MOUNT VERNON – First Fridays are back. Experience Mount Vernon invites community members and visitors alike to the beautiful Central Business District of Mount Vernon for the kick-off event to the summer.
Great food, live music and family fun for all during the 2022 First Friday season. From 6-9 p.m. on Friday, June 3, Riverside Recovery Services joins Experience Mount Vernon to present our “Welcome Back” event.
Experience Mount Vernon partners with the Mount Vernon Arts Consortium (MVAC) to present the First Friday Concert Series. The Concert Series will be featured on the Main Stage located between Park National Bank and PNC Bank facing Public Square.
“The Consortium has done a wonderful job of lining up our Main Stage talent for this year,” said Experience Downtown Manager Anthony McNeal. “We wanted to go after performers that would appeal to our faithful First Friday supporters, while at the same time expanding the reach of our event. To do this, we wanted to target bands from neighboring counties and larger metropolitan areas, and MVAC has done a great job of pulling that off.”
Brought to you by Knox Community Hospital and Central Ohio Technical College, the Concert Series will feature Thump Daddy at June’s event. This funk band has been performing in Central Ohio since the 1970s and has been to Mount Vernon several times.
A+ Autobrokers returns as the sponsor of the First Friday Cruise-Ins to keep the events free. Experience Mount Vernon has worked closely with several members of the local car enthusiast community to formulate a plan for this year. Cars should arrive no earlier than 4 p.m. when streets will begin shutting down and no later than 6 p.m. when the streets will be fully closed to traffic. Check experiencemv.org for more details on the Cruise-In.
The Activity Zone, presented by New Directions, MVNU Athletics, PAKUnited and YMCA of Mount Vernon has moved to South Main Street between Gambier and Ohio streets. Working with our partners to create activities, games and fun for all ages, you won’t want to miss the dance party in June. Also featured in the Zone is the Edward Jones of Mount Vernon Touch-A-Truck. Stop by the Ohio Avenue and South Main Street intersection to get a picture with a local first responder and their vehicles.
New to First Fridays for the 2022 season is the Community Corner presented by New Directions, Flapper Bar & Grille, PNC Bank and The Woodward Opera House. Located on West Gambier Street at the South Main Plaza, the Community Corner will feature local organizations promoting their events and previewing what is coming to Downtown Mount Vernon. MTVarts takes to the zone in June to perform a selection from their upcoming musical, Oliver; Spotlight performs their recital; and New Directions hosts several family service organizations to promote their services.
KnoxPages.com is back for the 2022 season as the Knox Foodies First Friday Food Trail sponsor. Stop by the info table at the intersection of Vine and South Main to pick up your First Friday Food Trail Card, collect the required stamps by making a purchase at each zone, and return the completed card to the info table to be entered into a drawing for a gift card to a downtown dining establishment.
Participating merchants are inviting event attendees to compete in the “EXPERIENCE” Scavenger Hunt. Letters spelling out "experience" will be hidden within different shops during First Friday. Competitors are encouraged to find copies of the letter in each shop, have the back of the letter signed by the check-out clerk, and bring the completed word, “EXPERIENCE” to the Information Desk to be entered into a drawing for a gift card to a downtown retail establishment.
Traffic will be closed one block north of Public Square, around the Square and on South Main Street down to Ohio Avenue starting at 4 p.m. If you have questions, contact Downtown Manager Anthony McNeal at 740-393-1481.
Parking can be found at Public Lots located around the exterior of First Fridays. Lots on South Gay and Mulberry Streets as well as off of East High Street are open to public parking during the event. Experience Mount Vernon has partnered with Knox Public Health to host a Bike Valet station located in the Public Parking Lot at 20 East Ohio Avenue. As part of the Active Transportation Plan, both Experience & Knox Public Health encourage those who can bike, to take advantage of this free service.
Media Sponsors include Town Money Saver, KnoxPages.com, Mount Vernon News, 90.9 WNZR, 13WMVO, and Super Q 93.7.
To learn more about First Fridays, or to join the #experience, head to ExperienceMV.org.
