From Friday July, 27 through Sunday July, 29 the inaugural Boston Globe WGBH Summer Arts weekend will showcase Boston’s thriving arts community by bringing local and national artists to the city for a variety of free performances. Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega, indie folk band Low Anthem and family-favorite Dan Zanes & Friends will highlight the inaugural Boston Globe WGBHSummer Arts Weekend. Classical trumpeter Alison Balsom and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra are also on tap to play. The weekend event beginning Friday, July 27 and running through Sunday, July 29 will celebrate the arts with a free festival on Copley square in the Back Bay, and will include special offers around the city, and a series of ticketed unique performances. Sumer Arts Weekend is presented by Citizens Bank.

With classical, jazz, bluegrass and soul music, along with dramatic theater and street performers, the three-day festival will showcase Boston’s thriving arts community by bringing local and national artists to the city for a variety of free performances.

Suzanne Vega is celebrating the 25^th anniversary of her critically-acclaimed album “Solitude Standing.” The album featured the hits Tom’s Diner and Luka and went to No. 11 on the Billboard chart. Throughout her performance on Saturday, July 27, Vega will be joined by special surprise guests coming together to celebrate the album’s anniversary.

On Friday, July 27, the weekend kicks off with a look at the legacy of American music. Sierra Hull & Highway 111, led by Hull, a recent graduate of Berklee College of Music, will fill the Copley Square stage with her new brand of bluegrass.  Legendary Del McCoury will bring more than 50 years of American roots music to the stage. With the iconic Preservation Hall Jazz Band, as well as the Soul Queen of New Orleans, Irma Thomas, the rich heritage of this country’s homegrown music will be on grand display.

Saturday will celebrate diversity, as the Copley Square Stage comes alive with rock and roll, Latin, classical, folk and special performances for the family. Popular children’s music performers Dan Zanes & Friends is scheduled to play, along with Poncho Sanchez, who will showcase a fusion of Latin, jazz, and blues. Suzanne Vega will perform songs from Solitude Standing and indie folk band Low Anthem along with the new New Orleans sound of Soul Rebels will rock the stage late into the evening.

Sunday will be dedicated to some unique classical music performances. A baroque brunch will be held at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. The emerging piano duo Anderson & Roe will show attendees how classical can be funky and fun and classically-trained musicians Igudesman & Joo, fresh off a performance at Carnegie Hall, will take it a step further.  The Boston Landmarks Orchestra will bring a local and international flair to the stage with British trumpeter Alison Balsom performing alongside.

In addition to the free events in Copley Square, a series of performances will take place in the After Hours Festival Club which will come alive after performances on the Copley Square stage end. These ticketed events will be held at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, bringing together festival artists for short-form intimate performances that will allow for unique collaborations between artists.  More information about the After-Hours Festival Club will be available soon.

Local arts organizations will offer discounts and unique programming for the public, all of them featured in a special guide. The guide will be distributed in The Boston Sunday Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and online at WGBH.org.