In an increasingly electronically connected world, actual live, interpersonal connections can seem rarer than ever. Yet people crave and need flesh-and-blood connections for emotional happiness, which means events that can bring your community together can have an outsized impact. Supporting local businesses with downtown event ideas centered around shopping locally can be a great way to build local connections, as commerce has frequently served as a catalyst for forming stronger bonds.

In fact, there are countless benefits to cultivating community experiences. When you are able to shop local businesses and support community associations, you strengthen both the economic and the communal bonds among your neighbors and friends. Farmer’s markets, for example, offer a chance to shop for food grown locally. You get to know and befriend the local farmers, who can, for their part, provide fresher, often healthier food for you.

And when farmers are able to thrive, they can further support the local community. This dynamic, of course, reaches beyond just your local farmer’s market; it touches everyone from your hardware store to your doctor and dentist to your church and school district.

One common thread running through many successful community organizations is a regular meeting time, whether it’s a weekly church gathering or a monthly book club meeting. A regular schedule means everyone knows exactly when and where the gathering will take place, which helps to boost attendance. It’s something to remember when coming up with your own community event ideas.

Let’s take a look at other inspiring Eventbrite creators to see how their events helped to bring their communities together.

What downtown event ideas might look like

In many if not most American cities, the downtown area tends to be the oldest neighborhood, often with historic buildings that can feature charming architecture and appealing urban design. This makes it an especially attractive neighborhood when you create a community night on the town.

We’ve grouped some downtown event ideas by theme or as a way to give your event focus and communicate a clear message to your potential audience.

Focus your buy local event on shopping themes

Contact your local Chamber of Commerce and coordinate a monthly “buy local” downtown shopping day. Businesses could stay open extra late, and neighboring streets could be closed to encourage pedestrian traffic.

One way you might attract guests is to invite local stores to offer a discount or special offer for the day. People will always come out for a bargain! Name your event after the day of the week as a way of reinforcing when your event takes place each month — call it First Friday or Small Business Saturday, and people will naturally remember when the event is taking place and be more likely to attend.

Make food your “shop local” focus

Food always makes a popular theme — restaurants are often a mainstay of downtown neighborhoods, as are businesses and offices filled with people who will inevitably be hungry for lunch or dinner. Restaurants and food vendors are often a bellwether of the local economy, thriving in good times and struggling when customers decide to save money and eat at home instead.

Organize a monthly local food truck night with a designated outdoor area where the trucks can set up and customers can sit down with their meals. It’s a great way to forge neighborly connections. Alternate it with a “taste of” night where restaurants offer tastings of new or favorite dishes as a way of generating new customers.

Get your monthly culture fix

Cultural works and performances add energy to a community that both invigorates it and attracts others to it. They provide communal experiences that are more about emotional connection than simple consumerism.

Ask downtown galleries or museums to offer free or discounted admission one night a month. Point out that a once-a-month discount night can bring new attention and new business for gift shops and on-site restaurants.

Another popular idea is to make your event a local arts fair. Showcase the works of neighborhood painters, sculptors, jewelry designers, and multimedia artists. Hire local musicians to provide ambiance. Redirect traffic or close streets altogether and let artists set up booths for a colorful, almost carnival feel.

How to create your first night on the town

Creating and organizing your downtown event ideas to support local shopping and community is a noble endeavor. It will, above all, require strong organizational and interpersonal skills. We think breaking down the details into three sections — Before, During, and After — makes a lot of sense and helps make such an event manageable.

Before

Before your event, it’s all about preparation and organization. Determine what your themes are, who your audience is, and what your goals are. Let’s look at your main objectives.

  1. Set goals. What do your attendees want? What do the participating businesses want? What do you want?
  2. What businesses will you invite? Be sure you know your event’s theme so you can be sure what businesses to invite. However, if you’re hosting a “taste of downtown” evening supporting local restaurants or a local shopping event supporting neighborhood boutiques, you might want to let the hip gallery next door know about your event should the focus be on local art next time.
  3. Get your permits. Make sure you’ve satisfied local regulations. Most likely a permit will be required, and certainly street closures will require official permission. You don’t want the police shutting down your event mid-bite.
  4. Break it down. Now that you’re official and have a sense of your event, break down the tasks you’ll need to have a successful one: ticketing and admissions, vendor relations, marketing and promotions, decorations and design, and whatever other help you will need. Then assign the roles to your team. Eventbrite can help keep you organized — take advantage of tools that help you create unique tickets, manage exhibit registrations, and gather unique attendee data (which helps you group by demographic for more effective promoting the next time).
  5. Communicate. Keep in continuous touch with participating businesses and with your team. You want to keep them abreast of any developments. You don’t want to get a business to commit, and then go silent for weeks or months. They may forget all about it! The key is to stay in touch.
  6. Promote. Be sure to let the community know about your event. Place brochures in the participating businesses so customers know about it, and get permission to post flyers in windows for passers-by to see. Hanging banners and signage from downtown street lamps always makes an appealing and effective promotion.

