ROCHESTER — This year’s plans for Thursdays Downtown maintains the shortened schedule adopted in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Katie Adelman, director of content and communications for the Rochester Downtown Association , said the July 7-Aug. 25 schedule for the weekly event was partly a response to the continued COVID-19 threat, but also connected to requests from vendors, who cited difficult staffing booths and their brick-and-mortar businesses at the same time.
The Thursdays Downtown dates were released Tuesday with a list of other RDA community events and activities for the new year.
“Our team truly enjoys the process of developing our calendar each year,” RDA Executive Director Holly Masek said in a statement. “We are always striving to find new ways to promote downtown, assist our business community, and create a great experience for our visitors.
“We want downtown to be the most vibrant and welcoming neighborhood of Rochester."
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The announced RDA-hosted events in 2022 are:
• Social-ICE : Feb. 3-5
• Social-ICE FAM JAM : Feb. 5
• Fresh Air Fitness : select days in May and June
• Sidewalk Sessions : Mondays and Fridays, starting May 16 through Aug. 5
• Zumbro River clean-up: June
• Thursdays Downtown : Every Thursday from July 7 through Aug. 25
• Dogs Downtown : Sept. 17
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• Roller Disco : Oct. 7-8
• Here Comes Santa Claus : Nov. 25
• Small Business Saturday : Nov. 26
The nonprofit created to promote downtown will also continue Clean and Safe Ambassador Program services throughout the year, and accept applications for its start-up event grant program in February.
Spring public space improvements are also planned for April and May, in preparation for summer activities.
Outside of the announced activities, RDA staff said it will continue to provide a variety of services for downtown businesses, including social media and e-newsletter development, general marketing campaigns, façade improvement grants, data collection, information sharing, and advocacy.
