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Photo by Ashley Acuna
Assistant Manager Cassie Kolek is ready to help shoppers and browsers at Savage Diva during the Feb. 3 First Friday event in Downtown Bryan.
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Photo by Zoe May
Tables of treasures await visitors in Birds Nest, a vintage thrift store on North Main Street in Downtown Bryan.
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Photo by Cara Hudson
A wide variety of items are for sale in Downtown Bryan’s shared shop, The Frame Gallery & Savage Diva.
Music and food and vendors, oh my!
On the first Friday of every month, the quiet streets of downtown Bryan transform into a celebration of history and community, stocked to the brim with demonstrations, booths, performances and activities for residents and tourists alike to enjoy.
Since its creation in 2005 by Greta Watkins, founder and former owner of The Frame Gallery, First Friday has continued as a monthly event put on by Destination Bryan with the next installment on Friday, Feb. 3, from 5 to 11 p.m. Parking in the Roy Kelly Garage is only $5 during the event and a great launch spot in the heart of all the Downtown activities. With attendance anywhere from 2,000 to 8,000 per event, organizers estimate for each visitor enjoying the ambiance, there are two locals enjoying the shopping, eateries and historical attractions Downtown.
“Destination Bryan as an organization is designed to bring in tourism into our community,” said Amanda Kile, tourism event coordinator for Destination Bryan. “So, one of the things we really value is creating quality-of-life events like First Friday to create ambassadors in our community.”
Along with introducing Bryan's familial and historical culture, First Friday also serves as a cultural window where any new faces in the Bryan-College Station area can find their home away from home.
Caden Jones, an intern at Destination Bryan, said he recently moved to the BCS area for graduate school and has found a welcoming place through events like First Friday. His favorite part is “seeing how many people in Bryan come here and enjoy the event that we’re putting on in the community.
“Meeting all the local people and business owners,” said Jones, “it was a great way to feel at home in this new community.”
Watching strangers come together over a game of chess has been one of Kile’s favorite experiences at First Friday.
“[The chess group] came originally and set up on Bryan Avenue with their chess tables,” Kile said. “They ended up coming out with a big mat and giant chess pieces so people could play in the streets. What happened from that was a chess club, a giant Bryan chess club.”
For those looking to freshen up or spice up their life, First Friday offers a farmers' market that retails an assortment of jams, jellies, spices and freshly made products to the public.
As a chef for over eight years who is used to the locally grown culinary spread of Austin, Max Hayles said the farmers’ market allows him to be selective when choosing his own ingredients. Hayles is a sales associate at Cocoa’s Pantry, The Chocolate Gallery and Gianna’s Cakes.
“[The farmers’ market] is a very important place for me to be able to go purchase what I eat from farmers and from the people who are growing it,” Hayles said. “[To] eat what’s local and better for the economy and the environment, I’d say that is the most important thing about the farmers’ market.”
First Friday presents culturally diverse performances such as Maroon Steel, a steel pan ensemble that encourages collaboration while introducing the Afro-Caribbean culture of Trinidad and Tobago, according to TheBatt.com.
“We love working with student groups and being able to get them out here,” Kile said. “We’ve had several groups come out, and we love to be able to showcase them.”
With the event running 5 to 11 p.m., Destination Bryan offers a free shuttle that picks up at the Blinn parking garage and drops off at the Roy Kelly parking garage, as well as a lowered parking cost of $5 at the Downtown garage.
Special features for February’s First Friday include the newly released “80 for Brady” movie release starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sally Field, Rita Moreno (and Tom Brady) at The Queen Theatre, live music, and free interactive activities in the area on Main Street closed to traffic. Visit DestinationBryan.com for more details.
So, for folks who find themselves free on the first Friday of a month, stand up, picture the historic streets of downtown Bryan and say “There’s no place like First Friday!”
By Zoe May, Texas A&M Journalism 203 Student
