April 4, 2013 -- Every Sunday, thousands of people descend upon Santa Monica's Main Street to pick up fresh, locally-grown produce and enjoy the outdoor shopping experience of the Farmers' Market. City officials are looking for bands to help add to that experience.

“We have 52 markets each year,” said Judi Low, coordinator for the Sunday Farmers' Market, adding that every band selected would get to perform at least once during the year.

“The goal is to have a wide variety of music selection for the customers to listen to,” she said. Though all acts should be family-friendly and need to comply with the City's noise ordinance.

“It's meant to be background noise,” she said. “It's not meant to take over.”

“The 200 square foot performance area is located at the heart of the Market and is intended to be a family oriented performance venue where attendees sitting nearby can enjoy music and also maintain a conversation,” officials said.

Even if the bands won't be the center of attention, it's a great opportunity to be seen and heard, said Low.

An averages of about 5,000 people visit the market each Sunday, among those are sometimes celebrities who call Santa Monica home, she said.

Not only is it good exposure, but it's also a lot of fun for the band as well as the shoppers, said Low.

“We've had marimbas, Irish bands, Blue Grass, jazz bands,” and many others, she said.

There used to be a klezmer band that performed, but Low said that they haven't performed in a while.

“We'd love to have some klezmer back,” she said.

Low recalled a Ska band that performed a couple of years ago. Members of the band dressed up in Luchador costumes, which the kids loved, she said.

“We get a lot of young families,” Low said, so acts that get the kids dancing always do well.

The deadline to apply is April 30 at 5 p.m. For more information visit, the Farmers' Market online application.

The number of performances by each band depends largely on how many of the applicants are picked, Low said. If, for example, 26 bands are picked, each band would likely perform twice during the year.