The classic 1960s “surf rock” sound of such songs as “Wipe Out” and “Walk, Don’t Run” will wash over downtown Douglasville Saturday when Surf Fest 2012 hits O’Neal Plaza with a free daylong concert.

Twelve bands from throughout the Southeast are scheduled to perform from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Children’s activities and hula contests will be part of the event, and vendors will offer a wide variety of beverages and food ranging from funnel cakes to egg rolls.

Douglasville / Douglas County Cultural Arts Council and Foster Productions are presenting the event – which is in its sixth year but first time in Douglasville, said organizer Wayne Foster.

“I wanted to do it here because it’s close to home,” the Douglasville resident said. “[O’Neal Plaza] is just a wonderful venue.”

And he said, if past years are any indication, almost 1,000 people may show up throughout the 10 hours of the show.

Surf music came to popularity in the early 1960s as instrumental dance music with a medium to fast tempo and electric guitars with heavy use of reverb.

“It’s all-instrumental with no vocals,” Foster said. “It’s based pretty much off lead guitar melodies.”

The sound of instrumental surf music will dominate with a lineup of performers including Atlanta bands StratoGeezer and The Mystery Men?, and regional favorites including Daikaiju from Alabama and The Intoxicators! from Florida.

Foster is a new member of the Douglasville / Douglas County Cultural Arts Council board and a former city council member in the DeKalb County town of Clarkston. A veteran music producer and concert promoter, Foster organized the festival for five years in Clarkston.

He recalled being first drawn to “surf rock” in 2004 when his friend, the late Atlanta musician Randy Duke, asked him to accompany him to see the band The Penetrators at Georgia Tech.

Foster produced his first Surf Fest in 2006 and annually for three more years before suspending it for 2010 after Duke died.

“His health had been deteriorating for years,” Foster recalled.

However, he brought it back in 2011 to the Clarkston Community Center – the former Clarkston High School building the community saved from the wrecking ball and renovated.

“I just wanted to keep doing it in [Duke’s] memory,” Foster said.