The experience in downtown gets sweeter all the time!
Did you attend the Loveland Sweetheart Festival on Valentine’s Day in Downtown Loveland? A friend of mine who attended this annual event with me remarked “I’ve never seen so many people in downtown, everyone who lives in Loveland must be here.” I felt the same.
Visit Loveland, the Loveland Chamber of Commerce and Rule Events deserve so much credit for their hard work to produce this year’s annual festival which offered a very authentic view of our unique and, I might add, sweet downtown experience.
A ridiculously warm winter Saturday greeted visitors who found so much to do and see in our downtown district including classic remnants of the Fire and Ice festival like live ice carving, dancing and games led by the always fun Brandon Harrington, kids’ art activities, local vendors and food trucks in the Foundry Community Plaza (I might add that the stage our team installed last year in the Foundry Community Plaza worked perfectly) In addition, the Sweetheart Stroll that encouraged visitors to tour special activities at venues, galleries and businesses around downtown.
The Sweetheart Stroll was such a cool way to explore how downtown is actively improving, evolving and becoming a true creative district. Visitors could attend a haunted house in the old Oddfellows Building on Fourth Street, pair mead and chocolates at Mead Krieger Meadery on Washington Avenue, purchase local art at the newly opened Venue at 319 on Cleveland Avenue, attend the Little Miss Valentine and Mr. Cupid contest, see a movie or a comedy show at the Rialto Theater on Fourth Street, view a burlesque show at Loveland Aleworks on Fourth Street or even view a group wedding or dance the night away the inaugural Sweetheart Ball at the newly reopened Pulliam Community Building on Cleveland Avenue.
These were just a few of the many Valentine activities visitors could enjoy in our downtown district and my main take away was a glowing feeling of how creative Loveland is and also how excited folks are to be apart of it.
We had numerous businesses, during a time of heavy construction downtown, report record sales days during the Sweetheart Festival. When is the last time you remember hearing a restaurant having to close the day after an event because they ran out of food, well that happened too!
While our downtown businesses felt the love from some of their regular customers, they also reported seeing so many new faces walk through their doors and explore their businesses. And that’s the point. One thing that really struck me again during the Sweetheart Festival is how downtown events aren’t simply quality of life activities; they are economic drivers and introductions to what’s new and changing in our downtown district. As a community, we must keep investing in these activities.
As the emcee at numerous of our downtown events, I’ve had a wonderful opportunity to meet so many people that attend our events. Folks often tell me “I haven’t been in downtown in years and it sure has changed” or “downtown now reminds of how Old Town Fort Collins felt 25 years ago when it really took off” or my favorite is the simple “thank you” we get all the time for producing these events. There is really so much happening in our downtown and we’re beginning to get major notice.
If you haven’t been to one of our downtown events, keep your eye on website at downtownloveland.org. Our team is about to roll out our full schedule of downtown summer events.
As a preview, we’re so glad to be producing our sixth annual Bluegrass and Brews Festival in June, our Wednesday concert series will return to the Foundry Community plaza in July and August and numerous favorites like Kids on the Plaza and the Ice Cream Festival will return as well. While you are on our website, you can learn all about our downtown business community and see a full calendar of events happening in Downtown Loveland.
Read more on Loveland Reporter-Herald
