First Fridays is officially coming to downtown Ponca City this summer, with the first even kicking off Friday June 2. First Fridays is a collaborative effort, and is being co-sponsored by City Arts, Ponca City Main Street, Ponca City Chamber of Commerce, Ponca City Arts & Humanities Council and the City of Ponca City. Whether you’re interested in live music, art exhibits, food trucks, or simply strolling around and enjoying the atmosphere, you’ll find plenty to do downtown during First Fridays.

One of the anticipated aspects of First Fridays is the Art Walk. During First Fridays, local artists and makers will be set up in booths along Grand Avenue, showcasing their work and selling their wares. First Fridays will be a great opportunity to discover new artists and support the local arts community.

“First Fridays happen in towns all over the United States, and they are essentially a huge downtown celebration each month. We are officially launching First Fridays in Ponca City and Down by Downtown will be our anchor event, and it will be happening at the Veteran’s Plaza along with yard games and food trucks,” says Wagner.

Wagner says First Fridays is designed so that a wide variety of events will be happening at the same time. Anyone interesting in hosting their own downtown event on First Fridays is encouraged to do so. Businesses, artists, art studios, street performers and anyone else who is interested in holding their own events during First Fridays do so by visiting their website at www.poncacityfirstfridays. com. First Fridays are meant to be a celebration of art, music, food, and community, and it draws people from all over the area.

“In other cities, there might be live music events happening in multiple locations, extended business hours for shops and restaurants, special drinks at bars, outdoor kid’s activities, art exhibits, craft vendors, and of course, food trucks. Many times, there might be 4-5 galleries exhibiting new artwork, so there’s just a lot to see and do during these events. There’s really no limit to the amount of activity we can have, and it’s that synergy that’s going to draw really large crowds downtown,” says Wagner.

Down by Downtown (“DXDT”) will be First Fridays anchor event, but more events will be added to the First Fridays website as they are sent in.

Down by Downtown is a summer music series that has been held on First Fridays for the last several years at the Central Fare pocket park, but it was always a stand-alone event. DXDT has grown each year, attracting over 300 people per event. Ponca City Arts & Humanities Council sponsors the Down by Downtown music event each year, and this year, because of the huge growth, they decided to relocate the music event to the Veteran’s Plaza.

“Central Fare was an amazing location, but we have just outgrown that space,” said Kelsey Wagner, who is a Ponca City Arts & Humanities board member. “Stephen Scott does a fantastic job every year booking music acts for DXDT, and we think the Veteran’s Plaza will be a great place to continue to grow this amazing event,” said Wagner.

Wagner says in addition to a larger space, there will be more shade and better access to surrounding stores, restaurants, and bars.

Wagner says that when the Ponca City Arts & Humanities board decided to relocate Down by Downtown, she realized the opportunity was there to launch an even bigger movement – First Fridays. Wagner knew an event as large as First Fridays was not something one organization could do on its own, so she reached out to find partner organizations. Multiple organizations stepped up to co-sponsor this massive event and make it a reality. Co-sponsors for First Fridays include City Arts, Ponca City Arts & Humanities Council, the Ponca City Chamber of Commerce, City of Ponca City and Ponca City Main Street.

“We live an amazing community, and everyone I talked to was ready and willing to jump on board to make First Fridays happen,” says Wagner.

For Vendors, Makers, Brick-and-Mortar Business Owners or other Organizations interested in participating or holding their own events on First Fridays, can sign up, or find more information online at www.poncacityfirstfridays.

com.