The popular summer music festival will return to downtown Provo on May 15 following a seven-year hiatus, event organizers announced Wednesday.

Five concerts will take place from May to September at the Nu Skin Plaza on Center Street and 100 West. The first concert will feature performances from Utah-based bands “I Don’t Know How But They Found Me,” “Sego” and “Pinguin Mofex.”

Plans to bring Rooftop back were first announced by Provo Mayor Marsha Judkins following her inauguration in January. Rooftop CEO and co-founder Sarah Wiley said the return was made possible thanks to the mayor’s support, good timing from her team and the support of a generous benefactor — the McGowan family.

“A lot of those components coming together has made it really more doable now than it has been or seemed before,” Wiley said.

“It’s been a pretty fast effort to pull it all together,” Provo spokeswoman Barb Smith added. “It’s been wonderful to work with the organizers of Rooftop, and we’re glad to have them back in this effort, because they have all of the experience of so many successful concerts in the past.”

Downtown Provo has evolved since Rooftop first started in 2010, and with it, the event’s objective will, too. At first, Wiley said they were just trying to revitalize downtown. She said the area is now in a better place, and that the goal is to bring people together again.

“Music is a unifying force,” Wiley said. “The climate, politically and kind of culturally, feels a little divided today, maybe more so than it did when we stopped. And so I’m hoping we can build on what we did before and use that community energy to turn into a unifying experience.”

Rooftop production manager Nate Draschil said the desire has been there from the community to continue gathering and enjoying music. He said he’s been approached several times since 2019 from groups asking for help bringing Rooftop back, but that it’s never materialized.

Bringing Rooftop back is a way for the organizers to show the appreciation and love they have for the city, Draschil said.

“The whole point is can we just get together and celebrate what a wonderful state and city we have and all of the talent and all of the people that are willing to put hard work in,” he said.