Maasmechelen Concert Band, from Maasmechelen, Belgium, will be visiting Dowagiac from Aug. 7 to Aug. 10 as part of the Blue Lake International Exchange Program.

Members of the 58-piece Concert Band will stay in private homes while visiting Dowagiac, according to C.J. Brooks, chairman of the hosting committee that is making the arrangements for the group’s visit.

Blue Lake is best known for the Fine Arts Camp it operates each summer about six miles east of Whitehall.

More than 5,500 talented young musicians, mostly from Michigan and other Midwestern states, are expected to attend Blue Lake this summer.

Blue Lake’s International Exchange Program began in 1969 when a 90-voice choir toured England, Belgium and Germany.

Since then, more than 10,000 high school musicians wearing Blue Lake uniforms have visited 650 communities in England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Hungary and Liechtenstein.

In return, nearly 10,000 members of nearly 500 European and Japanese bands, orchestras, choirs and dance groups have came to Michigan to perform in communities throughout the Midwest.

While touring Europe, Blue Lake groups stay in private homes with host families and the foreign groups do the same when visiting Michigan.

The group will give a free concert at the Dowagiac Middle School Performing Arts Center, on Tuesday, Aug. 9, at 7 p.m. The Performing Arts center is located at 57028 Riverside Drive. Contact Brooks at cjbrooks@dowagiacschools.org or by telephone at (269) 782-4423 for more information.