3 days ago
Rochester brings back free summer festival with 54 bands, 100 vendors
Rochester brings back free summer festival with 54 bands, 100 vendors originally appeared on Bring Me The News.
Rochester's free summer concert series, Thursdays Downtown, is kicking off its 21st year on June 12, the Rochester Downtown Alliance (RDA) announced this week.
The series will bring music and food to the streets of Rochester for nine Thursdays through Aug. 14 (no event on July 3). All told, it'll put 100 vendors and 54 bands on the streets for a series that welcomed nearly 100,000 locals during last year's run.
Thursdays Downtown runs throughout the day on Thursdays, with the Family Nook offering arts and crafts, music, and games for kids from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each week.
This year, the layout will undergo a slight change. The events will take place south of 2nd St. S on 1st Ave. SW, Historic 3rd St., and 2nd Ave. SW.
'While construction has impacted where we can host Thursdays Downtown this summer, it also gives us a fantastic opportunity to help activate a new part of Downtown,' said Shawn Fagan, Executive Director of the RDA. 'Moving the vendors and stage that are usually on Peace Plaza to Discovery Walk along 2nd Ave. SW, is a great way to showcase this exciting new space in Downtown, one many in our community may not have experienced before.'
The Kahler Grand Hotel stage and the Altra Federal Credit Union stage will both host three genre-spanning free concerts each Thursday, with performances that include The Voice semifinalist Adam Bohanan, Salsa Del Soul, rapper Thomas X, Twin Cities indie favorites Kiss the Tiger, Lost in Austin, Steely Dan tribute act Steeling Dan, Lazy Scorsese, and the Johnny Holm Band, which will wrap up the series on Aug. 14.
The full Thursdays Downtown music lineup can be found at the Rochester Downtown Association's story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on May 31, 2025, where it first appeared.
