Imagine this—thousands of people, both young and old, file into the venue, carrying with them lawn chairs and refreshments. A rock cover band takes the stage and gets the crowd to its feet. People sing and dance along to the music—the sound of which reverberates throughout the city and is ultimately muffled by the thunder of applause.
Venues in Columbus or Cleveland may have flashed through your head, but, in fact, downtown Mansfield experienced this scene Friday, June 27, during the second installment of the Final Friday Concert Series. Performing that night were The DeVault Ridge Band and The Caffiends.
Downtown Mansfield, Inc. (DMI) officials estimate that approximately 4,000 people attended the most recent concert. Event attendee, Kristie Massa with Richland Bank, said the night was “hopping” and noted that many of the people she attended the concert with said that it had a ‘big city’ feel to it. Jerry Holden, president and broker at The Holden Agency, called it “electrifying” and “exciting.”
Holden added, “We have something that Columbus has, but it takes only five minutes to get to with ample parking.”
The Final Friday Concert Series is organized by DMI. “Part of the mission of DMI is to stimulate economic development. In following the National Main Street Model for commercial district revitalization, DMI has sought to host promotional events that draw the community to downtown. The Final Friday Concert provided an exceptional opportunity for positive promotion and was unique to the lineup of events that were occurring annually,” explained Jamie Thompson, DMI co-director.
“Based upon feedback, DMI can decidedly state that business owners are seeing an impact based upon increased attendance at our shows,” Thompson added.
Steve Zigmund, co-owner of the Phoenix Brewing Company, affirmed Thompson’s statement, noting that the brewery sees a 20-25 percent increase in business the evenings of the Final Friday Concert Series. “We always see a big surge of people and a lot of new faces those nights,” Zigmund said.
Handling the large crowd that pours in is what Zigmund called a “balancing act.” He said that sometimes the space can become a little too crowded; however, “We still continue to strive to keep people happy,” he said, adding, “We want to make downtown more of a destination for people to come and enjoy themselves and visit the local businesses.”
Suzy Saprano, owner of City News, said that she too has noticed an increase at her business the evenings of the Final Friday Concert Series. “I think it’s progressively becoming more of an event and people are enjoying coming downtown,” she said.
Recognizing the community appeal that the concert series has, Holden held a reception for his clients prior to the recent concert’s start. “I did that because I wanted to show people that we have events here in Mansfield where several people come downtown and enjoy the evening, the festivities, the atmosphere—and that’s just a small piece of what Richland County has to offer,” he said.
Of the 100 clients who attended the reception, many said that they were unfamiliar with the concert series. About 80 percent of the individuals stayed to experience the event, and many of them mentioned that they would be returning to the next event in July, Holden said.
Noting the concert series’ positive effect on businesses, Massa stated, “Events like this are wonderful for business. They draw people downtown who haven’t been in quite awhile and they are surprised at the changes that have taken place. Most downtown businesses are small, locally owned shops and restaurants. As the traffic downtown builds, so do the current businesses and new businesses. In the past three months alone, I have seen four new businesses open in the downtown area.”
The Final Friday Concert Series is held in the Brickyard on Temple Court every final Friday in May, June, July, and August. Concerts are free and open to the public.
The series began seven years ago under the direction of Annamarie Fernyak, who was the acting marketing director for Engwiller Properties.
“I loved to attend outdoor music concerts and would travel to Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati to enjoy these events. I remember one in particular, in Columbus I think, called ‘Rally in the Alley.’ It was located in a beautiful brick alley, had beer, wine and food for sale by local vendors and was offered right after work as a kind of TGIF happy hour. The rally showcased local bands and performers, so this event really was the inspiration for the Final Friday Concert Series,” Fernyak explained.
DMI became involved in the concert series in 2009. Thompson noted that from the beginning, partners have included Engwiller Properties, Charles Hahn, Cleveland Financial Group, MT Business Technologies, Mansfield Distributing, Visiting Nurse Associations of America and Tommy Barnes from WMAN. Most recently, DMI has added My Town Partners and OhioHealth MedCentral to its list of partners.
Thompson said that DMI is not currently following a model in how the series is organized; however, “We have become a model for other mid-sized communities and have been asked to attend numerous speaking engagements based on our success,” Thompson stated.
She said that entertainment is selected based on sponsor and fan recommendations. “DMI has a working list of entertainers and endeavors to select up and coming local artists as well as regionally based artists from a variety of genres with a fan base that crosses multiple counties,” she said.
She added, “Artists are instrumental to our success and are compensated for their performance. Compensation is derived from revenue generated from beverage sales and partner sponsorships.”
Thompson noted that DMI is looking at expanding the calendar of events at the Brickyard.
She stated, “It has been a surreal experience to witness the growth of this event. As a 10-year veteran of DMI, I have firsthand knowledge of the beginning phases of the Final Friday Concerts in which attendance maxed out at 100 individuals, with most of the attendees being friends and family members of DMI staff and the entertainers performing. Increased attendance has solidified the work of DMI and proves our stance that downtown Mansfield is a great place to live, shop, work and invest.”
Fernyak also voiced her excitement for the positive response towards the series, stating, “Now the event is what I imagined it to be: a diverse and enthusiastic group from our community enjoying live music in a beautiful location—an event I enjoy attending.”
She added, “I can only speak for myself as part of the community, and for me, this event (and other downtown events) has evolved Mansfield into a community in which I’m proud to live. There is a rich variety of things to do, places to go, and people to see. I rarely hear myself say, ‘I’m bored; there’s nothing to do here.’ More often I say, ‘Wow, which great event do I want to attend tonight?’”
There are two more shows slated for 2014. July 25 features “Narrow/Arrow,” “The Up All Nights,” and “Eye.” August 29 features “Dr. Simple,” “Jeff Boyd and S’yVelt,” and “Elec Simon and Friends.”
(Story updated to include/correct performing groups.)
“We still continue to strive to keep people happy. We want to make downtown more of a destination for people to come and enjoy themselves and visit the local business,” said Steve Zigmund.
