of Saginaw, along with a core group of volunteers concerned with the future of the Downtown. To this day Positive Results Downtown Saginaw is a volunteer-driven organization that engages and supports the City of Saginaw by providing year-round events and projects that enhance the quality of life for the community.
Contributing to the early success of Friday Night Live was the fact that 30 years ago about the only regional summer festivals going on were the Chesaning Showboat, the Frankenmuth Bavarian Festival, and the Matrix: Midland Festival. “We were the only ones staging a 6-week music festival of this nature, but now today there must be around twenty,” reflects Dr. Jack Nash, PRD Committee Chairperson and longtime board member. “Over the years various townships and counties throughout the region saw what we were doing and had successfully accomplished, so they started developing these types of summer concert series in their own parks and neighborhoods.”
“Bay City, Frankenmuth, and Tittabawassee Township all stage festivals and you even have Spaulding Township and the YMCA doing them now, so a lot of people took this concept and adapted it for their own purposes. With all this competition going on, there’s a different flow that can be more challenging to navigate, but what we try to do is offer the best entertainment we can afford that spans a variety of tastes and styles of music.”
Today the Friday Night Live series will pull thousands of people over a six-week period into Downtown Saginaw, with numbers varying according to the nature of the theme night and the weather. “Our primary focus has always been to look at the cultural aspect of being able to bring quality entertainment at a price everybody can afford, which is free, so it doesn’t matter what a person’s economic situation or ethnic background is and its worked. Thanks to our friends at WKCQ, over the years we’ve been able to feature artists such as Keith Urban, Racal Flatts, and Chris Stapleton before they became huge stars, so patrons have responded strongly to what we’ve been able to offer.”
Vital Presence & Future Focus
When it comes to articulating the direction, scope, and public awareness of Positive Results many numerous endeavors and roles throughout the region, new Executive Director Ann Marie Batkoski-Sullivan is eminently qualified to fill the rigorous and bold footsteps of its former director, Jeanne Conger.
Having taken over the helm one year ago, Ann Marie’s top priorities and goals for Positive Results Downtown have been to increase public awareness about the organization’s role within the community and increase collaboration with local partners and businesses by weaving the interests and activities of Downtown Saginaw and Old Town Saginaw more closely together.
“Since assuming this position in March of last year our events have been running really well, we’ve added new events such as our Tailgate parties with the new Michigan Arsenal football team, and we are collaborating with new sponsors and vendors,” she reflects. “All of our legacy events have been growing, and with the addition of a partnership with Hoyt Park and their first ever outdoor pond hockey tournament, our winter events, including the as seen on ESPN, Outhouse Races have become even stronger last year.”
Committee Chairperson [AB2] and Board Member Dr. Jack Nash is equally enthusiastic. “The City of Saginaw has been working with us very well for the last four years, and both the Mayor and City Manager are looking out for us and laying out the blueprint for future growth with the upcoming new Medical Center, as well as with our own events here at Positive Results. They have continued to be a valuable partner.”
“I would like to see us expand further out to the whole Saginaw community,” continues Ann Marie. “We are working closer with the West Side of the city to merge Old Town and Downtown events, so the Board has decided to really push our ‘We Love Saginaw’ theme this year. That’s why we’re focusing on promoting local Saginaw talent and artists this year for Friday Night Live, because we want to promote our hometown, which has already been well-received.”
“We need to expand the umbrella and partner more with the whole community in order to bring more people downtown who have never been here, or younger people and families who have never visited the many cultural resources we have to offer,” she continues. “I’m working with the Chamber of Commerce and young professionals to have them involved as volunteers with Friday Night Live, plus we’re working with SVSU and Delta College to bring those students downtown – not as a place to just go to see an event and leave, but more as a place to hang out and to be present down here.”
“We’re collaborating and seeking partnerships with people that may have never been asked before. A lot of the younger people in our region don’t even know what downtown Saginaw even was or what existed here historically, so we’re trying to reinvigorate some of the historic parts of the downtown experience,” she notes.
“We have several new Board members this year that are actually from the Downtown area and have more businesses associated with downtown,” adds Jack. “We recently added new board members representing Spence Brothers, First State Bank, Huntington Bank, MyMichigan Health, Saginaw Future and Reimold Printing, so we’re getting some new blood on our Board and getting some younger people engaged as well. The PRD Board is a working board, which means you are going to be actively engaged in events year-round. A lot of our old Board members were aging out at a very rapid rate, so we wanted to specifically get younger people involved along with more businesses who are already active in the community.”
“Back to Friday Night Live, this year another partnership we will have is with Oracle Brewery and we’re going to be promoting and featuring their beer as well in our beverage tent,” notes Ann Marie. “We’ll have our beers you can find in the grocery store featured but will also feature theirs and next year they plan on brewing a special batch just for the Friday Night Live series, so we’ll have our own PRD brew,”
“We also have some partnerships with the YMCA this year to help with our kids’ area; and the Boys and Girls Club are also helping with more organized activities for kids. The National Guard will be present at two of our events bringing Bounce Houses, so In addition to a variety of food vendors this year, we’ll have a great area for kids.”
