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Home > Archive > Mar 27, 2008

Weekends Begin With ‘Downtown Thursday Night’
By Cami Cox
Staff Writer
St. George's weekly street fair, Downtown Thursday Night, will swing back into action on Thursday, April 3, livening up Main Street and the Town Square with music, food, arts, crafts and entertainment.
“We've got great entertainment lined up, a large variety of new vendors, and a farmers market, so it's a street fair for everybody,” Sandra Lenois, Downtown Thursday Night event coordinator, said. “Everybody that comes down is going to find something new and something they're going to want to participate in.”
This year will mark the third season for Downtown Thursday Night, and the St. George Town Square will be used as part of that event for the first time, with vendor booths set up and events taking place there as well as on Main Street.
“Downtown Thursday Night was kind of the kickoff of doing events downtown,” Lenois said. “With the Town Square now, we have some great opportunities to have some all-day events on Saturdays for the families to come out to.”
In addition to the weekly happenings on Thursday night, which include a farmers market, booths, entertainment and activities, a host of weekend events will also roll out downtown this year. Among them will be a flea market, April 12, with part of the proceeds benefiting Dixie Care & Share. There will also be a “Rodders On Main” event, May 17, featuring around 200, pre-1975 classic cars on display. Some of the proceeds from that event will benefit the Children's Justice Center.
The “Kidzapalooza Festival” will take place, June 28, with a bevy of entertainments and activities for young fun seekers in Southern Utah. Among attractions at the event will be clowns, a tethered hot air balloon, acrobats and acrobatic instruction, magicians and face painting. Some of the proceeds from Kidzapalooza will benefit the Special Olympics.
“Our goal is to help nonprofit organizations as best we can within these events,” Jerry Christensen, president of the Downtown Business Alliance, said.
Downtown Thursday Night and the other upcoming events are being organized by the Downtown Business Alliance, a collaboration of businesses and organizations whose mission is to make downtown St. George a destination spot for community members and visitors. The Downtown Business Alliance includes merchants, businesses and organizations within a seven-block radius of the St. George city center, and members work together to make downtown a “vibrant hub for business, entertainment, government, arts, and educational activity,” according to the organization's Web site. Those interested in joining the Downtown Business Alliance can find more information online at www.downtownbusinessalliance.com.
“We invite all businesses within the community to become associated with us,” Christensen said.
As the group's downtown attractions roll out this year, there will be a variety of live entertainment coordinated by the Southern Utah Songwriters Association. The group is taking inquiries from interested entertainers for the upcoming year, and the field is open to all kinds of acts, from magicians to musicians, Lenois said. A monthly open-mic night is also being planned to take place at Downtown Thursday Night.
New this year for vendors will be wireless Internet access at the downtown events, provided by Skywire Communications, to make things a little easier for the merchants. Having Internet access will aid businesses in hooking up credit card machines and running presentations at their booths, Lenois said.
“We need lots of vendors to come out. It's a great opportunity for them,” she said.
In addition to vendors, the Downtown Business Alliance is looking for “a few good sponsors” for this year's events, Lenois said. The city of St. George is a major sponsor, and anyone else interested in sponsorship can contact her or visit the Downtown Business Alliance Web site.
Downtown Thursday night will kick off Thursday, April 3, on Main Street, between Tabernacle and 100 South. The street fair will take place that evening and each succeeding Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m.
To apply to become a vendor for Downtown Thursday Night, download an application at www.downtownthursdaynight.com or contact Sandra Lenois at 635-5720. To become a vendor at any of the other upcoming downtown events, download applications at www.downtownbusinesslliance.com. Event sponsorship information can also be acquired at that Web site or by contacting Lenois.
To apply to be an entertainer at any of this year's events, send an email to suswa@infowest.com or contact Yvonne Wall at 862-8913.

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