It's been an exciting summer so far for Uptown Friday Nights: We opened the season with a record opening-week crowd of just over 2,500. Then we rolled into week two with more than 3,000 people. This week, we're shooting to break all the records with Swing Crew returning for their second show of the year!

This is going to be a perfect weekend: Come see Swing Crew at Uptowns, then take a short walk to BBQ Roundup to see the Large Midgets. Bands, beer, and barbecue...how can you go wrong?

Once again, we are proud to be a Freedom Festival event. The Jaycees strongly support our community and our country, especially during this patriotic time of year. To salute the country with a little bit of fun, we're going to give everyone wearing a Freedom Festival button a patriotic lei. (I'll let you make your own jokes.)

So don't miss this week's Uptown Friday Night, with the Swing Crew playing on the U.S. Cellular Stage. As always, brought to you by our media partners, Mix 96.5, 100.7 The Fox, and Mediacom. This week to handle the crowd, we will have 160 guest pourers from the Cedar Rapids Downtown District, Countrywide Home Loans, Dublin City Pub, Howard R. Green Company, the Isle of Iowa Parrot Head Club, Networking Services Inc., Sylvan Learning Center, and Western Fraternal Life Association. With that many people working, you should have no trouble getting something to drink!

See you at the park!