“We’ll have a new vendor coming down and while most of the food vendors will be the same, we’re toying with the idea of rotating in at least one new vendor each week,” she continues. “We have a space opened by the beer tent area where we could possibly feature a new vendor each week as a showcase vendor, because we get a lot of people wanting to be part of this event series, but so many of these vendors have grand-fathered in that we feel this would be a good way to give them a new opportunity to participate.”
Another new feature at this year’s Friday Night Live will happen during Fiesta on the River on July 24th with a Selena Lookalike Contest. “Anybody can participate in this contest, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl, which will add to the element of surprise. We’ll work in conjunction with some of the featured Latin bands to judge this, but it promises to add a new fun twist to the evening’s festivities.”
Friday Night Live will also be partnering with and promoting the Old Town Saginaw Lawn Chair Film Festival as part of expanding their footprint within the community. “The idea is to cross-promote each of our events into a weekend of summer entertainment with live music at Friday Night Live and then films on Saturday with the Lawn Chair Film Festival.
Friday Night Live is also still looking for additional sponsors, so any business interested should contact Ann Marie at (989) 753-9168 or through email at annmarie@prideinsaginaw.org.\
Here’s the breakdown on this year’s impressive line-up of entertainment:
Concerts are held Friday evenings from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in Morley Plaza and are FREE and open to the public. As a volunteer-driven nonprofit organization, Positive Results Downtown Saginaw relies on the generosity of sponsors, media partners, donors, and volunteers to bring this beloved summer tradition to life and continue creating positive experiences in the heart of Downtown Saginaw.
Title Sponsors: Team One Credit Union, Nexteer Automotive, Covenant Healthcare
July 17 • All American 250th Anniversary Celebration
Sponsored by Garber Management Group, Media Partner: Joe FM 97.3
The season kicks off with a patriotic celebration honoring America’s 250th Anniversary featuring the sounds of the Saginaw Eddy Concert Band and headliner SHAKEDOWN: The Bob Seger Experience, featuring Saginaw’s own singing Sheriff William Federspiel.
“Because this summer marks the 250th anniversary of America’s independence along with the 100thanniversary of the Saginaw Eddy Band we wanted to start the series with hometown talent that has endured the test of time and reflects the spirit of Americana,” notes Dr. Jack Nash.
July 24 • Fiesta on the River
Sponsored by Delta College, Media Partner: WIOG 102.5
Experience an evening filled with vibrant Latin music, culture, and energy featuring Grupo Vicio and Desastre. “Grupo Vicio was scheduled to play with us last year only one of their members suffered a serious injury and could not perform,” explains Nash. “He was very disappointed, so we rescheduled him for this year, and he is very excited to be performing. Desastre is a local band from the Saginaw/Bay City area and are very good – they performed last year and brought in a big crowd, so we decided to have them open this year’s Latin Night.”
July 31 • We Love Saginaw: Hometown Hits
Sponsored by MyMichigan Health, Media Partner: WHNN 96.1
Celebrate local talent and community pride with performances by hometown favorites The Sound Poets who will join forces with Mick Furlo & Friends, followed by a headline performance from the award-winning group The Blue OG’s. “We wanted to feature some notable local bands for this evening and are also working on getting Major Chords for Minors to join the roster,” notes Nash. “I also think[ Amy Petty will be singing the national anthem at this performance.”
August 7 • Downtown Hoedown
Sponsored by United Financial Credit Union, Media Partner: WKCQ
Country music takes center stage with Legends of Country, bringing the sounds and spirit of Nashville to Downtown Saginaw. “Originally we wanted to bring the Women of Country together, but some of the ladies in that group were committed to different places,” explains Nash. We worked with Donny Brown from Stone Street Revival and The Claim Jumpers, who also originated the Women of Country, and they’re going to bring in some different tribute artists and singers to feature for The Legends of Country. We will also be honoring our Veteran soldiers during this showcase.”
August 14 – Riverfront Rock
Sponsored by UA Local 85, Media Partner: Wheelz 104.5
Get ready for a night of high-energy rock featuring Todd Michael Hall & Nameless, delivering powerful vocals and classic rock favorites, along with a performance by opening act Pesky Kid.
“For Riverfront Rock we wanted to feature Ben Champagne’s art rock band Pesky Kid, as they were supposed to perform last year only because of rain had to reschedule and he wasn’t able to make that date, so we asked him to return. Nameless is also a very popular local group and of course Todd Michael Hall has toured internationally and was a finalist on The Voice and just received an All Area Arts award, so he fits perfectly within our homegrown heros theme.”
August 21 – Motown Night
Sponsored by Wildfire Credit Union, Media Partner: Kiss 107.1
The season concludes with a celebration of Motown and soul music featuring Soul Street, guaranteed to have the crowd dancing and singing along. “We’ll have Charles Allen open this last evening of the series and for those who aren’t familiar with Soul Street, this is the group that Jordan Edwards formed,” explains Nash. “He is the music director for Saginaw United high school and is also the drummer for Brush Street, so he’ll be showcasing his group who have been wanting to perform at Friday Night Live for a long time, and we are pleased to give them this opportunity to showcase their talents.”
“As you can see, 90% of the acts we are showcasing this year are local because we love Saginaw, and we love Saginaw artists,”
For more information about Friday Night Live and other Positive Results Downtown Saginaw events, visit PRD's social media pages, www.prideinsaginaw.org or contact the PRD office at (989) 753-9168.
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