With drinks in hand, hundreds of Auburn residents browsed through local shops and enjoyed the company of friends at bars in downtown Auburn Friday night.
The Downtown Merchants Association hosted their third annual Cheers on the Corner Friday night. It was sold out by 7 p.m. Friday while the event lasted until 10 p.m.
“This is our largest event for the year, we really rely on this event to be successful so that we can fund future events,” said Jessica Kohn, downtown coordinator for the Downtown Merchants Association.
Magnolia Street was closed from Sky Bar to Gay Street, and North College Street was closed from Cheeburger Cheeburger to Toomer’s Corner.
Attendees were encouraged to park at Felton Little Park and the Frank Brown Recreation Center where Grab-A-Cart was available to those who parked some distance from downtown. They were also encouraged to use rideshare apps or just catch a ride with a friend, Kohn said.
“We live here in Auburn, we love it, and we wanted to come out and enjoy all the food and drinks and see our neighbors and have a good time,” said Jane Bodman who came with her husband.
Kohn said 1716, Quixote’s, Bourbon Street and Moe’s BBQ bars waved the cover for anyone with a wristband even after the event ended at 10. Wristbands were $30 in advance and $35 the day of the event.
“I came out just to be in the community and have some good food and drink,” said Lindsay Kramer.
A new feature of Cheers on the Corner was giant games provided by the L.A.F. game company. L.A.F. set up a giant beer pong using industrial trash cans and a beach ball and a giant corn hole game.
“We’re excited to check out some of the venue restaurants that are coming downtown,” said Lucia Lazarowski. “We are just trying to get more involved in the community, trying to reach out and get in touch with more people”
Many of downtown Auburn’s businesses stayed open later than usual and provided glasses of wine to anyone with a wristband.
Several local restaurants such as Ariccia and Amsterdam Café set up inside of downtown retailers and provided samples of their food to attendees. Attendees were encouraged to return to downtown tomorrow for the statewide Back to School Sales Tax Holiday.
“I think it’s a great event, it gets everybody downtown and just having fun and relaxed, and it gets the community all just hanging out together,” said Cliff Hare, owner of Auburn Art.
Other businesses from outside of downtown Auburn set up tents and tables scattered across Magnolia and North College streets.
“We are just trying to get more involved in the community, trying to reach out and get in touch with more people,” said Lee Thompson, local branch manager for Terminix. “A lot of times people look at Terminix as not local, we’re just trying to show that we are local.”
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