ATHOL — Athol residents and visitors will again get a chance to take advantage of deals at downtown businesses, browse a variety of vendors, and be entertained as Athol Downtown Fourth Friday Fests return for the summer. Each Fourth Friday will feature a different entertainer and focus on a specific theme. The event is sponsored by the Athol Downtown Vitality Committee.
“It was started by Holly Young,” said DVC Chair Mary Holtorf. “She started it when she got on the Selectboard, and it was just to have a community event downtown. These kinds of events have gotten quite popular. She was involved for a couple of years and then she left the Selectboard.
“So, Diane DiPietro at Flowerland/Tintagels Gate and Ann Willhite at Déjà vu were trying to figure out how to keep it going. I was talking to them and got involved in helping out and, at about the same time, I became chair of the Downtown Vitality Committee. So, it kind of fell under the wing of the Downtown Vitality Committee.”
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, meaning there were no Fourth Friday festivities at all during 2020.
“We were able to do the event last year, and it was pretty successful,” said Holtorf. “So, we’re just slowly adding to it and growing it.
“We’ve made a comeback; let’s put it that way. COVID definitely had an impact on the number of vendors that were coming.”
While there is no official count at this point, DiPietro said there are currently between eight and 10 vendors, and she expects more will be signing up soon.
“I’ve had a lot of people expressing interest and who I’m sure will be jumping on,” she said. “I don’t count anyone as official until I have the paperwork in hand and the vendor fee is paid, but we’ll have a lot of good people coming.”
“There are expenses associated with closing Main Street and running the event,” said Holtorf, “so we do have a charge for vendors now. I believe it’s $20.”
In addition to vendors with products or services to sell, Holtorf said a number of non-profit groups also take part to spread the word about the work they do.
Vendors interested in participating should visit www.facebook.com/AtholFirstFridayFestivals.MerchantsGroup/.
“This year,” she continued, “our big news is that — at the Selectboard meeting this week — they approved Los Agaves to have an outside beer garden. It’s going to be right in front of Los Agaves. They’ll have a fenced in area — they have to have it cordoned off because they’ll be serving alcohol outside. They’ll be doing some kind of food; I don’t think they’ve quite decided yet the logistics of that.
“It should be a lot of fun. People can sit outside and enjoy the music.”
The lawn of the former Unitarian Church will serve as the venue for groups providing entertainment, according to Holtorf.
Festivities for each Fourth Friday run from 4 to 7 p.m. The current schedule of events is as follows:
■Friday, May 27, Theme: Flower Power, with entertainment by The Can Collectors. Folks are encouraged to show up in their widest bell-bottoms and grooviest tie-died apparel;
■Friday, June 24, Theme: Red, White & Blue Blue, in honor of Independence Day. Jared Moore entertains;
■Friday, July 22, Theme: Shark Fest, Athol’s addition to Shark Week, with music by Scott Savoy; and,
■August 26, Theme: Summer’s Harvest, celebrating the year’s bounty, with entertainment from Eli Elkins.
There is free parking in the municipal lot in the rear of Main Street (off of Exchange Street) and in the Marble Street lot.
Main Street will be closed between Island and Exchange streets from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com