During

If you’ve prepared well beforehand, the event itself should run smoothly. But that doesn’t mean you get to sit back and watch. Instead, you can play an important role in ensuring the event’s success.

  1. Team participation. Make sure your team is mingling with participants and taking part in the festivities. They’ll naturally want to check out the action. The more people out and about during the event, the more people you will attract. Team members can add to the fun while helping to ensure things go well and solve problems as they arise.
  2. K.I.T. (Keep in touch). Stay in contact with downtown business owners and any city or district officials so any concerns can be addressed. For example, problems with traffic or parking are not unheard of. You may want to think about backup plans or secondary facilities if your event draws more people than expected.

After

Afterward, it’s time for cleanup — and getting prepared for the next event. Here are some key things to plan for:

  1. Check in with attendees. If you used Eventbrite’s registration tools to help organize your event, you’ll have obtained email addresses for your attendees when they registered. Send them an email to thank them for joining in the fun and remind them of the next event. Not all events, of course, are conducive to registrations and email collecting — you do want to encourage drop-ins, after all!
  2. Debrief with business owners. Send the participating business owners an email or survey to get their thoughts on how the event went for them. Ask them what they thought worked especially well during the event, and what perhaps needs additional attention.
  3. Keep it going. And now it’s time to start the campaign for your next event. Get city officials and business owners excited by sending them a weekly or bi-weekly email with updates on the event and new participants. And keep your team pumped up with encouragement and your own enthusiasm — high energy can help keep everyone motivated and moving.

Make your “shop local” events truly communal

It’s essential that your Shop Local Saturday or other community events actually involve your community. To make your event truly local, survey your downtown neighborhood and note the key businesses and shops. Determine who the major players are, and make sure you include them. Among your invitees, consider:

  • The Chamber of Commerce: The Chamber of Commerce is an organization of local business owners who work to promote business interests. Getting their support for an event focused on a “buy local” theme should be a snap.
  • The Downtown retail district: Your downtown retail district consists of the shops and stores in the downtown neighborhood. They, too, will likely be eager to support an event designed to promote their businesses. Remember to be prepared to allay any concerns they may have, particularly with respect to parking and traffic issues.
  • Local small businesses: There are countless local small businesses that may not be directly involved in retail but may be willing to support the community. Check with auto repairs shops, hair salons, law offices, and other service businesses.
  • Local restaurants: Restaurants, too, can be a fruitful avenue to grow support for your event. They will likely see a monthly event as a boon to their businesses, as more foot traffic will inevitably mean more hungry people looking for good food.
  • Community centers: Community centers are often places for people to come together for yoga classes, educational events, kids’ activities, and other community-focused events. They’re a natural place to attract interest in your event, a prime location to place flyers and other promotional materials — and perhaps serve as your next event venue!
  • Customer lists: Many local businesses store the email addresses of their customers to let them know of their special deals and other promotions. Ask these businesses to spread the word about their participation in the “shop local” event.

Successful creators show the way

We checked out how some successful event creators are helping to promote and support their local communities with shop local events. Here’s how they’re making their programs blow up.

First Fridays with Bobby Haigh Events

Bobby Haigh Events hosts a First Fridays event each month in St. Paul, Minnesota to promote local artists and creators. By hosting on the same day of the week each month and at the same location, interested parties know exactly where and when the event will take place without needing to check a listing or calendar. And by maintaining a single theme of creators and artists coming together, participants know what to expect and why they are there. This helps to create a stronger brand and a more memorable event.

The Ultimate Pop-Up Shop

For event creator Nancy with Greens Health & Wealth Advisory, the focus was on bringing as many people together in the community of Tamarac, Florida as possible. Admission to her Ultimate Pop-Up Shop was free, so there wasn’t any barrier to entry. And on her Eventbrite listing, Nancy emphasized the free nature of the event and promoted that there’d be games, a raffle, and a DJ spinning music. The emphasis was more on fun than any particular cultural or community benefit. Vendors focused on health food, wealth creation, and a hodge-podge of other businesses.

First Fridays at Main Station

Similar to First Fridays with Bobby Haigh Events, Bryan @ Black & Bitter Coffee puts on a monthly event called First Fridays at Main Station, focused on supporting artists and the cultural scene in Duncanville, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Since the day of the month and the location are baked into the title, the marketing and promotional materials simply promote the event by title. It’s a way to reinforce where and when your event will be held.

Create your own “shop local” event

Creating and promoting your own “shop local” event can be a great way to show your support for your community while establishing your own brand — and have fun in the process. A local event naturally includes many stakeholders in your program’s success. That’s a smart way to gather support and backing for your event.

If a recurring monthly event seems too intimidating to start with, consider starting small. A local holiday shopping event focused on small businesses can quickly turn into a monthly event if it’s a success and if you enjoy it. Eventbrite makes it easier than ever to gather your community together with our Community Resources full of valuable tips to get the locals in your neighborhood together.

Then, once you’re ready to get your local event underway, just sign in with Eventbrite and your event details can be up and online for all to see within minutes!