LEWISTON – If people won’t come out to Kennedy Park on Saturday just for a nice evening or the local music, maybe they’ll come out to throw a pie or two.

“It’s all for a good cause, I think,” said City Councilor Tina Bailey, organizer of a Saturday night benefit to raise money for playground equipment.

Besides performances by local musicians, the event will give city councilors a chance to put their reputations on the line. Bailey said she’s expecting all seven councilors and Mayor Larry Gilbert to join her on stage to sing a camp song toward the end of the show.

“And, we’ve decided to add a pie station,” Bailey said. “That’s brand new. The mayor has already volunteered to be the first one up, to let people throw pies at his face. That should draw in some people, I think.”

The concert is free and open to the public, but donations toward new equipment are encouraged. The concert runs from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday in the park.

The city closed the Kennedy Park playground and removed the equipment in April, after deeming it unsafe. The council in May approved spending $26,000 to replace that equipment. New equipment bound for the park arrived earlier this month and crews are hoping to get it installed before the end of September. The equipment includes a sky rail climber, a spring platform, a 40-inch-tall slide and three bays of swings and climbing blocks.

Money from the benefit will be used to purchase additional equipment.

“I have high hopes about all of it,” Bailey said. “The weather is supposed to be nice and it should be a really good time.”

The concert features performances by a handful of local performers. Guitarist Rich Lambert, harmonica player Mike Gammon, bass player Chris Weikel and drummer Dave Gagne will work as the house band. The group performed this summer at the Valhalla Fest in Portland under the name The Waps.

They’re calling themselves Phyd Bak for Saturday’s show.

“We were practicing and we started to get a lot of feedback, and thought that would be a pretty cool name,” he said. “We just came up with the spelling to be different.”

It’s the first time the four have played together as the opening act.

“But we’re ready, and we’re pretty comfortable,” he said. “We’re a fun-loving band and we have a good time playing. I don’t think people will be disappointed.”

Other acts include local singer-songwriter Denise Dill and musicians Tony Sanborn, Ron Burger and others.