BROOKINGS — For the ninth year in a row, Downtown at Sundown returns to the heart of Brookings with five weeks of free concerts starting Aug. 1.

The annual festival, hosted by the Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce, features a different live musical act each Thursday in August. 

“The main goal for Downtown at Sundown is to have a central location for all ages,” Ainsley Bennett, event coordinator at the chamber, said. “It’s an event that brings the community together to kind of celebrate the summer in a fun unique way, and just kind of have a central gathering place where everybody can be welcome and get to truly experience what Brookings has to offer.” 

In addition to music, local vendors will have food and retail booths set up, and a variety of free kids activities will also be taking place.

“In the kids zone, we have a lot of things happening there,” Bennett said. “That’s kind of our family oriented section. We’re getting a lot of help from the parks department of the city. They’re going to be bringing a lot of exciting attractions there. We’ll have our foam pit again this year. So that was a big hit last year. And then each week, we have a new headlining band.”

Scheduled acts include: the Boogie Wonderland Band on Aug. 1; the Guilty Pleasures on Aug. 8; Rowan Grace on Aug. 15; and The Barn Flies on Aug. 22. The fifth and final act is yet to be announced. 

“We know who it is,” Bennett said. “We are kind of doing like a surprise release on Facebook and stuff like that to get people kind of engaged that way.”

In order to ensure a safe environment for attendees, a portion of the downtown streets will be closed from 3 to 10 p.m. on concert days. The closures impact Main Avenue from Fourth Street to a half-block past Fifth Street, and Fifth Street from Main Avenue to the alley. 

“When we close the streets it’s really just for set-up and stuff like that,” Bennett said. “So we can make sure the public is aware of the street closure, and we kind of have the space to get everything set up. And then when we have the street closed, that’s also when we have the actual event taking place.”

Vendors open their booths at 5:30, and the music starts at 6 p.m. 

Email Jay Roe at jroe@brookingsregister.com.