The Alferd Packer Memorial String Band and other musicians will again greet last-minute tax filers today at the downtown Lawrence post office as part of the annual Tax Day party.

Steve Mason, a fiddler for the band, said musicians will start playing at 5 p.m. in the lobby of the post office, 645 Vt., which closes its business office at 5:30 p.m.

Musicians start playing the “gauntlet” or the Lone Ranger theme from the William Tell Overture at 5:25 p.m. for those really pushing their luck.

People typically stay in the lobby and dance and sing while the band plays until 8 p.m. In 2008 the downtown post office stopped closing at midnight because more people started filing their income taxes online. The party has continued, but it just starts earlier, Mason said.

“People get a kick out of it because its clever,” he said. “It’s out of the ordinary.”