Scott Williams swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Scott Williams The sidewalks in downtown Shawano will be filled with sales, vendors, outdoor dining and live music during the inaugural Maxwell Street Day event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Seeking a new way to showcase downtown Shawano, merchants are introducing some new outdoor attractions Saturday that borrow from a proven formula of mixing fun and business.
The first annual Maxwell Street Day event will beckon shoppers with a combination of sidewalk sales, outdoor dining, live music and more.
The festival-like event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday along Main Street and extending onto Division Street.
Organizer Marisa Rycroft said almost all downtown merchants have agreed to participate by moving outdoors or offering sales or other enticements to give patrons a special treat.
The event is based on the original Maxwell Street Days attraction created in Chicago in the 19th century, and recreated more recently in Madison, Lake Geneva and elsewhere as an urbanized outdoor fair for shopping and entertainment.
“It really caught on in other places,” Rycroft said.
The activities will begin at 9 a.m. with a family 5K fun run based at Franklin Park, with registration open starting at 7 a.m. and awards being presented at 10:30 a.m. Participants can run for serious competition, or bring baby strollers or dogs on leashes and just have fun.
That will be followed by the official kickoff of sidewalk sales at 10 a.m., with four restaurants setting up outdoors to give customers a taste of sidewalk patio dining.
A jazz combo from Shawano Community High School will perform from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. outside Dreier Pharmacy & Gift Shoppe, 117 S. Main St.
At Old Glory Candy, 108 E. Division St., children can get their faces painted, and the store will be handing out samples from a giant 20-pound chocolate turtle created for the occasion. Candy makers also are introducing new fudge flavors, including banana split fudge.
Old Glory store owner Curt Preston said merchants are eager to draw bigger crowds downtown, so they were excited to support and help organize the Maxwell Street Day concept.
“The enthusiasm seems to be high — that’s for sure,” Preston said.
Rycroft, who is director of the Shawano Business Improvement District, said the festival could become an annual event if it catches on. For now, organizers want to test the waters with a presentation that is fairly small and simple, she said.
Based on the early response of merchants and others, Rycroft said the concept seems to have good potential.
“We’re just trying new and innovative things,” she said. “This seems to have caught people’s attention.”