Tuesdays on Main in 2nd year

Published 10:23 am Tuesday, May 28, 2013

AUSTIN — With some improvements in place, Austin’s newest block party is about to turn 2.

The Austin Downtown Alliance’s Tuesdays on Main will start its second year June 4 with three blocks of entertainment, live music every week, and a beer garden most weeks.

Then 3-year-old Clara McIntyre holds her head still for artist Brandy Wilker during the first Tuesday on Main last July. --Eric Johnson/Albert Lea Tribue

Then 3-year-old Clara McIntyre holds her head still for artist Brandy Wilker during the first Tuesday on Main last July. –Eric Johnson/Albert Lea Tribue

“People are psyched,” said Kiersten Hall, one of the event’s organizers and founders. “Excitement has been building up.”

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Now, if the forecast will just cooperate, she says.

“I’ve been checking the 10-day forecast, and so far it’s holding steady,” she said. “That’s the biggest thing.”

Tuesdays on Main — located on Main Street between Fourth Avenue and Second Avenue — is a weekly summer party from 5 to 8 p.m. featuring about 35 vendors, shopping, food, street performers, live music, other entertainment mirroring Rochester’s Thursdays on First, and new this year, a beer garden.

Albert Lea has something similar, called Wind Down Wednesday, only it isn’t weekly. There will be three, and they are scheduled this summer for three dates: June 26, July 17 and Aug. 21 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Hall said people she talked to suggested the beer garden, which is run by the Austin Jaycees. If it goes well, she said, they may try something similar to what Thursdays on First does for alcohol.

While live bands start at 5 p.m., vendors may start as early as 4, and the party could go later than 8 if it’s still hopping. Many businesses on Main Street will stay open later during the event, too.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Hall, adding that all are welcome, from families and children to young adults and seniors. “If you have a heartbeat, come to Tuesdays on Main.”

The first Tuesdays on Main, which is June 4, will feature almost 50 vendors, and live adult contemporary music by the Parks & Kleist Band. The second week features country group The Robin Breeze Band, the third party features jazz by D’Sievers, and the event rounds out June with a teen night and live music from rock group Eden.

For more on Tuesdays on Main, go to downtownaustinmn.com, or for daily updates, go to www.facebook.com/AustinMainstreetMarket.

For more information or to find information about sponsoring or becoming a vendor for Wind Down Wednesday, visit www.winddownwednesday.com. Learn more about Wind Down Wednesday in the Tribune’s Summer Times special section, which publishes June 7.

Tuesdays on Main

When: 5-8 p.m. Tuesdays, June 4-Aug. 27

Where: Main Street between Fourth Avenue and Second Avenue

• June 4: Adult contemporary group the Parks & Kleist Band

• June 11: Country group The Robin Breeze Band

• June 18: Jazz group D’Sievers

• June 25: “Teen night” featuring rock group Eden

• July 2: Gospel/country/ blues group Annie Mack Blues

• July 9: “Remembering the 50s, 60s and 70s” featuring rock/soul group After School Special

• July 16: Rockabilly group Lost Faculties

• July 23: “Halloween in July” featuring “Monster Mashing” with Tom & Soundtronic Productions, and magician William Bradshaw

• July 30: Hard rock/90s grunge group A Band Since Tuesday

• Aug. 13: The Parks & Kleist Band

• Aug. 20: “Ladies Night Out” featuring jazz group Swing Street Band

• Aug. 27: The DC Drifters