Munch and Music starts up this Thursday: the free summer concert series that takes place every Thursday through mid-August in Drake Park. (I almost missed it—I knew M&M was coming up, but they only just launched their new website with updated info for 2009.)

M&M is always a summertime favorite—free music in the park, what else do you need to know? Well, there’s the food, also (the "Munch" part of the name): a good number of vendors offering a fairly diverse variety of fare, and there’s a beer and wine garden too.

There will be kids’ activities as well, mostly of the bouncy-house and inflatable playstructure type.

It all takes place from 5:30 until 8:30pm, every Thursday from July 9th through August 13th.

Here’s their music schedule:

• July 9 – Fareed Haque and the Flat Earth Ensemble – World/Jam/Funk
  www.fareed.com
• July 16 – Vieux Farke Toure’ – African
  http://www.vieuxfarkatoure.com/
• July 23 – Rhythm Culture – Reggae
  http://www.rhythmculture.org/
• July 30 – Misty River Band – Americana/Bluegrass
  http://www.mistyriverband.com/
• Aug 6 – High Street – Swing/Funk/R&B
  http://www.myspace.com/thehighstreetband
• Aug 13 – Soul Vaccination – R&B/Funk
  http://www.soulvax.com/

Two things to be aware of: dogs are not allowed, and parking is always a pain. You’ll probably have to park a ways off and walk to the Park.