First Fridays will be returning to Wright City this summer for the fifth year in a row.
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First Fridays will be returning to Wright City this summer for the fifth year in a row after the Downtown Revitalization Committee received board approval for their special event permits.
The downtown festival, traditionally held on First Street in Wright City, will take place on May 2, June 6, June 27 and August 1. The events include a variety of vendors, attractions and musical performances and drew crowds as large as 2,000 last year.
Alderman Kim Arbuthnot, who also sits on the committee, was excited about some of the changes that would be coming to this year’s events.
She said although they were not all set in stone, the committee was going to be introducing some new themes. Another committee member, Alderman Ramiz Hakim added they were placing an additional emphasis on musical acts as well.
“We just really tried to change it up a little bit,” said Arbuthnot. “Because we did the same thing for the first four years, so this year we tried to not reinvent the wheel, but make it a little more exciting for everyone.”
Hakim also added that they are planning on including a wine and whiskey theme for the June 6 event which could provide some added excitement to the event.
“There’s quite a few distilleries that have shown interest in coming in, so it’s something much different,” said Hakim. “It’s kind of out of my wheelhouse but some of the members are more in that loop and so they’re looking forward to that themselves.”
He added that the emphasis on musical acts was in an effort to increase attendance from individuals outside of the city and said performances from acts like Drawl STL helped to drive that decision.
“(Drawl STL) played for us last year, and they brought in their own audience, … But since they played with us, their following has only grown and so we are anticipating a really great turnout for that night,” said Hakim.
Drawl STL will be performing on the July First Friday event, which will actually be held on June 27 at the Wright City Lions’ Club in conjunction with the city’s Fourth of July Fireworks show.
The contract for the fireworks show with ARC Pyrotechnics for $7,500 was also approved at the April 10 meeting.
Mayor Michelle Heiliger said they also hoped to make use of the city’s new 62-acre park on Westwoods Road during that event. Construction is underway at the park and some work should be completed by the first Friday event in June.
Arbuthnot said they would be forgoing bounce houses they have used in the past to entertain younger kids but they are looking into other options as well.
