By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Last June, Laura Wicks remembers setting up Main Street for the first Firefly Nights Summer Festival.
It was a quarter hour before starting time, Wicks recalled, and she could see people heading into downtown.
“By 6 the street was full,” she said. “It was a joyful moment.”
“It makes you realize we were actually filling a void,” said Kati Thompson, Eden Fashion Boutique. “We had a hunch, but then to see it all come to fruition.”
The original Firefly idea as conceived by downtown business women Wicks, Thompson, Stacie Banfield, and Gayle Walterbach, was for a three-festival series on the third Fridays of June, July, and August, preceded by a 5K run/walk to raise funds and generate interest.
That was extended to a fall festival in October, which took the place of downtown trick-or-treat.
Now the organizers are ready for an encore.
The 5K run is scheduled for Friday, May 17 starting at the Wood County Public Library at 9 p.m.
The family friendly event is a way to help build community in “a fun and healthy way,” said Stacie Banfield, of Mode Elle Boutique.
Those participating range from elementary school students to senior citizens.
Participants get luminaries for safety.
Then on June 21 the first festival is set to go at the same hours as last year, 6-10 p.m. The others are July 19, Aug. 16, and Oct. 18.
The offerings will be the same — bands, vendors, food trucks, kids activities, and a beer garden.
The footprint has been shortened by a block, extending down Main Street from Clough to Court streets.
The organizers decided after some rainy nights last year that they wanted the beer garden and stage covered. That was only feasible if they had one of each. So now all the music will be on the north end with the beer garden.
Michelle Elson, who books the bands, said: “I’m continuing to focus on local music. We have lots of great musicians right here in Bowling Green and around the 419 area.”
Performers scheduled for June 21 are: Drew Joseph, 6 p.m.; Vester Frey, 7p.m.; The Barn Cats, 8 p.m.; and Corduroy Road, 9 p.m.
Having the bands on one stage will also make for easier set up and tear down, Thompson said.
All that’s accomplished by the 100 volunteers who work each festival. While many have already said they are signing on for another season, more are needed. To volunteer visit the Firefly Nights website.
The presenting sponsor Thayer Family Dealerships is back joined by State Bank with Eric Palmer Trucking and Excavating helping with blocking off the street. “And there are numerous other sponsors we’re thankful for,” Wicks said.
The festivals have been a boon for downtown.
“For us it was a good weekend,” said Wicks, who owns Grounds for Thought with her husband Kelly Wicks.
Restaurants and coffee shops seemed to do particularly well, said Thompson, owner of Eden Fashion Boutique. Other shops had “exceptional” business.
Banfield said that the event helps increase awareness of what the downtown has to offer.
Thompson said: “We had lots of people saying: ‘I had no idea all this was down here. I can’t wait to get back downtown.’ … This was a success for Bowling Green as a whole.”
For Banfield, the biggest surprise was how many people came out, even with rain on some nights. “We were just blown away.”
“Bowling Green people are troupers,” Wicks said. “You throw a party, they’ll come.”
