With the stress of Christmas approaching, the city continues to offer a reason for people to come downtown, socialize and be entertained.
The Heart of our City committee introduced First Friday over three years ago and it continues to show off what the city has going on.
According to its website, First Friday is a monthly festival of events that showcases all of the community’s events happening in downtown Lethbridge.
Great tasting restaurants, unique shopping and a variety of live music to choose from are just some of the activities the festival has to offer, along with providing customers discounts, draws and free events.
George Kuhl, the Downtown Revitalization manager, feels that First Friday is a great way to get people involved with what’s happening in downtown.
“It attracts people to come downtown and to become more acquainted with the city. It allows people to find interesting things to do and to find a reason to keep coming back.”
Kuhl is happy with the response so far and feels the festival sends a positive message to the people of Lethbridge.
“It shows the community that downtown is a very unique neighbourhood and is different than any other commercial area in the city. It offers a variety of things such as restaurants and different types of shows,” he added.
Shawn Normandeau, local resident, has lived in Lethbridge for over 10 years and says he has seen a huge change in the culture of downtown and believes First Friday has been another step forward for the city.
“The downtown area had a different feel to it when I first moved to Lethbridge. Over time you saw different businesses open up such as the Owl and Slice along with some cool coffee shops,” said Normandeau. “ It has become more trendy, kind of like a big city and something like First Friday only adds to it.”
According to Kuhl, many businesses around town were excited for the chance to promote themselves and the activities they were offering.
Paul Edwards, co owner of Drunken Sailor feels that it’s a great way to create a buzz around the city while helping businesses become more recognized without having to spend money.
“It gives a common point for advertising, the city does a lot of the work for all the businesses that are involved. It prevents everybody from spending their money to promote themselves but are still getting exposure in the community,” said Edwards.
The next First Friday will take place on December 4th. For more information on the what’s happening this month visit their website at www.firstfridaylethbridge.com.
