First Fridays are a popular monthly event that take place in downtown Milledgeville and are hosted by Milledgeville Main Street.
First Friday’s began in 2011 as a new event to be held on the first Friday of each month. First Fridays are popular in many downtown areas across the country and Milledgeville Main Street wanted to try to host the event in Milledgeville.
“The goal was and still is to bring people downtown to shop, eat and enjoy the downtown area,” said Carlee Schulte, director of Milledgeville Main Street/Downtown Development Authority.
The pilot event of First Friday was held on Feb. 4, 2011. On that day, First Friday was very different then how the community knows of the event today.
“The concept was quite different than it is now. The ‘theme’ was ‘heARTS in the Ville’ and it was an inside event,” said Schulte.
At the time, Milledgeville Main Street had a group that they partnered with called Arts in the Ville. During the pilot First Friday, it was decided to place artwork in different participating businesses for people to go view the artwork.
“It was well received by the community but people asked for more outdoor activities like bands and such which led to how we know First Friday today,” said Schulte.
First Fridays are usually planned consecutively. Each month has a theme or at least a different type of activity than the previous month.
“It’s hard to describe the planning process as it varies month to month,” said Schulte. “But for example, we have our Beach Bash in June. That planning consists of getting sand ordered, then trucked in, toys bought or placed, figuring out the music aspect and then we also have non-profit vendors that participate by providing a kids activity.”
First Fridays come to fruition with a lot of work. To keep the event different and always improving, they try to plan unique ideas and work with sponsors, who help tremendously in bringing the event together.
“We really want everyone to come out and enjoy and try to provide something for everyone,” said Schulte.
First Friday is open to everyone to come and enjoy. There are always kids activities at the different non-profits while bands and drinks on the streets are focused toward adults.
“I think this event is important because it brings people together in an outdoor setting and also brings people to the front doors of the downtown small businesses,” said Schulte. “This event brings people downtown, to the heart of our City, to build community and hopefully create customers for the businesses.”