Jacksonville Main Street is gearing up for another busy spring and summer in 2022.
The summer concert series is returning to the downtown square this year with another lineup full of variety. The series kicks off on Friday, June 3rd with pop artist CJ Ryder and the Pastmasters.
Artist styles that will be featured this year include blues, reggae, rock & blues, country, bluegrass, and even Celtic with The Def Leprechaun Band on July 29th.
Executive Director for Jacksonville Main Street, Judy Tighe says Main Street is once again hoping the community will come together to keep the series going.
“Our community has been wonderful in the past and stepped up to help us sponsor this and keep it going for the next year. So our sponsorship forms are going out this week and we are asking for the community’s support for this free public event again. We’ve got a lot of great entertainment lined up.”
Tighe says there are plenty of events happening downtown before the concert series fires up this year, some of which are returning favorites that have some changes in store.
“We will kick off our spring, summer, fall outdoor activities with Mayfest on April 30th. We moved our craft brew festival to the end of April and gave it a new twist so it’s now called Mayfest so we are looking forward to that and hoping for great weather.”
Another annual event that is evolving for this year is the Easter egg hunt, which Tighe says is growing into an event that offers something for all ages.
“We’ve changed things up, we took a look at that and want to do things that are a little bit more in keeping and true to our mission which is to, in part, support the businesses downtown. So Melissa [Hebron] developed the Bunny Shop, and as a part of the Bunny Shop for the kiddos, because we’ve gotta include the kiddos, we have an Easter coloring contest.”
The Bunny Shop begins this Saturday and shoppers can stop in to participating downtown businesses and pick up scratch-off coupons that offer surprise discounts or prizes from downtown retailers.
The Bunny Shop runs through Saturday, April 16th. The coloring contest will feature prizes for three ages groups that include 2 years and under up to ten years old. Contest pictures can be found on the Jacksonville Main Street Facebook page or in The Source weekly newspaper.
Entries must be dropped off for display at the Main Street Office located at 222 West State Street by Tuesday, April 5th. Winners will be announced on April 14th. Rules can be found on the Facebook page or jacksonvillemainstreet.com