Downtown Development Authority Events

Discover Downtown Again featuring the Merchants’ Artist Walking Tour
Saturday, May 12th, 2012 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
The Downtown Merchants’ Artist Walking Tour is right around the corner.  Discover Downtown Again and check out the many services, gifts, entertainment, and dining options you have when you spend time Downtown! Each Downtown business will feature an artist specializing in various styles, mediums, or genres, and your votes will be collected on your favorite artist featured on this Merchants’ Artist Walking Tour.  Businesses will also be offering special activities, drawings, refreshments, and more!  Visit all of the participating businesses to check out our local artistic talent and to see how fun and exciting Downtown Jackson can be.

Be sure to pop in to Downtown businesses throughout the week of May 7th to preview the artist’s work featured on the Merchants’’ Artist Walking Tour, and place your official vote on May 12th!

Interested in featuring your art?  Complete an Artist Application here or at the Downtown Jackson Facebook page, and submit it by April 1st. All art is subject to juried panel.  Cash prizes are awarded as follows, and are based on public votes :

1st place: $600, sponsored by the Midtown Merchants Association
2nd place: $400, sponsored by the DDA
3rd place:  $200, sponsored by A Frame Above

Summer Planting Day
May 19th, 2012
Summer Planting Day brings hundreds of community members together to enhance the beauty of Downtown Jackson by planting flowers and plants in Downtown planters and pots.   Each planter is adopted by a community group, business, family or individual, and the result is a blooming Downtown for the spring and summer seasons.  In its 13th year, Summer Planting Day will ask volunteers to adopt their planter for the course of the year. Adoption is free and each planter receives a plaque listing the adopting party and/or a dedication to a loved one.  If interested in participating this year, please complete a planter adoption form and return it to the Downtown Development Authority office by Monday, April 16th.  Volunteers will receive a confirmation and event details prior to Summer Planting Day.  Planters will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis, limiting planters to one per group so that everyone will be able to participate in this great community event. 

Cruise In
Cruise In Downtown Jackson the 4th Friday of the month, May through September, and show your stuff!   As one of the most anticipated and attended events in Jackson, the Cruise In attracts hundreds of classic cars, antiques, street rods, and more, to the Downtown streets. Live entertainment, photo booth, radio broadcasts, and a vendor area with food and merchandise will also fill the Downtown.  A "Best in Show" winner will be chosen at each Cruise In and all cruisers can register their vehicles and win Downtown Jackson Gift Certificates! In addition to the cars and entertainment on the street, many Downtown restaurants feature entertainment while merchants offer sales and specials in their stores. Street closings, directing the cruisers to the appropriate parking spots, can be found in the column on the left side of this page.

Picnic in the Park Lunchtime Concert Series
Come Downtown every Tuesday in July and August from 12-1 pm to take a break with local musicians who will entertain with tunes to relax to, dance to and eat to! Bring your blanket and lunch, and join your family, friends, or coworkers for music in Bucky Harris Park, on the corner of Jackson Street and Michigan Avenue. This is a great opportunity and convenient location to take a moment away from your office and meet us for a Picnic in the Park.  Check back soon for a list of performers!

Jammin' in Jackson
Jammin' in Jackson is a FREE event which takes place from 5-7 pm on select Thursday evenings throughout the summer in Bucky Harris Park, in the heart of Downtown Jackson, located on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Jackson Street. Stroll in after work, ride your bike, or bring your family and enjoy free, live, local entertainment! Jammin’ in Jackson is made possible by the generous support of CP Federal Credit Union, and brought to you by the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Jackson County and the DDA. Check back for more details and to mark your calendar for this exciting season of performers! 

Taste of Jackson
Check back for more information!

Scarecrow Row
October 2012
Jackson area businesses, nonprofits, and classrooms are invited to participate in Downtown’s autumn celebration.  Scarecrow Row is a week-long scarecrow creating contest that features homemade scarecrows built by area organizations or students, which are displayed on light poles throughout Downtown.  During Scarecrow Row, the public is encouraged to view the scarecrows and visit Downtown businesses to vote for their favorite in each of the three categories.

Winning scarecrows in the business, non-profit, and K-6 classroom categories will be presented with wonderful prizes from the Jackson community.    Scarecrow Row is more than just prizes, tricks, and treats; it promotes Downtown’s seasonal spirit, it encourages team-building amongst employees, it is a fun way to increase exposure for nonprofits, it is a great community-building tool for classrooms, and it creates valuable publicity for organizations.  Create a scarecrow this year! 

Fall DDA Day featuring ‘Shop Your Community’ / Christmas Parade / Window Display Contest
Friday, November 16th and Saturday, November 17th
The Annual Downtown Jackson Christmas Parade is scheduled for Friday night, November 16th, 212. The DDA has designated Saturday, November 17, from 11 am to 2 pm as the 2nd annual “Shop Your Community” day to help local nonprofits.  Participating downtown merchants donate 10% of their day’s sales to local nonprofits.  Holiday shoppers can ask that ten percent of their receipt be donated to one or more of the local nonprofits chosen to participate in the “Shop Your Community” day by the merchants of the DDA.  Shoppers and community members can also vote on their favorite window display while they are Downtown holiday shopping.  Support your local community this holiday season in more ways than one by participating in DDA Day’s Shop Your Community event.

Eve on the Ave
Ring the New Year with the DDA on December 31st from 9pm to 12:30am.  Come to Jackson's only New York style celebration with a ball drop from the top of City Hall and a magical fireworks display at the stroke of midnight.
 

Holding Events Downtown

The City of Jackson is fortunate to have many varied and beautiful parks and friendly streets and neighborhoods, all of which provide wonderful venues at which to hold Special Events such as parades, fitness walks/runs, etc.  The City Clerk's Office makes every possible effort to assist event organizers in receiving assistance from City departments and approval from the City Council.
 
The City of Jackson Event Policy and Application was created to promote a uniform procedure in receiving permission to hold Special Events at locations under the jurisdiction of the City of Jackson.  For more information or questions regarding the application or the process, please contact jtucker@cityofjackson.org or call the DDA at 768-6410.