Acoustic music will fill the square on June 14 pending approval by the Carthage City Council tonight at its regular meeting.

The Carthage Council Public Safety Committee, in the last meeting for chairman Mike Harris and Council Member Tom Flanigan, voted to recommend that the city council close down the east side of the square on Saturday, June 14 to allow for a stage and acoustic country, bluegrass and other kinds of music.

H.J Johnson, Carthage, made the presentation to the committee for the seventh annual Carthage Acoustic Music Festival.

 "This runs from 10 o'clock in the morning until 10 at night," Johnson said. "We don't block off the entire square, we just block off the inside lane of the east side of the square. Our whole idea is to get people up on the square and to close it off doesn't make any sense. We try to keep it open so people can shop the shops and get around there."

Johnson said the event typically attracts 600 to 1,000 people.

Traffic will be curtailed on the east side for the entire weekend because the crew from Precious Moments usually sets up the stage after 5 p.m. on Friday and doesn't come back to pick it up until Monday morning.

Johnson said for the first time, the event will feature a Friday night concert at the Carthage High School Auditorium. He said organizers will charge a ticket fee for the event at the auditorium, but the event on Saturday is free.

In other news from the meeting, incoming Police Chief Greg Dagnan attended his first Public Safety Committee meeting.

Dagnan will be sworn in as chief at Tuesday's city council meeting.

Interim Chief Barry Duncan also presented Mike Harris with a plaque honoring his time as chairman of the Public Safety Committee.